Global Perspectives on NeuroAI Policy

Neuroethics 2025
Schedule
Registration

This session will explore global policy perspectives on NeuroAI, featuring international experts from UNESCO, the OECD, Council of Europe, and leading research institutions. The discussion will address ethical, legal, and governance challenges related to AI-enabled neurotechnologies and the urgent need for responsible, coordinated global frameworks.

Speakers:

  • Limor Shmerling Magazanik, Future of Privacy Forum / OECD
  • Alena Buyx, Technical University of Munich
  • David Winickoff, OECD / Sciences Po Law School
  • Dafna Feinholz, UNESCO
  • Laurence Lwoff, Council of Europe
  • Marcello Ienca, Technical University of Munich (moderator)

Agenda

  1. Individual statements / 20 minutes
  2. Targeted questions / 15 minutes
  3. Panelist comments / 5 minutes
  4. Audience Q&A / 20 minutes

Attend

Neuroethics 2025
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
9:30–10:30am CEST

Zoom »

This discussion is being held as part of Neuroethics 2025, the joint annual meeting of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) and Società Italiana di Neuroetica (SINe). Register for the conference to participate virtually. Virtual participants can watch the live broadcast and submit questions to the discussion. All registrants get access to the recordings before the general public.

Description

This session will bring together representatives from leading international organizations to discuss emerging global frameworks and policy initiatives at the intersection of neuroscience, neurotechnology, and artificial intelligence (NeuroAI). As neurotechnologies increasingly integrate AI to interpret, stimulate, and interface with the brain, policy responses must grapple with novel ethical, legal, and societal implications—from mental privacy and neurorights to global equity and regulatory harmonization. The session will be structured as a 60-minute moderated panel discussion, beginning with brief input statements from each speaker (Round 1) outlining their organization’s work on neurotechnology and AI governance, including key priorities, challenges, and ongoing actions. In Round 2, the moderator will pose targeted questions to each speaker to deepen the discussion on global NeuroAI governance. Round 3 will allow panelists to respond to each other’s insights, and Round 4 will open the floor to audience questions via Slido, prioritizing the most upvoted contributions.

Resources

Readings

  • UNESCO (2024) First draft of a Recommendation on the Ethics of Neurotechnology (revised version): working document as of 27 August 2024
  • Winickoff, D. (2021, August). Neurotechnology at the OECD: The role of the private sector in governance. In Annales des Mines-Réalités Industrielles (No. 3, pp. 7-11). Cairn/Softwin.
  • Children’s Rights in the Digital Age: Ethical and Policy Challenges, UNICEF Reports, 2023.

Keywords: NeuroAI, neurotechnology, artificial intelligence, ethics, policy, governance, global perspectives, human rights, neurorights, responsible innovation, brain-computer interfaces, international regulation

Speakers

Limor Shmerling Magazanik

Former Managing Director of the Israel Tech Policy Institute (2018–2022), Senior Fellow at the Future of Privacy Forum, Member of the Data Governance Expert Group, OECD. 

Alena Buyx

Professor of Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies and Director of the Institute of History and Ethics in Medicine at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Chair of the German Ethics Council from 2020 until April 2024. 

David Winickoff

Head of the Responsible Innovation Unit in the Division of Science and Technology Policy at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. He also serves as Secretary of the Working Party on Bio-, Nano-, and Converging Technology (BNCT) at the OECD and is an Affiliated Professor at Sciences Po Law School.

Dafna Feinholz

Chief of the Bioethics and Ethics of Science Section within UNESCO’s Social and Human Science Sector. In this role, she leads activities aimed at reinforcing the capacities of Member States to manage bioethical challenges and to identify the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies.

Laurence Lwoff

Head of the Bioethics Unit (DGI – Human Rights Directorate) and Secretary of the Committee on Bioethics (DH-BIO) at the Council of Europe. She is responsible for activities related to the protection of human rights in the biomedical field.

Organizers

Marcello Ienca, Technical University of Munich

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