Using Systems Human Factors and Ergonomics to Identify and Mitigate the Risks Associated with Future Invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces
Creators: name: King, Brandon
Publisher: name: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Year: 2024
Subjects: brain-computer interfaces
risk assessment
systems thinking
risk management
risk control
work domain analysis
Net-HARMS
agent-based modelling
societal impacts
advanced technology
future technology
ethics
Human-centred computing
Applied and developmental psychology

description: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are an emerging technology that can be implanted within the brain to read and decode brain signals and control electronic technologies. BCI
description: technologies are advancing rapidly, and their utility has been demonstrated in relation to therapeutic applications, such as facilitating communications for people with completely
description: locked-in syndrome or restoring motor functions. In the near future, BCIs could also be used widely for human enhancement or entertainment purposes. Such an invasive technology will inevitably introduce risks not just to users but to the entire sociotechnical BCI system; however, the extent to which these risks have been considered is unclear. This thesis is a direct response to this gap and aims to apply systems Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) methods to identify the system-wide risks of BCIs and identify potential controls that could be implemented throughout the BCI lifecycle. The ultimate goal of this research is to informthe safe and ethical development and introduction of advanced and efficacious BCIs.
description: The research undertaken in this thesis includes a systematic literature review of BCI risks, a comparison and evaluation of systems HFE methods that could be applied to address the thesis aims, three studies modelling the BCI system lifecycle and prospectively identifying risks and controls, and the development and evaluation of a set of risk controls for the BCI system throughout its lifecycle. The systematic review (Chapter 2) found a range of risks have been discussed; however, a key gap was that no formal risk assessment methods had been applied to identify risks associated with BCIs. Next, a set of systems HFE methods were evaluated and selected according to their ability to identify the risks of BCIs and potential risk controls (Chapter 3 and 4). The Work Domain Analysis – Broken Nodes (WDA-BN; Chapter 5) and the Networked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (Net-HARMS; Chapter 6) prospective risk assessment methods were then applied to model a future envisioned BCI system lifecycle and identify potential risks and controls. A computational modelling approach, Agent-Based Modelling, was then applied to dynamically simulate the emergence of risks over time following the envisioned introduction of BCIs within a simulated society. This analysis was used to identify the societal conditions likely to lead to the most favourable and unfavourable outcomes for BCI users and society (Chapter 7). Risks identified through the application of the three adopted methods ranged from physical health risks of BCI implantation and degradation, shortfalls in BCI user and stakeholder training, lack of BCI user and past user support, and uncontrolled malicious hacking. The risk controls identified across the three studies were then aggregated, synthesised, desktop tested, and refined into a set of 10 high-level risk control strategies before being evaluated by BCI subject matter experts (Chapter 8). Overall, the findings of the thesis provide various complementary models of an envisioned BCI system lifecycle and a detailed overview of the individual, organisational, and societal risks that could emerge when BCIs are introduced. Key contributions of this thesis include the development and application of a novel future risks many model process framework, the proposal of a prototype model of BCI risk sources (Chapter 9), and the development of a practical set of high-level risk control strategies for BCI stakeholders. Future research should build on this by further testing the high-level risk control strategies and evaluating their application, and testing the reliability and validity of the future risks many model approach and the modified HFE methods.