TED Talk-Prompted Discussion: Bug Bots

Today’s TED Talk for discussion is one NASA Chief Bioethicist Paul Wolpe gave back in November of 2010 on “bio-engineering.”  This was one of the first TED talks I saw that sparked my interest in emerging technology ethics, and, despite the amount of time that has passed since then, I think most people are still unaware of some of the technologies he discusses.  He talks about several developments, others of which I plan to cover in future posts, for now I want to talk about just one: “bug bots.”

What are bug bots?  In a nutshell, as Wolpe describes in the TED talk, we have the ability to wire computer ships into the brains of insects, which we can use to control their movements.  They are essentially organic robots.  We can do it with cockroaches, goliath beetles, moths, and even rats.  One of the more obvious applications would be the ability to attach cameras and use these animals as living, incognito drones. 

First, I want to talk about the principle of the dominion mandate.  We are called to use the earth’s resources to good ends, and technology is one way in which we do this.  Further, we use technology to counteract undesirable yet natural phenomena, whether it is our exposure to the elements, or disease.  The ethical issues of emerging technologies we are discussing in this blog all ask a fundamental question: at what point have we taken the dominion mandate too far?  At what point, if any, does violating an animal’s autonomy become a bad thing?  Wolpe’s TED talk suggests that that this technology crosses the line.  So far, it seems to me that to the extent that we can arrive at some answer, those answers are on a case-by-case basis (think back to Michael Sandell’s article on genetic engineering humans).  As we examine these possible answers, we should be looking for the principled theme that drives all of them.

I also want to talk about some practical issues I envision arising as this technology becomes more prevalent.  The first is very reminiscent of the privacy issues that drones create today.  We wrestle with how much freedom the operators of drones ought to have when it comes to using cameras that record people’s everyday lives.  But a drone looks like a drone.  A moth with a micro camera and a computer ship impeded in its brain does not.  Another issue I can think of is admittedly more speculative (Wolpe’s TED Talk doesn’t give an implication either way), but I feel like we should be talking about it, just in case it becomes reality.  If this technology continues to improve, and we are already capable of doing this in mammals, will be we able to one day to it with humans?  If so, what might that look like, and what guidelines should we set, if not prohibiting it completely?  What implications does removing human autonomy have, not just from a standpoint of Christian ethics, but existentialist ethics as well?  What happens when we reduce a human being to just another organic robot?