Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

2 Foundational Technologies
Pages 45-78

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 45...
... . The reader is cautioned that ELSI concerns related to these technologies -- information technology, synthetic biology, and neuroscience -- are not handled uniformly from section to section, reflecting the fact that different kinds of ethical, legal, and societal issues arise with different foundational technologies and the applications they enable.
From page 46...
... Wireless data services needed to support mobile applications are proliferating as well. One form of mobile computing of particular note is wearable computing, as discussed in Box 2.1.
From page 47...
... Especially in an environment in which everyone does not have equal access to such capabilities, the potential for information asymmetry is large. Another wearable computing application is the electronic capture of every thing that a person can see or hear.
From page 48...
... . In particular, computer scientists now apply machine learning and knowledge discovery algorithms to large data sets and continually refine these algorithms based on evaluation of their results, and certain branches of computer science today have a substantial empirical basis.
From page 49...
... 2.1.2  Possible Military Applications U.S. military forces are highly dependent on information technology in a wide variety of contexts.
From page 50...
... For example, machine learning and big data applications may be able to help predict major impending events, such as an assault or a jump in insurgent activity. Analysis of surveillance videos may identify an individual leaving a bomb in a public place or about to conduct a suicide attack.
From page 51...
... Large volumes of data can often be used to make predictions about future events (e.g., human behavior, outcomes of processes) , the paradigm known as "big data" mentioned above.
From page 52...
... Moreover, these situations and problem domains themselves evolve and change at a very rapid rate. To understand what ethical behavior is when IT is involved, traditional principles of ethics are relevant but often not sufficient by themselves, and considerable interpretation and analogical thinking are needed to understand how those principles apply in any given situation.6 In a civilian context, some of the ethical, legal, and societal issues raised with IT concern privacy; intellectual property; accountability; trust; loss of control; and software dependability, including safety and reliability.
From page 53...
... because putatively private information is revealed. An extended discussion of privacy impacts of information technology can be found in the 2007 National Research Council report Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age.8 Intellectual Property With modern information technology, the cost of replicating digital property (sometimes also known as digital objects)
From page 54...
... military moves, and so on -- all such information in the wrong hands constrains the freedom of action that is otherwise enjoyed by U.S. military forces.
From page 55...
... ; an IT system is sometimes so complex that no single individual can have a complete understanding of it; and users of such programs often have less understanding of the program than do the creators. In a military context, such facts call into question traditional notions of command and accountability, and thus the organizational structures built around these notions.
From page 56...
... A "launch on warning" strategy -- rejected by most strategists as being too risky -- was based in part on the idea that a largely automated system of sensors could provide highly reliable warning about a nuclear attack in progress and thus enable nuclear missiles to be launched before they were destroyed on the ground. Software Dependability According to a 2007 NRC report, a system is dependable when users can rely on it to produce the consequences for which it was designed, and no adverse effects, in its intended environment.10 Although information technology hardware has been characterized for several decades by exponential growth in its sophistication, advances in software technology and the corresponding ability to build complex networked computer systems have been relatively scarcer.
From page 57...
... As one example, software developers may have to make tradeoffs between increased software functionality and the increased difficulty of making an adequate case for the software's dependability. The DOD has special needs in software, such as the need for software dependability in the presence of highly sophisticated adversaries; manageability of the complex architectures needed to fulfill mission requirements; criticality with respect to safety, availability, and responsiveness; and overall complexity and scale.11 Thus, software dependability is particularly significant in a military context.
From page 58...
... A major goal of synthetic biology is the construction of "minimal cells" possessing only the genetic program necessary to sustain essential cellular functions.15 In a minimal cell, the functional redundancy and complexity arising from the long evolutionary history of natural organisms might be eliminated through reverse engineering. In fact, a synthetic minimal cell need not be built from the same "parts" as natural cells at all.
From page 59...
... The many potential applications of synthetic biology include production of pharmaceuticals and biofuels, specialty chemicals and enzymes, and customized synthetic DNA sequences as well as minimal cell chassis. The real and/or perceived efficacy of the synthetic biology paradigm for these applications has led to the growth of a new bioengineering sector.
From page 60...
... The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues identified several broad application domains for synthetic biology: renewable energy sources, health care, food and agriculture, and environmental remediation.21 • Renewable energy sources. Synthetic biology researchers hope to develop organisms that can produce alcohols, oils, and hydrogen gas, all of which can be used for fuel.
From page 61...
... A military application of clean-up organisms might be the removal of nerve gas residues from contaminated surfaces or the use of enzymes that can neutralize nerve agents if the human body is exposed to them. 2.2.3  Ethical, Legal, and Societal Questions and Implications Many of the ELSI concerns raised by synthetic biology are quite similar to those raised earlier in considerations of recombinant DNA technology -- R&D on both technologies seek to create biological entities that are not found in nature.
From page 62...
... Environmental and Safety Risks As with other genetic engineering technologies, synthetic biology raises concerns about how new biological entities will interact with and affect human beings and the natural environment: • Engineered microbes introduced into the human body may trigger unanticipated adverse effects, such as infections or unexpected immune responses, or may displace the natural microbiome. • New organisms that escape into the environment may pose novel risks resulting from their potential to reproduce or evolve.
