A framework for research, application, and governance of bio-hybrid robotics: plotting a path to responsible research and innovation

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.