On October 14, 2024, the Science and Technology International Ethics Symposium was held in Shanghai. The Symposium was hosted by the Science Ethics Construction Committee, Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASAD), and organized by the Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch.

This international symposium invited more than 70 experts, including scientists, experts in science and technology ethics, experts in science and technology policy, and scientific research managers from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Japan to exchange and discuss on issues of common concern, including science and technology ethics, and countermeasures for global governance of science and technology ethics.

The Chair of the Science Ethics Construction Committee of the CASAD, CAS member Haiyan Hu, delivered an opening address at the beginning. He pointed out that “Global governance of science and technology ethics faces significant challenges, but there is currently a lack of an effective international governance framework to coordinate collective actions on science and technology ethics among nations.” 

“Under such background, we are hosting this science and technology ethics international symposium to establish a diverse and inclusive platform for global dialogue. By bringing together top scientists, ethicists, and policy experts from various cultural backgrounds, industries, and academic disciplines, we seek to foster in-depth discussions on the global governance of science and technology from the angle of ethics. This will help us to build a shared understanding and coordinated action at the international level, ensuring that scientific and technological progress serves the well-being of all humankind,” said Hu.

The symposium was divided into two stages: keynote speeches and parallel sessions. In the keynote speeches, seven experts made speeches based on their research areas. Fu Gao, professor at the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS, CAS member, gave a presentation titled “Bio-ethics in the AI Era”, discussing how the intersection of intelligence and biology in the AI era is profoundly changing our understanding of life and consciousness. Qinghua Zheng, president of Tongji University, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gave a presentation titled “The Innovative Development of Artificial Intelligence and STEM Education: Cognition and Practice”, discussing the mechanism of the integrated development of artificial intelligence and science education, as well as the science and technology ethics issues involved. Tingyang Zhao, professor at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave a presentation titled “Subjectivity of Artificial Intelligence and Its Potentiality”, arguing that ethics studies the normative principles of human relationships and cannot be extended to tran-species situations, and if humans do not impose their values on artificial intelligence, the future of artificial intelligence will be safe. Françoise Baylis, professor at the Dalhousie University in Canada, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, gave a presentation titled “Heritable Human Genome Editing: When Science, Ethics, Politics & Policy Collide”, pointing out that “what kind of world we want to live in” should run through people’s responses to human genome editing and other scientific and technological innovations. Robin Williams, professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, gave a presentation titled "How might We Achieve Responsible and Ethical Medical AI”, arguing that the potential degradation of AI model performance with changes in context and infrastructure requires continuing, real-time post-market scrutiny over AI tools. Daniel Wikler, professor at Harvard University in the United States, co-founder of the International Association of Bioethics, gave a presentation titled “Bioethics and Governance at the Population Level”, discussing the bioethical assumptions and implications of adopting some recently proposed goals. John McMillan, professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, former chair of the New Zealand National Ethics Advisory Committee, gave a presentation titled “Neurotechnology, Mental Integrity, and the Extended Mind”, pointing out that the creation of neurotechnologies have prompted debate about whether a “right to mental integrity” could be a new normative standard with which we could evaluate these new technologies.

In the parallel sessions, nearly 20 experts made presentations on different topics, and the participants had a heated discussion about the content of the presentations. In the AI Ethics Session, eight experts, including professor Hengjin Cai from the School of Computer Science at Wuhan University, professor and deputy director Sumei Cheng from the Institute of Philosophy at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, professor Qingfeng Yang from the Institute of Technology Ethics for Human Future at Fudan University, professor Alfred Nordmann from the Institute for Philosophy at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, professor Jacob Dahl Rendtorff from the Department of Business and Social Sciences at Roskilde University in Denmark, senior researcher Miltos Ladikas from the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, professor Hiromi M. Yokoyama from the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at University of Tokyo in Japan, and senior lecturer Xiaobai Shen from the School of Business at University of Edinburgh in the UK, gave their presentations.

The presentations covered topics such as “The Role of Consciousness in Shaping the Future of AGI”, “The Ethical Reflection on Persuasive Technology”, “On Three Artificial Intelligence Narratives and its Effect on AI Ethics”, “Self-Learning and the Limits of Self-Improvement”, “Business Ethics and Responsible AI”, “Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Governance Challenges from a European Perspective”, “Measuring Trust in AI for Policy Implementation: Demand for AI in Medicine Accelerates AI Use in Japan” and “Ethical AI Governance: A Co-learning Approach”.

In the Bioethics Session, nine experts, including professor Xiaomei Zhai from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, professor Yaojin Peng from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, associate professor Haidan Chen from the School of Health Humanities at Peking University, professor Xiaoli Wang from the Shanghai Institute of Immunology and Infection at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, professor and director S. Matthew Liao from the Center for Bioethics at New York University in the United States, professor Reidar Lie from the Department of Philosophy at University of Bergen in Norway, associate professor Luis Campos from the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in the United States, associate professor David Ludwig from the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and associate professor Neil Stephens from the School of Social Policy and Society at University of Birmingham in the UK, gave their presentations.

The experts reported on topics such as “Xenotransplantation: Scientific, Ethical, and Regulatory Challenges”, “Ethical Concerns in Aging Research: Perspectives of Global Frontline Researchers”, “Drawing Red Lines for Brain-Computer Interfaces? The Perspectives of Chinese Experts”, “Issues and Strategies for the Modernization of Biotechnology Ethical Governance in China”, “Ethics of AI and Health Care: Towards a Substantive Human Rights Framework”, “Whither Science Ethics?”, “The Spirit of Asilomar”, “Global Bioscience Cooperation in Times of Global Biotech Competition” and “The Ethics of Eating Stem Cells: Politics, Bioethics, and Cultured Meat”.

The Science and Technology Ethics Symposium is an important annual academic event of the Science Ethics Construction Committee of the CASAD. Since 2011, the symposium has been successfully held 13 times, focusing on ethical issues in fields such as genetic technology, stem cells, ecological environment, information technology, and artificial intelligence. The Science and Technology Ethics Symposium, adhering to the principles of openness, equality, rationality, and responsibility, encourages the free exchange of ideas, contributes to policy implications, and promotes the value of good and responsible research, establishing itself as a high-level exchange platform for domestic scientific research integrity and science and technology ethics.

Venue

AI Ethics Session

Bioethics Session