Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Imagining risk in AI-based neuroprosthetics: sociotechnical futures of care in Parkinson's disease. |
| Authors: |
Morsello, Barbara (AUTHOR), Vassanelli, Stefano (AUTHOR) |
| Source: |
Health, Risk & Society. Apr-Jun2026, Vol. 28 Issue 3/4, p231-251. 21p. |
| Subjects: |
Fear, Dehumanization, Medical technology, Qualitative research, Diffusion of innovations, Patient safety, Neurologists, Artificial intelligence, Interviewing, Statistical sampling, Parkinson's disease, Deep brain stimulation, Physicians' attitudes, Bioethics, Uncertainty, Emotions, Judgment sampling, Attitude (Psychology), Research, Artificial neural networks, Trust, Physician-patient relations, Risk perception, Biomedical technicians, Grounded theory, Therapeutic alliance, Patients' attitudes, Psychosocial factors |
| Geographic Terms: |
Italy, Austria, Switzerland |
| Abstract: |
This article explores how different stakeholders imagine and negotiate risk in the emerging field of intelligent neuroprostheses (INPs) for Parkinson's disease. Drawing on qualitative research conducted within the Horizon 2020 SYNCH project, we examine how clinicians, engineers, and patients construct divergent sociotechnical imaginaries around INPs; visions that shape not only expectations of innovation but also perceptions of safety, ethics, and therapeutic legitimacy. While previous research shows that individuals navigate risk and uncertainty through 'in-between' strategies grounded in intuition, emotion, and trust, we move beyond this focus on individual coping to demonstrate that such strategies are collectively produced within sociotechnical imaginaries. From this perspective, risk is not only managed but imagined, embedded in shared moral, institutional, and cultural visions of desirable futures. On one side, Techno-Progressive Optimists and Pragmatic Conditionalists frame risk as a manageable and proportional challenge, as something to be mitigated through technological refinement, personalisation, and clinical expertise. On the other, Ontological Realists, Biomedical Conservatives, and Techno-Sceptical Traditionalists construct risk as a moral and existential boundary, evoking fears of dehumanisation, loss of agency, and the erosion of the therapeutic relationship. Patients' experiences further illustrate how risk is continuously reinterpreted through everyday practices of adaptation, embodiment, and trust-building. Ultimately, the study shows that understanding how risk is imagined is crucial for the responsible governance of AI-driven neurotechnologies, ensuring that innovation remains ethically grounded, socially responsive, and attentive to inequality in access and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: |
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
