Cyborg Bugs & AI

AI systems can move across common regulatory boundaries. 

For example, from research to defense (the EU AI Act does not apply to these two sectors). Experimentation in research can lead to real-life ethical questions.

An interesting case is SWARM biotactics, a startup founded in 2024. It programs living organisms and makes them cyborgs—for example, your common bug. I am not sure what agency the insect has. 

Here there is a deliberate trade-off – safety for low-life form agency. When do these parameters change? When does surveillance or intelligence become a privacy issue? When do we decide to use higher life forms? When do we stop?

This is an example of European innovation that attracted international funding - from Europe, the United States, and Australia, including Vertex Ventures US, Possible Ventures, and Capnamic. 

Is the ethical responsibility of the startup with the country in which it was born, the investors, or the users of the tech?

There is more work to do on understanding AI boundaries and ethics.

Having conversations like this is what AI governance is all about.