Editors’ picks for 2021: ‘The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology’ | The Strategist – The Strategist

Originally published 28 October 2021.

In September, Chile became the first state in the world topass legislationregulating the use of neurotechnology. Theneuro-rights lawaims to protect mental privacy, free will of thought and personal identity.

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.

Neurotechnologyis 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.

Governments and the private sector alike are pouring money into research on neurotechnology, in particular the viability and applications for braincomputer 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.

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.

Technological development and design is never neutral. Weencode valuesinto every piece of technology we create. The immensely consequential nature of neurotechnology means its crucial for us to be thinking early and often about the way were constructing it, and the type of systems we doand dontwant to build.

A major driver behind research on neurotechnology by governments is its potential applications in defence and combat settings. Unsurprisingly, theUnited StatesandChinaare leading the pack in the race towards effective military neurotechnology.

The USs Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has pouredmany millions of dollars of fundinginto neurotechnology research over multiple decades. In 2018, DARPA announced a program called next-generation nonsurgical neurotechnology, or N3, tofundsix separate, highly ambitious BCI research projects.

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 useneuromodulationto alter mood, reduce fatigue and enable more rapid learning.

In comparison to DARPAs decades of interest in the brain, Chinas focus on neurotechnology is relatively recent but advancing rapidly. In 2016, the Chinese government launched theChina Brain Project, 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 arecollaboratingon the second generation of Brain Talker, a chip designed specifically for use in BCIs.Expertshave describedChinas effortsin this area as an example ofcivilmilitary fusion, in which technological advances serve multiple agendas.

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 Sydneydemonstrateda vehicle which could be remotely controlled via brainwaves. The project was developed with $1.2 million in funding through the Department of Defence.

Beyond governments, the private-sector neurotechnology industry is also picking up steam; 2021 is alreadya record yearfor funding of BCI projects.Estimatesput the industry at US$10.7 billion globally in 2020, and its expected to reach US$26 billion by 2026.

In April, Elon Musks Neuralink demonstrateda monkey playing Pongusing only brainwaves. Gaming company Valve is teaming up with partners todevelop a BCI for virtual-reality gaming.After receiving pushback on itscontroversial trials of neurotechnology on children in schools, BrainCo is now marketing amood-altering headband.

In Australia, university researchers have worked with biotech company Synchron to developStentrode, a BCI which can be implanted in the jugular and allows patients with limb paralysis to use digital devices. It is nowundergoing clinical human trialsin Australia and the US.

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.

In 2020 researchers conducted ameta-reviewof 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.

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 arecommendation on responsible innovation in neurotechnologywhich 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 aroundtableof international experts to discuss whether neurotechnologies need new kinds of human rights.

In Australia, the interdisciplinaryAustralian Neuroethics Networkhas called for a nationally coordinated approach to the ethics of neurotechnology and has proposed aneuroethics framework.

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 scientists eye. That makes now the ideal moment for all stakeholdersgovernments, regulators, industry and civil societyto be thinking deeply about the role neurotechnology should play in the future, and where the limits should be.

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Editors' picks for 2021: 'The big promises and potentially bigger consequences of neurotechnology' | The Strategist - The Strategist