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The Enhanced Human: Risks and Opportunities

Available via

LIVESTREAM

The Enhanced Human: Risks and Opportunities

Monday, May 21, 2018, 6:30 PM - 8:35 PM EDT

The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St Fl 40, New York

Presented By

Aspen Brain Institute

The Hastings Center

The New York Academy of Sciences

 

Enhanced humans walk among us. Over the course of human history, people have sought to alter their bodies not only to restore their health, but also to augment their abilities. Some enhancements have been commonplace for centuries, like a simple cup of coffee to remain alert or eyeglasses to improve sight. More recent developments are ever more complex, from prosthetic devices to restore lost functions, like robotic limbs or cochlear implants, to the DIY biohackers movement to create cognitive and body enhancers. As we move deeper into the 21st century, human enhancement technologies are being developed at an increasingly rapid pace.

Efforts to temporarily or permanently overcome limitations of the human body and mind now include bionic and prosthetic technologies, brain-computer interfaces, neurotechnologies, and nootropics. Advances in artificial intelligence are breathtaking. Another dramatic development in the last decade is gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9, enabling us to not only manipulate human biology, but also to potentially dictate our evolutionary future.

The prospect of human enhancement elicits enthusiasm due to the vast opportunities to redesign ourselves, yet skepticism about how far the science can really take us and bioethical concerns are also prevalent. Many have expressed a need for caution due to the myriad unanswered questions and unknowns regarding how these technologies should be used, to what ends, and who should make these decisions. For example, gene editing has the capacity to cure disease, but can we draw a line between appropriate applications and misuse when it comes to complex issues such as trait selection and editing the human genome in ways that will be permanent? How will enhancements impact human identity and human relationships? Who will be able to access human enhancement technologies, and will societal inequalities be exacerbated? How do we identify and minimize the risks and weigh them against any benefits?  As we navigate through new territories in self-customization, what kinds of regulations can and should be put in place?

To explore these questions, the New York Academy of Sciences, together with the Aspen Brain Institute, and The Hastings Center, will bring together scientists, ethicists, philosophers, historians, and other experts, for an evening public event. The Enhanced Human: Risks and Opportunities will examine existing and emerging enhancement technologies, with a special focus on gene editing and artificial intelligence, as examples of technologies with broad capabilities and ethical concerns. Panelists will provide an historical perspective, scientific background, and will delve into the ethical and social questions still to be addressed.

*Reception to follow.

Livestream

This event will be available via Livestream, and archived in perpetuity on the Academy's Livestream Channel. For full details, and to view the Livestream, please follow the link below:

https://livestream.com/newyorkacademyofsciences/enhancedhuman

Registration

Member
$8
Nonmember
$16
Nonmember Student, Undergrad, Grad, Fellow
$10
Member Student, Post-Doc, Fellow
$8

Organizers

Melanie Brickman Borchard, PhD, MSc, The New York Academy of Sciences
Melanie Brickman Borchard, PhD, MSc, The New York Academy of Sciences
Glenda Greenwald,      Aspen Brain Institute
Glenda Greenwald, Aspen Brain Institute
Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD, The Hastings Center
Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD, The Hastings Center

Moderator

Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD, The Hastings Center
Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD, The Hastings Center

Panelists

George Church, PhD, Wyss Institute at Harvard University
George Church, PhD, Wyss Institute at Harvard University
Josephine Johnston, LLB, MBHL, The Hastings Center
Josephine Johnston, LLB, MBHL, The Hastings Center
Jamie Metzl, PhD, JD, Atlantic Council
Jamie Metzl, PhD, JD, Atlantic Council
Meredith Whittaker, AI Now Institute at NYU
Meredith Whittaker, AI Now Institute at NYU

Sponsors

For sponsorship opportunities please contact Marie Samanovic-Golden, PhD, at mgolden@nyas.org or 212.298.8606.

Presented by


Funding for this conference was made possible [in part] by the John Templeton Foundation  via a Templeton-funded project at The Hastings Center, called “Human Flourishing in an Age of Gene Editing.”

Monday

May 21, 2018

6:00 PM

Registration

6:30 PM

Welcome and Introductory Remarks

Speakers

Melanie Brickman Borchard, PhD, MSc
The New York Academy of Sciences
Glenda Greenwald
Aspen Brain Institute
Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD
The Hastings Center

SESSION 1: The History and Science of Human Enhancement

6:45 PM

Introduction

Speaker

Moderator: Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD
The Hastings Center
6:50 PM

Diverse and Egalitarian Enhancement vs the Hazards of Stasis

Speaker

George Church, PhD
Wyss Institute at Harvard University
7:00 PM

Homo Sapiens 2.0: Genetic Enhancement and the Future of Humanity

Speaker

Jamie Metzl, PhD, JD
Atlantic Council

SESSION 2: Present and Future Bioethical Considerations

7:10 PM

Introduction

Speaker

Moderator: Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD
The Hastings Center
7:15 PM

Not My Utopia: Freedom, Diversity, and the Ethics of Enhancement

Speaker

Josephine Johnston, LLB, MBHL
The Hastings Center
7:25 PM

Who's Enhancing Whom? Considering Ethics, Bias, and Power

Speaker

Meredith Whittaker
AI Now Institute at NYU

PANEL DISCUSSION: A Conversation about the Ethics of Human Enhancement

7:35 PM

Speakers

Mildred Z. Solomon, EdD (Moderator)
The Hastings Center
Glenda Greenwald (Commentator)
Aspen Brain Institute
George Church, PhD
Wyss Institute at Harvard University
Josephine Johnston, LLB, MBHL
The Hastings Center
Jamie Metzl, PhD, JD
Atlantic Council
Meredith Whittaker
AI Now Institute at NYU
8:05 PM

Questions and Answers

8:25 PM

Closing Remarks

Speaker

Melanie Brickman Borchard, PhD, MSc
The New York Academy of Sciences
8:35 PM

Reception

9:25 PM

Adjourn