Deep-Seated Ethical Risks in Frontier Science and Technology and Corresponding Mitigation Strategies

Abstract

Currently, the ethical risks posed by frontier science and technology, such as life sciences and artificial intelligence, are raising serious concerns in the international community, while ethical governance of science and technology in China is progressing at the institutional level. To advance this process, it is necessary to identify the distinctive characteristics of frontier science and technology, expose the deep-seated ethical risks they generate, deepen our understanding of the structural characteristics of the sociotechnical system, and explore and reconstruct the fundamental logic of risk perception. First, we should recognize how emerging science and technology transforms the sociotechnical system, thereby comprehending the structural nature of the ethical risks in frontier S&T. Second, drawing on open practice regarding ethical governance of frontier S&T, we should view risk perception and ethical norms as forms of collective cognition and provisional working assumptions continuously updated by relevant groups. Third, we should emphasize that risk perception in frontier science and technology is systemic and malleable, which both shapes and enlarges the space for innovation. Based on this analysis, we propose preemptive mitigation strategies: define ethical boundaries for scientific inquiry; set appropriate ethical and legal thresholds; develop open and comprehensive governance mechanisms; enhance public literacy in science and technology ethics; and uphold the principle of proportionality.

Keywords

science and technology ethics / ethical governance of science and technology / deep technological application / deep-seated ethical risks / systems thinking

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Higher Education Press