Lecture by Prof. Dr. Felicitas Krämer within the BMBF-funded Summer School "Dual Use and Misuse of Research Results"

Research results can serve both benevolent and malevolent. In ethics, this predicament is known as “dual use”. Recently, Urbina et al. (2022) in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence presented a case wherein drug-discovery via A.I. resulted in the identification of the structure of an extremely toxic substance with potential applications in weapons of mass destruction. These and similar cases in the past have triggered an ethical debate about concerns about safety, on the one hand, and freedom of research on the other. This talk delves into the ethical dilemmas surrounding dual use, employing concrete examples. It will explore the delicate balance required to uphold both values. Additionally, the talk will analyze how the problem of dual use can increasingly be brought to the attention of students and younger researchers e.g. at Universities and research institutions.

The Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) will host a summer school on dual use and misuse of research results ("Dual Use research of concern (DURC)") from 17th to 21st July 2023. The event is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and organized by the Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine 7 Brain and Behavior of FZJ.