Social, ethical & reflective work in the Human Brain Project
The HBP is characterised by a profound and broad interdisciplinarity, and it is unique among the large international Brain Initiatives in having included social sciences and humanities in the core research from its very beginning devoting approximately 5% of the budget to this end. The Ethics & Society research in the HBP has likewise been…
Inconsistencies in the treatment of disorders of consciousness: 200+ professionals surveyed
Research on patients who have impaired consciousness, especially those who acquired severe brain injury or who have suffered from prolonged disorders of consciousness, has exploded in the last decade, not least within the Human Brain Project. With two international guidelines (one from Europe and one from the United States) available to facilitate care for these…
EHDS: Meeting the Challenges of Responsible Data Governance
Data is a cornerstone for innovation and better health care. Responsible data governance is key to the public’s trust in science and the sustainability of research. The European Health Data Space (EHDS) is the European Commission’s response to the pressing need for a trustworthy health data infrastructure that reaches across member states. Needless to say,…
Developing capability for responsible research and innovation across the Human Brain Project
How can we build and promote scientists’ capability to respond and act in a responsible way? A recent paper from the Human Brain Project looks at how responsible research and innovation practices can be promoted and developed through capacity-building activities and what can be learned from our work over the past decade. The Human Brain…
Public engagement, foresight and inclusive community building for responsible research
How can we design and embed responsible research practices? Foresight, or the practice of looking ahead, is one way to envision potential future developments and changes. Together with public and stakeholder engagement, foresight can support work on potentially controversial issues. We have developed training resources that explain how foresight and engagement can help influence how…
Consciousness, cognition and neuroethics in the clinical context
Neuroscience is making tremendous progress in the field of consciousness. With new knowledge on Disorders of Consciousness (i.e., Vegetative State/Unaware Wakefulness Syndrome, Minimally Conscious State, Cognitive-Motor Dissociation) coming out of the Human Brain Project, neuroethical reflection on both foundational and practical issues becomes imperative. Foundational issues include the definition of consciousness and its possible use…
Brain-inspired AI, neuroethics and responsible neuroscience: an AI ethics training module
Interest in artificial intelligence, and the field of AI ethics, has exploded in the last 10 years. We have developed a training module on the potential synergies between AI ethics and neuroethics. Using brain-inspired AI as a case study the course analyses two aspects: emerging issues and methodology. The goal is to raise awareness of…
Identify, assess and better manage ethical issues raised by brain research!
Ethical reflection can actively contribute to maximising the public benefit derived from research and reduce (and hopefully help close) the gap that exists between science and society. Given the impressive advancement of scientific research on the brain, specifically on consciousness, and the rate of AI development and its translation in commercial applications, it is extremely…
Including society and ethics in brain science
What is it that makes us human? Our brain is more complex than the brain of other animals. It has made us able to use tools, control fire, build supercomputers and explore the universe. Digital tools allow us to learn more about the brain. What we learn is embedded in, and dependent on growing worlds…
Time to move from ‘AI Ethics’ to a notion of responsible AI ecosystems
The current discourse on AI and ethics is both broad and rich, but there are some structural and fundamental limitations. A recent paper published in Scientific Reports suggest that artificial intelligence is better described as an ecosystem of socio-technical systems where some of the characteristics we should ask of a responsible ecosystem of intelligent systems…