A Framework For Research, Application, And Governance Of Bio-hybrid Robotics: Plotting A Path To Responsible Research And Innovation

生物混合机器人技术是一个新的研究领域，它有望通过制造具有生物特性的下一代活机器人来彻底改变社会，健康和工业。这些生物机器人是新兴的工程系统，其中人工材料和生物组织被整合成活的机器人设备。虽然早期的例子可以追溯到几十年前，但直到10年前，这一领域才出现了真实的繁荣，许多不同类型的生物混合机器人可以执行简单的动作，如爬行，游泳或抓取。这项技术正在迅速发展，但公众和研究人员对这个狭窄领域之外的关注很少，他们在很大程度上仍然不知道这项技术的应用和影响，这挑战了我们对生物和机器区别的基本理解。然而，最近的研究已经开始成为世界各地主要新闻媒体的头条新闻，特别是随着所谓的异种机器人的出现，这种机器人是用人工智能辅助的方法制造的，可以自我复制。例如，《纽约时报》指出，“它们存在的影响可能会从人工智能研究蔓延到生物学和伦理学的基本问题”，并指出人们会如何问“它是机器人，是机器，还是动物？该领域有希望的应用包括释放生物机器人来清洁受污染的水，使用微型生物机器人在我们体内输送药物，制造高效和部分生物的工业机器人，或将它们用作生活“伴侣”。但这些生物机器人，在“生物学和机器人技术的交叉点”，与任何其他类型的机器人技术，包括人工智能，在一个非常关键的组成部分是根本不同的：他们可能是“活的”。由于它们具有潜在的感知能力，它们需要自己独特的一套法规，这些法规不能直接从经典的生物伦理学，人工智能或其他技术中改编。有了这笔赠款，我们将为生物混合机器人的研究，应用和治理建立一个框架，规划一条负责任的研究和创新之路。我们将调查这种新技术的社会，道德和环境影响，执行知情的政策分析，与不同的学者，政策制定者和公众群体共同创建，以确保所有的判断和代理人都被听到，并在整个发展过程中应用民主原则。首先，我们将通过全面的文献回顾和政策景观以及学术和灰色文献来分析这项技术的伦理，社会和环境影响。然后，我们将与该领域的精英专家和创新者合作，了解这项技术的未来场景。什么是最有前途但最现实的应用？与此相关的伦理困境是什么？然后，我们将通过调查向不同国家的公民展示这些场景，并进行联合实验，旨在评估他们对这项研究的偏好和态度以及我们可以设想的潜在监管形式。通过这一步骤，我们将确保在这项技术的整个开发过程中听到公民的声音，并由专家和政策制定者评估他们的关切。最后，我们将在政策研讨会上向政策制定者提供这些信息，以讨论潜在的建议，并根据相关利益相关者的专业知识更好地了解情景。来自专家、创新者、公民和政策制定者的所有研究结果将汇集在一起，为生物混合机器人的研究、应用和治理创建一个框架，该框架将考虑该技术的潜在用途，以及对环境可持续性、处理、处置、道德地位和责任的考虑。

Bio-hybrid robotics is a recent field of research that has promised to revolutionise society, health and industry by fabricating the next generation of living robots with biological properties. These biorobots are emergent engineered systems in which artificial materials and biological tissue are integrated to form living robotic devices. Whereas earlier examples date decades back, it was not until 10 years ago that there was a real boom in this field, with many different types of bio-hybrid robots that could perform simple actions like crawling, swimming or gripping. This technology is developing rapidly with little attention from the public and researchers outside of this narrow field, who remain largely unaware of the applications and implications of this technology that challenges our fundamental understanding of what distinguishes living beings and machines. Yet recent research has started to make headlines in major news outlets all over the world, especially with emergence of so-called xenobots fabricated with AI-assisted methods, that can self-replicate. For instance, the NY Times stated that "[t]he implications of their existence could spill from artificial-intelligence research to fundamental questions in biology and ethics", and pointed out how people would ask "is it a robot, is it a machine, is it an animal?"Promised applications in the field include releasing biorobots to clean contaminated water, using micro-biorobots to deliver drugs inside our body, fabricating highly efficient and partly biological industrial robots, or using them as living "companionship". But these biorobots, at the "intersection between biology and robotics" are fundamentally different to any other type of robotic technology, including AI, in a very crucial component: they could potentially be "living". Due to their potentially sentient nature, they require their own unique set of regulations, which cannot be directly adapted from classical bioethics, AI or other technologies.With this grant, we will create a framework for research, application, and governance of bio-hybrid robotics, plotting a path to responsible research and innovation. We will investigate the societal, ethical, and environmental implications of this novel technology, performing a stakeholder-informed policy analysis, co-created with a diverse group of scholars, policy makers and the public, to ensure all judgements and agents are heard and democratic principles are applied throughout its development. First, we will analyse the ethical, social and environmental implications of this technology by a thorough literature review and policy landscaping and academic and grey literature. Then, we will engage with elite experts and innovators in this field to understand what the future scenarios of this technology could be. What are the most promising but realistic applications? What ethical dilemmas come associated with it? We will then present these scenarios to citizens in different countries via surveys and we will perform a conjoint experiment, aiming at assessing their preferences and attitudes towards this research and the potential forms of regulation we could envisage. With this step we will ensure that voices from citizens are heard throughout the development of this technology and their concerns are assessed by experts and policy makers. Lastly, we will present this information to policy makers in a policy workshop to discuss potential recommendations, and better understand scenarios based on the expertise of the relevant stakeholders. All the findings from experts, innovators, citizens and policy makers will come together into the creation of a framework for research, application and governance of bio-hybrid robots that will consider potential uses of the technology and considerations about environmental sustainability, handling, disposing, and moral status and responsibility.