Innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies may lead to major advancements in neural brain implants, robotics, and systems aimed at removing space junk in the next decade – but they will also come with new policy implications.
That’s according to a new report out Thursday from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which said those three areas of innovation are likely to significantly mature in the coming years.
GAO said that part of its criteria for selecting those three technologies was evaluating the shift from “specialized use in specific applications to general use across a broader range of tasks.”
“For example, neural implants have been developed to treat specific conditions, and researchers are exploring how to move beyond that to develop implants that augment human capabilities,” GAO explained. It also noted that robotics is evolving from industrial machines to more versatile, general-purpose systems able to reason and adapt to real-world environments.
AI is largely driving innovation across neural implants, robotics, space junk technologies, GAO said. The watchdog explained that breakthroughs in AI allow systems to interpret brain signals in real time, navigate unpredictable disaster zones, and maneuver through congested orbital environments.
Advancements in control algorithms, sensors, materials science, energy storage, and even the creation of new Vision-Language-Action models to enable robots to perceive, plan, and act simultaneously, have also driven maturity in those technologies, GAO added.
Neural implants could have military and defense applications, allowing service members to use implants to control drones or other complex machinery hands-free. They could enable real-time seamless translation between languages, or even direct brain-to-brain communication.
Robots could autonomously inspect and repair critical infrastructure, and clear heavy debris and assess damage in large-scale emergences and disasters. Systems built to clean orbital environments could capture large debris and drag it into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up or use laser nudging to “nudge” small or tumbling debris to prevent collisions.
Technology maturity brings policy challenges
But the agency noted that advancements in these fields come with significant implications for society and may require policy action.
GAO noted that current processes – such as the Food and Drug Administration’s medical device review – may not account for when people want to use neural implants to simply enhance their abilities. In addition, privacy protections in laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act may not protect neural data collection for non-clinical reasons.
To address these and other challenges, the agency suggested that policymakers develop standards for the ethical use of neural implants and consider whether they should be subject to import and export controls to prevent adversaries from acquiring them.
Regulatory oversight for robotics is aimed at ensuring safety and human oversight, GAO said. It suggested that regulators could develop an observability framework to monitor not only what a robot did but also understand why, and create shared infrastructure for testing and training robots before deployment.
GAO said space junk removal is hindered by a “commons problem,” in which space organizations have little incentive to remove debris they didn’t create. It said policymakers could consider fees or refundable bonds for satellite operators, which would fund remediation efforts. It also noted that international space law could be blocking debris-removal efforts.
The Government Accountability Office releases annual reports tracking key advances in science and technology. The report published Thursday is its second installment. The first report in the series examined developments in gene editing, space-based manufacturing, and biodegradable bioplastics.