During the last week, I have talked a lot about ethics in connection to Brain-Computer Interfaces. I can’t deny that it sometimes feels a bit like science fiction when we consider a future where everyone uses BCI systems in their everyday life as seamlessly as we use cellphones today. But it is nevertheless a relevant future to consider.
It was a task in one of my courses (WASP Autonomus systems 2) to discuss ethical aspects of our research with the other students, but we discussed it within our research group as well. To aid the discussion, we used the ethics canvas.
Some important questions we have asked ourselves were:
- How and where will data be stored?
- Who will have access to the data?
- Will the application be purely for fun, as a new controller for the game industry, or will there be medical applications?
- If we use BCI systems all the time, will we change the way we think?
Frida Heskebeck 