The Convergence of Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, and the Viability of a Noetic Neuroethics.

We are honored to have Dr. James Giordano PhD DPhil as your guest speaker at the upcoming school online.

The convergence of neuroscientific methods and knowledge with iteratively autonomous agentic AI systems engenders profound epistemic, ontological and axiological challenges that transcend traditional neuroethical frameworks. As generative AI increasingly models, predicts, and influences human thought, and develops computational capacity for ever more sophisticated cognition, unprecedented questions about consciousness, intentionality, and moral agency will arise that demand rigorous philosophical reflection and practical resolve.  A noetic neuroethics, grounded in sustained inquiry to the nature of mind,and being, may afford a toolkit for interdisciplinary address of how these technologies are blurring boundaries of biological and inorganic cognition and consciousness, and shaping understanding of subjectivity, autonomy, and foundations of moral consideration and regard.

James Giordano, PhD, DPhil, is Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Biochemistry, and Chair Emeritus of the Neuroethics Studies Program at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC. Professor Giordano is also Chair Emeritus of the IEEE Brain Initiative Project on Neurotechnology and Ethics; and served as Senior Bioethicist of the Defense Medical Ethics Center and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences; Senior Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment Branch of the Joint Staff, Pentagon; Fellow and Task Leader of the Neuroethics Study Section of the European Union Human Brain Project. He was an elected member of the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Human Research Protections; Fulbright Professor of Neuroscience and Neuroethics at the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, GER; Associate Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics, University of Oxford, UK; and was an elected founding member of the Neuroethics, Legal, and Social Issues Advisory Panel of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Prof. Giordano has served as a senior bioscientific, biotechnology, and ethics advisor to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the World Health Organization (WHO); UNESCO, and several international bioscientific and biotechnological commercial entities.