Ethical guidelines set BCI research on right wavelength

A visitor experiences the brain-computer interface technology from Tianjin University at the seventh World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin. The Ministry of Science and Technology has published on its official website the nation's first ethical guidelines on Brain-Computer Interface research, providing guidance for the emerging technology. The guidelines provide clear definitions of the key terms related to BCI technology, assess the potential risks for different types of BCI technology, and lay out targeted regulatory details in response to the identified risks. For instance, while making general requirements for conducting BCI research, the guidelines emphasize the technology developers must comply with the relevant laws and regulations in China, adhere to internationally recognized ethical principles, and conform with the professional consensus and technical standards established by the scientific community, which is widely believed to have set a "bottom line" for the development of BCI technology. Emerging technologies such as BCIs possess immense potential to change the world, but the research also poses greater ethical risks, which highlights the necessity of timely releasing ethical guidelines to demarcate the boundaries for research.