Moral dimensions of synthetic biological intelligence: Unravelling the ethics of neural integration

Abstract

Recent research emphasizes the transformative potential of cultured human brain tissues in biocomputing applications. Employing neural cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, a recent study interfaced these cells with multi-electrode arrays to craft a sophisticated real-time closed-loop feedback system the authors called ‘DishBrain’. This innovation marks a new paradigm in synthetic biological intelligence (SBI) systems, integrating biological and silicon components in vitro to exhibit goal-directed and intelligent behaviours. While SBI holds considerable promise, it also introduces unique ethical concerns, especially given its reliance on human biological material. We categ..