𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 starts Thursday, July 28 with a talk by 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 from Arizona State University, touching on ethics for cutting-edge technologies in US Defense.

Title and abstract of the presentation: 

Designing an Implantable Therapeutic Device for US Soldiers: Insights from an ELSI Panelist in DARPA’s ADAPTER Program

The ADvanced Acclimation and Protection Tool for Environmental Readiness (ADAPTER) aims to develop a travel adapter for the human body, an implantable or ingestible bioelectronic carrier. The therapeutic device aims to achieve the goal of better sleep cycles and the diminishment of traveler’s diarrhea in US soldiers. As an ELSI panelist in this Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Program, I will discuss the importance of anticipating ethics, law and social implications toward the design and development of a complex socio-technical system. The ELSI panelist acts as an interventionist, in order to raise guiding questions as opposed to providing concrete answers, that stakeholders at large should consider or address at critical stages of the development cycle. While an ELSI panelist cannot pre-judge ethics for cutting-edge technologies for which there are limited histories or experiences to rely on, they certainly can anticipate challenges through thought experiments and scenario planning.