{"id":69636,"date":"2021-12-28T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T19:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=69636"},"modified":"2021-12-23T17:45:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T06:45:22","slug":"editors-picks-for-2021-the-big-promises-and-potentially-bigger-consequences-of-neurotechnology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/editors-picks-for-2021-the-big-promises-and-potentially-bigger-consequences-of-neurotechnology\/","title":{"rendered":"Editors\u2019 picks for 2021: \u2018The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Originally published 28 October 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

In September, Chile became the first state in the world to\u00a0pass legislation<\/a>\u00a0regulating the use of neurotechnology. The\u00a0\u2018neuro-rights\u2019 law<\/a>\u00a0aims to protect mental privacy, free will of thought and personal identity.<\/p>\n

The move comes amid both growing excitement and growing concern about the potential applications of neurotechnology for everything from defence to health care to entertainment.<\/p>\n

Neurotechnology<\/a>\u00a0is an umbrella term for a range of technologies which interact directly with the brain or nervous system. This can include systems which passively scan, map or interpret brain activity, or systems which actively influence the state of the brain or nervous system.<\/p>\n

Governments and the private sector alike are pouring money into research on neurotechnology, in particular the viability and applications for brain\u2013computer interfaces (BCI) which allow users to control computers with their thoughts. While the field is still in its infancy, it is advancing at a rapid pace, creating technologies which only a few years ago would have seemed like science fiction.<\/p>\n

The implications of these technologies are profound. When fully realised, they have the potential to reshape the most fundamental and most personal element of human experience: our thoughts.<\/p>\n

Technological development and design is never neutral. We\u00a0encode values<\/a>\u00a0into every piece of technology we create. The immensely consequential nature of neurotechnology means it\u2019s crucial for us to be thinking early and often about the way we\u2019re constructing it, and the type of systems we do\u2014and don\u2019t\u2014want to build.<\/p>\n

A major driver behind research on neurotechnology by governments is its potential applications in defence and combat settings. Unsurprisingly, the\u00a0United States<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0China<\/a>\u00a0are leading the pack in the race towards effective military neurotechnology.<\/p>\n

The US\u2019s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has poured\u00a0many millions of dollars of funding<\/a>\u00a0into neurotechnology research over multiple decades. In 2018, DARPA announced a program called \u2018next-generation nonsurgical neurotechnology\u2019, or N3<\/sup>, to\u00a0fund<\/a>\u00a0six separate, highly ambitious BCI research projects.<\/p>\n

Individual branches of the US military are also developing their own neurotechnology projects. For example, the US Air Force is working on a BCI which will use\u00a0neuromodulation<\/a>\u00a0to alter mood, reduce fatigue and enable more rapid learning.<\/p>\n

In comparison to DARPA\u2019s decades of interest in the brain, China\u2019s focus on neurotechnology is relatively recent but advancing rapidly. In 2016, the Chinese government launched the\u00a0China Brain Project<\/a>, a 15-year scheme intended to bring China level with and eventually ahead of the US and EU in neuroscience research. In April, Tianjin University and state-owned giant China Electronics Corporation announced they are\u00a0collaborating<\/a>\u00a0on the second generation of \u2018Brain Talker\u2019, a chip designed specifically for use in BCIs.\u00a0Experts<\/a>\u00a0have described\u00a0China\u2019s efforts<\/a>\u00a0in this area as an example of\u00a0civil\u2013military fusion<\/a>, in which technological advances serve multiple agendas.<\/p>\n

Australia is also funding research into neurotechnology for military applications. For example, at the Army Robotics Expo in Brisbane in August, researchers from the University of Technology Sydney\u00a0demonstrated<\/a>\u00a0a vehicle which could be remotely controlled via brainwaves. The project was developed with $1.2 million in funding through the Department of Defence.<\/p>\n

Beyond governments, the private-sector neurotechnology industry is also picking up steam; 2021 is already\u00a0a record year<\/a>\u00a0for funding of BCI projects.\u00a0Estimates<\/a>\u00a0put the industry at US$10.7 billion globally in 2020, and it\u2019s expected to reach US$26 billion by 2026.<\/p>\n

In April, Elon Musk\u2019s Neuralink demonstrated\u00a0a monkey playing Pong<\/a>\u00a0using only brainwaves. Gaming company Valve is teaming up with partners to\u00a0develop a BCI for virtual-reality gaming<\/a>.<\/u>\u00a0After receiving pushback on its\u00a0controversial trials of neurotechnology on children in schools<\/a>, BrainCo is now marketing a\u00a0mood-altering headband<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Australia, university researchers have worked with biotech company Synchron to develop\u00a0Stentrode<\/a>, a BCI which can be implanted in the jugular and allows patients with limb paralysis to use digital devices. It is now\u00a0undergoing clinical human trials<\/a>\u00a0in Australia and the US.<\/p>\n

The combination of big money, big promises and, potentially, big consequences should have us all paying attention. The potential benefits from neurotechnology are immense, but they are matched by enormous ethical, legal, social, economic and security concerns.<\/p>\n

In 2020 researchers conducted a\u00a0meta-review<\/a>\u00a0of the academic literature on the ethics of BCIs. They identified eight specific ethical concerns: user safety; humanity and personhood; autonomy; stigma and normality; privacy and security (including cybersecurity and the risk of hacking); research ethics and informed consent; responsibility and regulation; and justice. Of these, autonomy and responsibility and regulation received the most attention in the existing literature. In addition, the researchers argued that the potential psychological impacts of BCIs on users needs to be considered.<\/p>\n

While Chile is the first and so far only country to legislate on neurotechnology, groups such as the OECD are looking seriously at the issue. In 2019 the OECD Council adopted a\u00a0recommendation on responsible innovation in neurotechnology<\/a>\u00a0which aimed to set the first international standard to drive ethical research and development of neurotechnology. Next month, the OECD and the Council of Europe will hold a\u00a0roundtable<\/a>\u00a0of international experts to discuss whether neurotechnologies need new kinds of human rights.<\/p>\n

In Australia, the interdisciplinary\u00a0Australian Neuroethics Network<\/a>\u00a0has called for a nationally coordinated approach to the ethics of neurotechnology and has proposed a\u00a0neuroethics framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These are the dawning days of neurotechnology. Many of the crucial breakthroughs to come may not yet be so much as a twinkle in a scientist\u2019s eye. That makes now the ideal moment for all stakeholders\u2014governments, regulators, industry and civil society\u2014to be thinking deeply about the role neurotechnology should play in the future, and where the limits should be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published 28 October 2021. In September, Chile became the first state in the world to\u00a0pass legislation\u00a0regulating the use of neurotechnology. The\u00a0\u2018neuro-rights\u2019 law\u00a0aims to protect mental privacy, free will of thought and personal identity. The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":899,"featured_media":68192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[220,3148,2030,332],"class_list":["post-69636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-ethics","tag-neurotechnology","tag-science","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEditors\u2019 picks for 2021: \u2018The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology\u2019 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/editors-picks-for-2021-the-big-promises-and-potentially-bigger-consequences-of-neurotechnology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Editors\u2019 picks for 2021: \u2018The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology\u2019 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Originally published 28 October 2021. 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