神经技术、安全与无人机战争的未来接口

Strategic Security Analysis The Future Interface ofNeurotechnologies, Security andDrone Warfare Renaud B. Jolivet The Geneva Centre for Security Policy The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundationthat aims to advance global cooperation, security and peace. The foundationis supported by the Swiss government and governed by 55 member states.The GCSP provides a unique 360° approach to learn about and solve globalchallenges. The foundation’s mission is to educate leaders, facilitate dialogue,advise through in-house research, inspire new ideas and connect experts todevelop sustainable solutions to build a more peaceful future. Strategic Security Analyses The GCSP Strategic Security Analyses series publishes short papers thataddress a current security issue. These papers provide background informationabout the theme, identify the main issues and challenges, and proposepolicy recommendations. This series is edited by Dr Jean-Marc Rickli, Head of Global and Emerging Risks. About the author Renaud B. Jolivetis Professor at the Maastricht Centre for Systems Biologyand Bioinformatics at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. He has anMSc in Theoretical Biophysics from the University of Lausanne and a PhD inComputational Neuroscience from the Swiss Federal Technology Instituteof Lausanne. About this publication This publication is part of a special series of papers under thePolymathInitiativesupported by the Didier and Martine Primat Foundation. For moreinformation, please visit the Polymath Initiative website:https://www.gcsp.ch/the-polymath-initiative. ISBN: 978-2-88947-328-1 © Geneva Centre for Security Policy, August 2025 The views, information and opinions expressed in this publication are theauthor’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the GCSP or the membersof its Foundation Council. The GCSP is not responsible for the accuracy ofthe information. Cover photo: kolesnikovsergii, Envato Elements Key points •Driven by the integration of multiple fields and technologies, researchinneuroscience and brain-machine interfaces is advancing at anaccelerated pace.•As our capacity to bidirectionally communicate with the brain increases,so do the associated security risks.•In this context, the intersection of neurotechnologies and drone warfareis of particular interest.•Various security risks linked to neurotechnologies and their intersectionwith drone warfare could potentially arise, but brain-machine interfaceswill be essential in the development of land-based military drones. Introduction Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, we havewitnessed a rapid acceleration of the use of drones in air, naval and landoperations, with both belligerents innovating at speed to achieve an edgein reconnaissance and kinetic missions. Evolutions have been rapid in theair and sea domains, with prototypes being iterated every few months andnew technologies being continuously field tested. Some aerial drones alreadyinclude forms of autonomy, with evidence appearing on social media overthe summer of 2025 of drones using fully automated terminal guidance tobypass electronic warfare countermeasures.1These concrete developmentshave completely outpaced the political discourse on the use of drones andautonomous weapons in warfare, which had been under way for years withno signs of converging on an internationally accepted legal framework togovern their use. Simultaneously,neuroscience andneurotechnologieshave entered aphase of very rapiddevelopment, andbrain-machineinterfaces andbrain stimulationtechnologies,... are becomingincreasinglycommon. One of the defining features of this emerging landscape is that of the“cyberpunk” drone operator. Both social and traditional media abound withstories of the people who pilot drones in Ukraine, and there is a particularinterest in first-person view (FPV) drone operators, who use a live videofeed from the drone’s camera displayed on goggles or a monitor to pilotthe drone from its perspective. These operators are sometimes picturedlying on loungers in underground bunkers, while the drones they pilot areoften one-way attack suicide drones based on racing competition frames,and are used to eliminate enemy vehicles and combatants, and sometimessingle infantrymen. Recently these drones have become so ubiquitous asto completely saturate the line of contact and dozens of kilometres behindthat line, and are often forward deployed prior to being activated. The droneoperators often assume an aesthetic reminiscent of characters depictedin the cyberpunk genre, where themes such as human augmentation bytechnological means and human-machine fusion are recurrent. Indeed, thevarious contraptions and wearables, the supine position, and the loss ofimmediate environmental awareness – acting instead in what is effectivelya virtual environment – evoke the fictional persona of so-called “netrunners”,who use brain-machine interfaces to live almos