Dual use research is one of the hot topics of the current generation whereby some researches or technologies can be useful and hazardous. These two attributes suggest that it is an area of tremendous importance to the world’s security, ethic and innovation.
Area such as biotechnology, genetic engineering and artificial intelligence are good examples of areas where dual use research has led to breakthroughs. For instance, medical progress in virology means progress in flu shots but also in germ warfare. Likewise, in healthcare and automation, AI innovations have appeared, but which can provoke the use of people in cyber war or surveillance.
This means that the use of dual use technologies raise serious ethical issues thus the various regulatory measures that should be put in place. One kind of the international conventions which are important to discuss the threats of dual-use research can be mentioned, for example, Biological Weapons Convention. But there are disparities in the coverage and implementation and policies differ across the world, hence the need to cooperate.
To avoid such risks, scientists must be knowledgeable and aware of the possibility of ‘’dubious dual-use.’’ Ethical principles, systemical risk assessment, and clear review procedures are essential for preventing gradual devolvement into irresponsible risk-taking. The institutions and the funding agencies should also consider contemplating with experimental misuse while approving such research projects.
The issue of balancing innovation and security lies at the heart of multiple domains and requires attention to both raising public awareness of the threats and uniting professionals from various fields: technical, social, and legal. Governments, researchers and the private sector must tread the balance where dual-use research produces the required outcome and the development does not harm any human or is not exploitable badly.
Moreover, the approaches to the prevention of misuse and the promotion of ethical conduct demonstrate that the global community can rely on dual-use research to benefit from it, while eliminating the risk of its use with a malicious intent. This challenge has to be met to guarantee that sci-tech develops appropriately for a globalized world.