From page 63...
... different ethical frameworks." The Wilson Center report cites work by Boldt and Müller28 as the most ambitious attempt to date to articulate these concerns in the synthetic biology literature. Boldt and Müller argue that if we begin to create lower forms of life and to think of them as "artifacts" (as researchers in synthetic biology propose)
From page 64...
... Gibson et al., "Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Syn thesized Genome," Science 329(5987)
From page 65...
... As in the previous category, ELSI concerns in this category appear to relate to both civilian and military applications of synthetic biology equally. Nonetheless, the notion of adversary threats based on synthetic biology is relevant to national security.
From page 66...
... to study the nervous system of organisms ranging from invertebrates to humans across various stages of development, maturation, and aging.34 In its 2008 report Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience, the National Research Council describes neuroscience as "includ[ing] the study of the central nervous system and somatic, autonomic, and neuroendocrine processes," and defines the term "cognitive" as covering "psychological and physiological processes underlying human information processing, emotion, motivation, social influence, and development.
From page 67...
... Components of memories are transferred to cortical structures, where they are consolidated into their long-term, stable, protein-synthesis-dependent form during sleep and rest. Neuroscience research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
From page 68...
... Psychological traumas might be reduced for victims of abuse, torture, or other horrific events. Enhancements of the types described in the previous paragraph have obvious military applications for soldiers operating weapons or commanders coordinating battles.
From page 69...
... A 2009 National Research Council report titled Opportunities in Neuroscience for Future Army Applications recommended that the Army increase its investment in TMS research.42 That committee estimated the development timeframe for using TMS to enhance attention at 5 to 10 years, and for in-vehicle deployment at 10 to 20 years. A different form of cognitive enhancement comes in the form of mitigating the effects of sleep deprivation, which is the source of so much error in civilian as well as in military life.
From page 70...
... Similarly the Cognitive Threat Warning System seeks to convert unconscious human neurological responses into usable information, as in a pair of binoculars 44 L.M. Dauffenbach, "Simulation of the Primate Motor Cortex and Free Arm Movements in Three-Dimensional Space: A Robot Arm System Controlled by an Artificial Neural Network," Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation 35:360-365, 1999.
From page 71...
... A 2008 NRC report entitled Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies stated that ‘‘traditional measures of deception detection technology have proven to be insufficiently accurate," recommending that research be pursued "on multimodal methodological approaches for detecting and measuring neurophysiological indicators of psychological states and intentions.
From page 72...
... Current research on ICAs tends to focus on agents that offer a combination of rapid-action and short-duration effects and thus on those that "reduce alertness and, as the dose increases, 48 International Committee of the Red Cross, "Incapacitating Chemical Agents: Implica tions for International Law," Expert meeting, Montreux, Switzerland, March 24-26, 2010, available at http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p4051.htm; Stefan Mogl, ed., Technical Workshop on Incapacitating Chemical Agents, Spiez Laboratory, Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, DDPS, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez, Switzerland, September 8-9, 2011, available at http://www.labor-spiez. ch/de/dok/hi/pdf/web_e_ICA_Konferenzbericht.pdf; Scientific Advisory Board, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, "Report of the Scientific Advisory Board on Developments in Science and Technology for the Third Special Session of the Conference of States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical Weapons Convention," RC-3/DG.1, 2012, available at http://www.opcw.org/documents-reports/conference-states-parties/ third-review-conference/; Royal Society, "Brain Waves Module 3: Neuroscience, Conflict, and Security," Royal Society, London, 2012.
From page 73...
... 53 International Committee of the Red Cross, "Incapacitating Chemical Agents: Implications for International Law," Expert meeting, Montreux, Switzerland, March 24-26, 2010, available at http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p4051.htm; Royal Society, "Brain Waves Module 3: Neuroscience, Conflict, and Security," Royal Society, London, 2012; Michael S Franklin et al., "Disentangling Decoupling: Comment on Smallwood (2013)
From page 74...
... The tragic 54Scientific Advisory Board, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, "Report of the Scientific Advisory Board on Developments in Science and Technology for the Third Special Session of the Conference of States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical Weapons Convention," RC-3/DG.1, 2012, p. 21, available at http://www.opcw.
From page 75...
... than a simple interview with a skilled interrogator. ELSI concerns in this category appear to relate to both civilian and military applications of neuroscience.
From page 76...
... The larger the populations exposed, the greater the likelihood of untoward results. ELSI concerns in this category appear to relate to both civilian and military applications of neuroscience equally.
From page 77...
... 1 Food and Drug Administration, "Informed Consent for Human Drugs and Biologics; De termination That Informed Consent Is Not Feasible; Interim Rule and Opportunity for Public Comment," 21 CFR Part 50, Federal Register 55(246) :52814-52817, December 21, 1990, available at http://archive.hhs.gov/ohrp/documents/19901221.pdf.
From page 78...
... How and under what circumstances might neurally manipulated soldiers be accountable for activities that violate the laws of war? Impact of Classification As with synthetic biology, issues arise regarding coordination of neuroscience research in a classified environment and how to establish effective oversight in these environments.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.