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bondarchuk • today at 7:08 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

One of those research areas where nothing they currently do is unethical, but also nothing they currently do is useful, and right about the point where it might ever become useful is also the point where it becomes hugely unethical. So we'd do well to outlaw it right now, but seems like we don't really have a moral framework for cases like this.


Replies

PowerElectronix • today at 9:36 PM

You can probably do a lot of interesting stuff without giving the blob any capacity of having a consciousness or higher intelligence.

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magimas • today at 7:44 PM

I don't see why we should outlaw this. There's so many potential insights to be gleaned from research like this that you just can't predict.

And making something like this illegal often has unintended side effects. What if brain organoid research is what ends up curing alzheimer's?

Advocating for outlawing parts of research just on the basis that in the future they could potentially turn unethical is very shortsighted in my opinion.

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