Workshop on the Ethics of Molecular Robotics

Molecular robotics is an emerging discipline that aims to produce artificial molecular systems that can adapt to change in the environment, self-organize and evolve. By co-designing possible and desirable futures and co-creating the Ethical Principles, molecular roboticists in Japan have been collaborating with social scientists and stakeholders to participate in the governance of technology development in a reflexive manner. Similar experiences can also be found in the European RRI and TA activities, which highlight the integration of ethical consideration in multi-/inter- disciplinary research management and stakeholder engagement. This workshop aims to share an understanding of molecular robotics and its ethical and social implications and exchange knowledge and lessons of the governance of emerging technologies in Norway, Europe and Japan.

Date: 12:00-16:00, Wednesday 30 October 2019
Venue: Work Research Institute (AFI), OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

  • Introduction by Go Yoshizawa (AFI, OsloMet)
  • ‘ELSI and RRI of molecular robotics – from a scientist’s perspective’ Akihiko Konagaya (School of Computing, Tokyo Institute of Technology)
  • ‘Lessons from co-creating the Ethical Principles for Molecular Robotics’ Naoto Kawahara (Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Kyushu University Hospital)
  • ‘Responsible governance of science and technology: cases of GMO and stem cell’ Ryuma Shineha (Faculty of Arts and Literature, Seijo University)
  • ‘Current issues in patenting in Europe’ Nico Groenendijk (AFI, OsloMet)
  • ‘The ethics of creating cyborgs – Coping with potential ethical consequences in open ended multidisciplinary research’ Mads Dahl Gjefsen & Knut Jørgen Vie (AFI, OsloMet)
  • ‘Experiments in interdisciplinarity: opportunities and challenges’ Erik Thorstensen & Clare Shelley-Egan (AFI, OsloMet)