Issue Key point: ethical and security dilemmas call for action in the common good

Summary

The Megatrends 2040 report highlights that some technologies raise significant dilemmas and consequences related to ethics and security. For that reason, it argues, actions in the service of the common good are required. Advances in fields such as gene modification, synthetic biology, brain imaging, robotics and artificial intelligence, some still at the research stage, are accelerating. The report also suggests that a global system for collecting and evaluating new technologies and their impacts could strengthen security. It points to open science, citizen participation and collaborative interdisciplinary research as ways of democratising science.