From the repaired human to the enhanced human: what kind of impacts on individual and the society?
- Détails
November 26, 2014 - SwissTech Convention Center - EPFL
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Summary
Exoskeleton, bionic hand, artificial heart, augmented brain... Accepted when it restores lost abilities, technology might lead to questions when, going beyond the repairing limits, it artificially improves the human physical and cognitive performances well beyond capabilities given by nature.
The limit between repairing and improving is not new, but the acceleration and the extent of the most recent technological developments impose new reflection in proportion to the stakes raised by the new connections between human beings and machines. These hybridized connections are directly integrated into the human body and brain with the use of biotechnology, nanotechnology, information science and cognitive science.
The question is then whether these technological developments can transform what we are, in the very depths, and change our personality or identity, and finally what is a "real" human. From hope to fear, the conference addresses a vast challenge that covers the economic and social issues related to the access by disabled people to auxiliary measures derived from the new repairing technologies and their funding by social insurances.
The conference proposes a high-quality interdisciplinary reflection, accessible to all, consisting in an explanatory statement of the technological, ethical and legal basis. The conference also highlights the anthropological perspective, enriched with testimonials from disabled people and followed by a roundtable that will give the opportunity to exchange views. The conference targets any individual directly affected or concerned about the development of and access to technologies that allow the rehabilitation of disabled individuals' deficient functions, as well as, more generally, people interested in the impact of such technological development on individuals and the society.
Initiator and scientific director : Charles Joye, lawyer
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