ethics

INC Day 2022: Neuroethics

Organized by the INC in partnership with the BioMedical Engineering Paris international Master’s program and the NeuroParis Master’s programs and is supported by the Faculty of Sciences of Paris Cité University and the Graduate school Psychological science.

ISAM-NIG Webinars

Optimized Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for Addiction Treatment

Neuroscience of socioeconomic status and poverty: Is it actionable?

SES neuroscience, using imaging and other methods, has revealed generalizations of interest for population neuroscience and the study of individual differences. But beyond its scientific interest, SES is a topic of societal importance. Does neuroscience offer any useful insights for promoting socioeconomic justice and reducing the harms of poverty? In this talk I will use research from my own lab and others’ to argue that SES neuroscience has the potential to contribute to policy in this area, although its application is premature at present. I will also attempt to forecast the ways in which practical solutions to the problems of poverty may emerge from SES neuroscience. Bio: Martha Farah has conducted groundbreaking research on face and object recognition, visual attention, mental imagery, and semantic memory and - in more recent times - has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary research into neuroscience and society. This deals with topics such as using fMRI for lie detection, ethics of cognitive enhancement, and effects of social deprivation on brain development.

Faking emotions and a therapeutic role for robots and chatbots: Ethics of using AI in psychotherapy

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of social robots and chatbots that are designed so that users make an emotional attachment with them. This talk will start by presenting the first such chatbot, a program called Eliza designed by Joseph Weizenbaum in the mid 1960s. Then we will look at some recent robots and chatbots with Eliza-like interfaces and examine their benefits as well as various ethical issues raised by deploying such systems.

Analogy and ethics: opportunities at the intersection

Analogy offers a new interpretation of a common concern in ethics: whether decision making includes or excludes a consideration of moral issues. This is often discussed as the moral awareness of decision makers and considered a motivational concern. The possible new interpretation is that moral awareness is in part a matter of expertise. Some failures of moral awareness can then be understood as stemming from novicehood. Studies of analogical transfer are consistent with the possibility that moral awareness is in part a matter of expertise, that as a result motivation is less helpful than some prior theorizing would predict, and that many adults are not as expert in the domain of ethics as one might hope. The possibility of expert knowledge of ethical principles leads to new questions and opportunities.

Inclusive Data Science

A single person can be the source of billions of data points, whether these are generated from everyday internet use, healthcare records, wearable sensors or participation in experimental research. This vast amount of data can be used to make predictions about people and systems: what is the probability this person will develop diabetes in the next year? Will commit a crime? Will be a good employee? Is of a particular ethnicity? Predictions are simply represented by a number, produced by an algorithm. A single number in itself is not biased. How that number was generated, interpreted and subsequently used are all processes deeply susceptible to human bias and prejudices. This session will explore a philosophical perspective of data ethics and discuss practical steps to reducing statistical bias. There will be opportunity in the last section of the session for attendees to discuss and troubleshoot ethical questions from their own analyses in a ‘Data Clinic’.

The history, future and ethics of self-experimentation

Modern day “neurohackers” are radically self-experimenting, attempting genomic modification with CRISPR-Cas9 constructs and electrode insertion into their cortex amongst a host of other things. Institutions wanting to avoid the risks bought on by these procedures, generally avoid involvement with self-experimenting research. Modern day “neurohackers” are radically self-experimenting, attempting genomic modification with CRISPR-Cas9 constructs and electrode insertion into their cortex amongst a host of other things. Institutions wanting to avoid the risks bought on by these procedures, generally avoid involvement with self-experimenting research. But what is the ethical thing to do? Should researchers be allowed or encouraged to self-experiment? Should institutions support or hinder them? Where do you think that this process of self-experimentation could take us? This presentation by Dr Matt Lennon and Professor Zoltan Molnar of the University of Oxford, will explore the history, future and ethics of self-experimentation. It will explore notable examples of self-experimenters including Isaac Newton, Angelo Ruffini and Oliver Sacks and how a number of these pivotal experiments created paradigm shifts in neuroscience. The presentation will open up a forum for all participants to be involved asking key ethical questions around what should and should not be allowed in self-experimentation research.

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People

Mahzarin Banaji and her colleague coined the term “implicit bias” in the mid-1990s to refer to behavior that occurs without conscious awareness. Today, Professor Banaji is Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous awards for her scientific contributions. The purpose of the seminar, Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, is to reveal the surprising and even perplexing ways in which we make errors in assessing and evaluating others when we recruit and hire, onboard and promote, lead teams, undertake succession planning, and work on behalf of our clients or the public we serve. It is Professor Banaji’s belief that people intend well and that the inconsistency we see, between values and behavior, comes from a lack of awareness. But because implicit bias is pervasive, we must rely on scientific evidence to “outsmart” our minds. If we do so, we will be more likely to reach the life goals we have chosen for ourselves and to serve better the organizations for which we work.

Brain Awareness Week @ IITGN

A Panel Discussion to enumerate the many challenges that lie for AI and what it means for the Neuroethics community at large and how we should go about addressing it.

Brainstorms Festival

The Brainstorms Festival is the No1 online neuroscience and AI event for scientists, businesses, investors and startups. Join and listen to talks from leading scientists, take part in interactive discussions, and network with the people driving neurotech and AI innovation globally. The festival provides a digital playground for visionaries with dozens of medical innovations, panel discussions, workshops, a hackathon, and a neuroethics panel discussion which is crucial topic for neurodiversity and disability rights. Register now and be part of our amazing crowd!

Neuroethics guidance documents: Principles, analysis, and implementation strategies

Responsibility issues raised by neurotechnologies in light of ethics and philosophy

Community-regulated ethics: Perception and resolution of ethical conflicts by online communities

FENS Forum 2024