Scientists say regulation is urgently required for ‘living robots’

Engineers are increasingly creating artificial robots out of real, living tissue and cells

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More regulation and better ethical frameworks are required in the development of “living robots” researchers have said.

Increasingly, engineers are creating robots that rely not only on artificial components but also living tissue and cells, grown in a lab, that can be harnessed for their capabilities.

But the growth of that technology has not been matched by an understanding of the ethical and governance concerns that the technologies present, a team of multidisciplinary researchers have warned in a major intervention.

The scientists note that the technology brings benefits that might not be possible otherwise. But they said that the dangers are not being properly considered, eitehr.

Of more than 1,500 publications looking at the technology, for instance, only five gave detailed consideration to the ethics of using living tissue in robotic machines.

“The challenges in overseeing bio-hybrid robotics are not dissimilar to those encountered in the regulation of biomedical devices, stem cells and other disruptive technologies,” said Rafael Mestre from the University of Southampton, a co-lead author on the paper.

“But unlike purely mechanical or digital technologies, bio-hybrid robots blend biological and synthetic components in unprecedented ways. This presents unique possible benefits but also potential dangers.”

The potential ethical and questions are wide-ranging. But they include questions about when such a system might be considered sentient – and what moral status it might have.

“Bio-hybrid robots create unique ethical dilemmas,” said Aníbal M Astobiza, from the University of the Basque Country in Spain, and co-lead author of the paper. “The living tissue used in their fabrication, potential for sentience, distinct environmental impact, unusual moral status, and capacity for biological evolution or adaptation create unique ethical dilemmas that extend beyond those of wholly artificial or biological technologies.”

Researchers pointed to similar debates around other new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and human cloning. They said the ethical questions are on the scale of those other innovations – but that the discussion of them is much less.

The paper, ‘Ethics and responsibility in bio-hybrid robotics research’, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.