Dr. med. Philipp Kellmeyer

CV

Dr. Kellmeyer is a neurologist at the University Medical Center Freiburg where he heads the Human-Technology Interaction Lab at the Department of Neurosurgery. He studied human medicine in Heidelberg and Zurich and received a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge (GB). As a neuroscientist he works in the fields of neuroimaging and translational neurotechnology, in particular the clinical application of digital technologies, such as brain-computer interfaces, social robots and virtual reality. He is a scientific member of the BrainLinks-BrainTools cluster of excellence at the University of Freiburg and co-leads the Responsible Artificial Intelligence research group (https://responsible-ai.org/) and the science outreach platform Nexus Experiments (https://nexusexperiments.org/). In his highly transdisciplinary research at the intersection of neurology, neuroscience / neurotechnology, ethics and social sciences, he works on human-technology interaction in medicine and other health-related contexts. He is also an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich, where he also teaches biomedical ethics.

Selected Publications

• Kellmeyer P, Biller-Andorno N, Meynen G. Ethical Tensions in Virtual Reality Treatment in Vulnerable Patients. Nature Medicine. 2019. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0543-y.
• Kellmeyer P, Chandler, J, Cabrera, L, Carter, A, Kreitmair K, Weiss A, Illes J. Neuroethics at 15: The Current and Future Environment for Neuroethics. AJOB Neuroscience. 2019. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2019.1632958 
• Kellmeyer P., Mueller O., Feingold-Polak R. and Levy-Tzedek S. "Social robots in rehabilitation: A question of trust". Science Robotics. 2018 Aug 15 3(21). https://www.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aat1587
• Yuste R, Goering S, Arcas BAY, Bi G, Carmena JM, Carter A, Fins JJ, Friesen P, Gallant J, Huggins JE, Illes J, Kellmeyer P, Klein E, Marblestone A, Mitchell C, Parens E, Pham M, Rubel A, Sadato N, Sullivan LS, Teicher M, Wasserman D, Wexler A, Whittaker M, Wolpaw J. Four ethical priorities for neurotechnologies and AI. Nature. 2017 Nov 8;551(7679):159-163. doi: 10.1038/551159a.
• Kellmeyer P. Ethical and Legal Implications of the Methodological Crisis in Neuroimaging. Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2017 Oct;26(4):530-554. doi: 10.1017/S096318011700007X.
• Kellmeyer P, Cochrane T, Müller O, Mitchell C, Ball T, Fins JJ, Biller-Andorno N.The Effects of Closed-Loop Medical Devices on the Autonomy and Accountability of Persons and Systems. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. 2016 Oct; 25(4): pp. 623-33. doi: 10.1017/S0963180116000359.

FRIAS Research Project

Responsible Artificial Intelligence: Normative aspects of the interaction of humans and intelligent systems

Intelligent systems capable of autonomous behavior and self-learning, whether in medical devices or self-driving vehicles, are the core technology behind the next wave of industrial innovation. In this research focus, we will jointly investigate ethical, legal, philosophical and social aspects, including benefits and risks in a broad sense, of this impending transformation from different perspectives. In the legal and governance domain, for example, we will examine national and international legislations, regulations, and treaties, as well as soft law norms and codes of conduct, on whether they are adequate for governing the interactions between humans and intelligent systems and for adjudicating liability. We will also study algorithmic and hardware mechanisms for safeguarding users of intelligent software and robots. With respect to philosophical questions, we will study the impact of these technologies on ethical theories and concepts of agency and action. The project provides a foundational nucleus for the interdisciplinary study of ethical, legal, social and other aspects of autonomous intelligent systems at the University of Freiburg.