The technology, opportunities, and challenges of Synthetic Biological Intelligence.

Integrating neural cultures developed through synthetic biology methods with digital computing has enabled the early development of Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI). Recently, key studies have emphasized the advantages of biological neural systems in some information processing tasks. However, neither the technology behind this early development, nor the potential ethical opportunities or challenges, have been explored in detail yet. Here, we review the key aspects that facilitate the development of SBI and explore potential applications. Considering these foreseeable use cases, various ethical implications are proposed. Ultimately, this work aims to provide a robust framework to structure ethical considerations to ensure that SBI technology can be both researched and applied responsibly.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest B.J.K. is an inventor on patents for technology related to this paper along with being employed at and holding shares in Cortical Labs Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia. No specific funding or other incentives were provided for involvement in this publication and there are no further potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)