The Chilean Senate recently unanimously approved a draft constitutional reform. The purpose of this text is to establish a legislative framework for the protection of mental integrity and the status of neural data. Chile would thus become the first country in the world to clearly legislate on neurotechnologies by reforming its constitution. The text must now be approved by the Chilean Chamber of Deputies.

A legislative framework for neurotechnology

Initiated by Senator Guido Girardi, the reform aims to preserve the physical and psychological integrity of individuals and to ensure that it is impossible to increase, decrease or modify in any way this individual integrity without the consent of those entitled to it. One example given was the enhancement of the mental capacities of individuals, without their consent, through neural stimulation for military purposes.

Guido Girardi spoke about neurotechnology and artificial intelligence:

“Artificial intelligence seeks to replicate our cerebral cortex with artificial neural systems. The more neuroscience advances, the more AI advances and vice versa. The two reinforce each other and could reach an unimaginable speed of development.”

He also explains that he “aims to protect the last frontier of human beings, namely their minds”:

“If a technology can read (your thoughts), even before you are aware of what you are thinking, it can write into your brain emotions, thoughts, life stories that are not yours. Your brain will not be able to distinguish them as if they were from a pure artificial creation.”

A reform to avoid dystopian scenarios

Spanish scientist and neurobiologist Rafael Yuste, from Colombia University, said that researchers have already succeeded in implanting in the brains of guinea pig mice, images that they have never seen and that they assimilate to their own ideas. They then take this new information into account in their behaviour. Many voices are also raised about Neuralink’s research.

While dystopian scenarios are possible, there are of course many beneficial neurotechnologies: the implantation of brain stimulators to improve the lives of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia or Parkinson’s disease. The creation of implants to cure deafness or blindness is also mentioned.

To return to the Chilean bill, four fundamental areas will be considered:

• Safeguarding the data of the human mind or “neurodata”.
• Determining an equitable distribution of access to these technologies.
• Setting the limits of “neuroalgorithms”.
• Setting limits on the neurotechnology of reading and especially writing in the brain.

A legislation that could inspire other countries

According to Rafael Yuste, if research continues to develop, hybrid humans could appear. They would be cognitively augmented by neurotechnologies, with ideas or knowledge that would be the result of algorithms:

“To avoid a two-tiered situation with augmented humans and others who are not, we believe that these neurotechnologies should be regulated from a point of view of universal principle of justice, in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

The international community, including France, Spain and the United States, could follow the Chilean example. This is what the Chilean president called for at the 27th Ibero-American Summit at the end of April.

In France, the situation is still far from recognition of “neuro-rights”. However, the Bioethics Law of July 2011 refers in particular to the protection of mental integrity and neural data in Article 16-14 of the Civil Code, which mentions that brain imaging techniques can only be used for medical purposes, scientific research or judicial expertise with the written consent of the person.

Translated from Chili : que signifie le vote à l’unanimité du projet de loi sur l’exploitation des neurotechnologies ?