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Das im Juli 2025 veröffentlichte Policy Paper fasst die Ergebnisse einer Umfrage im Rahmen des Hochschul-Barometers zusammen. Der Stifterverband hat Hochschulleitungen in Deutschland gefragt, wie sie sicherheitsrelevante Forschung in Deutschland bewerten.

Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the life sciences have the potential to enable advances in biological discovery and design at a faster pace and efficiency than is possible with classical experimental approaches alone. At the same time, AI-enabled biological tools developed for beneficial applications could potentially be misused for harmful purposes. Although the creation of…

Kriege und Konflikte haben in den letzten Jahren weltweit zugenommen. Die Zahl der Todesopfer steigt stark an, insbesondere in der Ukraine und im Nahen Osten. In diesen Kriegenzeigt sich der zunehmende militärische Einsatz neuer und neuester Technologien. Tatsächlich hat Technologie das Potenzial, die konventionelle Art und Weise Kriege zu führen, fundamental zu verändern. Gleichzeitig bleibt…

This article addresses the question of how the responsibilities for addressing the risks of dual use research ought to be divided. We begin by presenting the maximalist claim that proposes that since scientists are well placed to judge the potential for misuse of their studies, they alone are responsible for addressing these risks. Before assessing…

Although misinformation exposure takes place within a social context, significant conclusions have been drawn about misinformation susceptibility through studies that largely examine judgements in a social vacuum. Bridging the gap between social influence research and the cognitive science of misinformation, we examine the mechanisms through which social context impacts misinformation susceptibility across 5 experiments (N = 20,477). We find…

Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC) has been well analyzed regarding the life sciences. This article explores the topic of younger fields of medical research and their potential for misuse, especially in the military context. The areas of research considered are artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, and neuroenhancement. Each of these areas have brought forward highly promising…

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Guidance Framework for the Responsible Use of the Life Sciences addresses the governance of biorisks, including dual-use research, for countries. It emphasizes engaging multisectoral stakeholders such as governments, scientific bodies, health and research institutes, standard-setting organizations, funding bodies, and others. Ethics constitutes a key component of the framework. Given…

In der Medizin (wie auch in anderen Fächern) wächst generell die Bedeutung informatischer Expertise. Schon das erfordert eine Kultur interdisziplinärer Begutachtung, auf welche medizinische Ethikkommissionen nicht gut eingestellt sind. Mit dem Einsatz von Big Data- und KI-Verfahren (sei es eigens entwickelter, sei es in Form von „Tools“) sind weitere Herausforderungen für die forschungsethische Begutachtung verbunden.…

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to study science communication and, in particular, the transmission of consensus. In this study, we show how “science communicators,” writ large to include both mainstream science journalists and practiced conspiracy theorists, transform scientific evidence into two dueling consensuses using the effectiveness of masks as a case study. We…

The way electorates were influenced to vote for the Brexit referendum, and in presidential elections both in Brazil and the USA, has accelerated a debate about whether and how machine learning techniques can influence citizens’ decisions. The access to balanced information is endangered if digital political manipulation can influence voters. The techniques of profiling and…

Informed by social media data collected following four terror attacks in the UK in 2017, this article delineates a series of “techniques of disinformation” used by different actors to try and influence how the events were publicly defined and understood. By studying the causes and consequences of misleading information following terror attacks, the article contributes…

In the past decade, the perception of a bioterrorist threat has increased and created a demand on life scientists to consider the potential security implications of dual use research. This article examines a selection of proposed moral obligations for life scientists that have emerged to meet these concerns and the extent to which they can…