Abstract:

The respect for autonomy is a fundamental value in bioethics. However, a society mediated by technological means has revealed that autonomy is often illusory. To understand what makes digital media efficient in spreading fake news, and strengthening manipulations capable of changing the political and social destiny of a country, we must analyze the functioning of the ‘automated society’ and the ideas that support it. Behaviorism stands out among the influences that most conflict with autonomy since it defends the concept of man-machine as a need for control based on an apparent scientific perspective. Based on research into the themes of robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and related systems such as Big Data and Deep Learning, the examination of contemporary bioethical perspectives resulted in a theoretical and critical rescue of theories that remain influential in the social imaginary and in the way of doing science. The dualism between the ‘mind’ (position of elaboration and command) and the ‘body’ (subordinate and operational) is the heart of the ‘automatic society’ and is ubiquitous in systems that reinforce social injustices. A preamble written in first-person proposes to place in context the historical subject in the exercise of his autonomy in contrast with movements resistant to its full realization due to disputes and power projects. The ‘automated society’ is a simplified culture with the machine in control. The simplification, however, affects some more than others, since the models are part of a specific agenda. The bioethical evaluation of systems that inhibit autonomy requires identifying where the ‘devices’ are ‘implanted’ and how to position oneself concerning them.

Keywords: autonomy, behaviorism, bioethics, digital media

OBS.: This text is part of the forthcoming book ” DEUS EX MACHINA: Fronteiras Bioéticas das Neurociências, Inteligência Artificial, Nanotecnologia e Robótica“, organized by Rodrigo Siqueira-Batista, Eugênio Silva, Elen Nas and Oswaldo Motta.