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Researchers are calling for regulations to guide the responsible and ethical development of biohybrid robots, the pioneering science of fusing artificial parts with living tissue and cells.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, titled “Ethics and Responsibility in Biohybrid Robotics Research”, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Southampton and universities in the US and Spain outlined the unique ethical issues posed by this technology and the need for appropriate controls.
Combining biomaterials and living organisms with synthetic robotic parts may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but this emerging field is advancing rapidly.
Biohybrid robots with living muscles can crawl, swim, grasp, move and sense their surroundings. Sensors made from sensory cells and insect antennae have improved chemical sensing capabilities. Living neurons are even being used to control mobile robots.
“The challenges of overseeing biohybrid robots are not that different from those faced in regulating biomedical devices, stem cells and other disruptive technologies,” said Dr Rafael Mestre, an expert on emerging technologies at the University of Southampton and co-lead author of the paper.
“But unlike purely mechanical or digital technologies, biohybrid robots blend biological and synthetic elements in unprecedented ways, which could bring unique advantages, but also potential dangers.”
Research publications on biohybrid robots have been growing continuously over the past decade. However, the authors found that of the more than 1,500 publications on the subject at that time, only five of them explored in depth their ethical implications.
The authors identified three areas in which biohybrid robots present unique ethical issues: interactivity (how the biorobot interacts with humans and the environment), integratability (whether and how humans can assimilate the biorobot (e.g., biorobot organs or limbs)), and moral status.
In a series of thought experiments, they explain how ocean-cleaning biorobots might disrupt food chains, how biohybrid robotic arms might exacerbate inequality, and how increasingly advanced biohybrid assistants might raise questions about sentience and moral values.
“Biohybrid robots create unique ethical dilemmas,” says Anibal M. Astubiza, an ethicist at the University of the Basque Country in Spain and co-first author of the paper. “The living tissue used to make them, their potential for sentience, their unique impact on the environment, their unusual moral status, and their biological evolution and adaptability create unique ethical dilemmas that go beyond those of purely artificial or biological technologies.”
This paper is the first published by the Biohybrid Futures project, led by Dr. Rafael Mestre, in collaboration with the Rebooting Democracy project. The Biohybrid Futures project aims to develop a framework for the responsible research, application and governance of biohybrid robots.
The paper proposes several requirements for such a framework, including risk assessment, consideration of societal impacts, and raising public awareness and understanding.
“If the debates around embryonic stem cells, human cloning and artificial intelligence teach us anything, it’s that humans rarely agree on the right solutions to the moral dilemmas of emerging technologies,” said Dr Matt Ryan, a political scientist at the University of Southampton and co-author of the paper.
“Compared to related technologies such as embryonic stem cells and artificial intelligence, biohybrid robots have developed with relatively little attention from the media, the public and policymakers, but they are no less important. We invite the public to participate in this debate to ensure a democratic approach to the development and ethical assessment of this technology.”
In addition to the need for a governance framework, the authors offer actions the research community can take now to guide research.
“Taking these steps should never be seen as prescriptive, but rather as an opportunity to share responsibility and lift a heavy burden from researchers’ shoulders,” said Dr Victoria Webster Wood, a biomechanical engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in the US and co-author of the paper.
“Research into biohybrid robots is moving in many different directions. To realize its full potential, efforts need to be coordinated.”
Further information: Mestre, Rafael et al, Ethics and Responsibility in Biohybrid Robotics Research, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310458121. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2310458121
Provided by University of Southampton
Source: Biohybrid robots need regulation and public debate, say researchers (July 22, 2024) Retrieved July 22, 2024 from https://techxplore.com/news/2024-07-bio-hybrid-robotics-debate.html
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