Penn Bioethics Seminar | Peter B. Reiner, VMD, PhD

The mind in your pocket: On the neuroethical implications of smartphones as extensions of our minds.

Abstract: 
It is hard to overstate the degree to which information technology has permeated modern life. For many people, the smartphone has become an essential companion to their daily lives, a magic portal to the information superhighway that provides opportunities for communication, social interaction, and data about the world at large. On the one hand, our devices extend the reach of our cognitive abilities, and in this way they are becoming bona fide extensions of our minds. At the same time, our obsession with our devices raises questions about exactly who is in control of this relationship. In this seminar, I will explore some of the neuroethical implications of smartphones as extensions of our minds and use these insights to suggest ways in which we might more skillfully navigate our relationship with our algorithmic companions as they become ever more intimately integrated in our lives. 

Bio: 
Peter Reiner is Professor of Neuroethics in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, founder of the Neuroethics Collective, a virtual think tank of scholars who share an interest in issues of neuroethical import, and a member of UBC’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence Decision-making and Action. After receiving undergraduate, graduate and veterinary degrees at Penn, Professor Reiner began his academic career as a faculty member in the Kinsmen Laboratory of Neurological Research at UBC where he was the inaugural holder of the Louise Brown Chair in Neuroscience. In 1998 he became founder, President and CEO of Active Pass Pharmaceuticals, and in 2007 co-founded the National Core for Neuroethics. His current research is supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada entitled The Mind in Your Pocket.