The societal impact of nanotechnology are the potential benefits and challenges that the introduction of novel nanotechnological devices and materials may hold for society and human interaction. The term is sometimes expanded to also include nanotechnology's health and environmental impact, but this article will only consider the social and political impact of nanotechnology.
As nanotechnology is an emerging field and most of its applications are still speculative, there is much debate about what positive and negative effects that nanotechnology might have.
Overview
Beyond the toxicity risks to human health and the environment which are associated with first-generation nanomaterials, nanotechnology has broader societal implications and poses broader social challenges. Social scientists have suggested that nanotechnology's social issues should be understood and assessed not simply as "downstream" risks or impacts. Rather, the challenges should be factored into "upstream" research and decision making in order to ensure technology development that meets social objectives
Many social scientists and organizations in civil society suggest that technology assessment and governance should also involve public participation.
Though the innovative part of nano-technology may excite people a lot of other worries about the societal and natural impact the advancement of nano-technology will bring. Studies have shown numerous positive results of applying nano-technology but public opinion is vital to its success at transforming society. A number of different socio and political factors will be crucial to deciding the destiny of nano-technology.
Some observers suggest that nanotechnology will build incrementally, as did the 18–19th century Industrial Revolution, until it gathers pace to drive a nanotechnological revolution that will radically reshape our economies, our labor markets, international trade, international relations, social structures, civil liberties, our relationship with the natural world and even what we understand to be human. Others suggest that it may be more accurate to describe change driven by nanotechnology as a “technological tsunami”. Just like a tsunami, analysts warn that rapid nanotechnology-driven change will necessarily have profound disruptive impacts. As the APEC Center for Technology Foresight observes:
If nanotechnology is going to revolutionize manufacturing, health care, energy supply, communications and probably defense, then it will transform labour and the workplace, the medical system, the transportation and power infrastructures and the military. None of these latter will be changed without significant social disruption.Publication
Those concerned with the negative impact of nanotechnology suggest that it will simply exacerbate problems stemming from existing socio-economic inequity and unequal distributions of power, creating greater inequities between rich and poor through an inevitable nano-divide (the gap between those who control the new nanotechnologies and those whose products, services or labour are displaced by them). Analysts suggest the possibility that nanotechnology has the potential to destabilize international relations through a nano arms race and the increased potential for bioweaponry; thus, providing the tools for ubiquitous surveillance with significant implications for civil liberties. Also, many critics believe it might break down the barriers between life and non-life through nanobiotechnology, redefining even what it means to be human.http://nano.foe.org.au/node/168
Nanotechnology has the potential to benefits all forms of work from daily life to medicine and biology. Despite these benefits, there are also health risks when it comes to human exposure to the nano material. Studies have shown that dangerous nano-particles can build up in the body after prolonged exposure. This is caused by a very complicated interaction between nano-particles and parts of the body's systems.
Nanoethicists posit that such a transformative technology could exacerbate the divisions of rich and poor – the so-called “nano divide.” However nanotechnology makes the production of technology, e.g. computers, cellular phones, health technology etcetera, cheaper and therefore accessible to the poor.
In fact, many of the most enthusiastic proponents of nanotechnology, such as transhumanists, see the nascent science as a mechanism to changing human nature itself – going beyond curing disease and enhancing human characteristics. Discussions on nanoethics have been hosted by the federal government, especially in the context of “converging technologies” – a catch-phrase used to refer to nano, biotech, information technology, and cognitive science.
Possible military applications Possible military applications of nanotechnology have been suggested in the fields of soldier enhancement () and chemical weapons amongst others. However, more socially disruptive weapon systems are to be expected from molecular manufacturing, a potential future form of nanotechnology that would make it possible to build complex structures at atomic precision. Molecular manufacturing requires significant advances in nanotechnology, but its supporters posit that once achieved it could produce highly advanced products at low costs and in large quantities in nanofactories weighing a kilogram or more. If nanofactories gain the ability to produce other nanofactories production may only be limited by relatively abundant factors such as input materials, energy and software.
Military applications for nanotechnology have the potential to revolutionize modern warfare. While many benefits may come from the applications of such technology there are risks involved. The emergence of nanotechnology will greatly change the fields of science medicine surveillance and energy. While human engineering and arms control may be better there may also be strict regulations on all forms of nanotech, especially autonomies, to prevent unfortunate incidents. Because of its constant fast growth countries would need to work together to solve the problem of hazard nano materials and to prevent an arms race as a result of social problems and poor communication.
Molecular manufacturing might be used to cheaply produce, among many other products, highly advanced, durable weapons. Being equipped with compact computers and motors these might be increasingly autonomous and have a large range of capabilities.
According to Chris Phoenix and Mike Treder from the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology as well as Anders Sandberg from the Future of Humanity Institute the military uses of molecular manufacturing are the applications of nanotechnology that pose the most significant global catastrophic risk. Several nanotechnology researchers state that the bulk of risk from nanotechnology comes from the potential to lead to war, arms races and destructive global government. Several reasons have been suggested why the availability of nanotech weaponry may with significant likelihood lead to unstable arms races (compared to e.g. nuclear arms races): (1) A large number of players may be tempted to enter the race since the threshold for doing so is low; (2) the ability to make weapons with molecular manufacturing might be cheap and easy to hide; (3) therefore lack of insight into the other parties' capabilities can tempt players to arm out of caution or to launch preemptive strikes; (4) molecular manufacturing may reduce dependency on international trade, a potential peace-promoting factor; (5) wars of aggression may pose a smaller economic threat to the aggressor since manufacturing is cheap and humans may not be needed on the battlefield.
Self-regulation by all state and non-state actors has been called hard to achieve, so measures to mitigate war-related risks have mainly been proposed in the area of international cooperation. International infrastructure may be expanded giving more sovereignty to the international level. This could help coordinate efforts for arms control. Some have put forth that international institutions dedicated specifically to nanotechnology (perhaps analogously to the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA) or general arms control may also be designed. One may also jointly make differential technological progress on defensive technologies. The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology also suggest some technical restrictions. Improved transparency regarding technological capabilities may be another important facilitator for arms-control.
Intellectual property issues
On the structural level, critics of nanotechnology point to a new world of ownership and corporate control opened up by nanotechnology. The claim is that, just as biotechnology's ability to manipulate genes went hand in hand with the patenting of life, so too nanotechnology's ability to manipulate molecules has led to the patenting of matter. The last few years has seen a gold rush to claim patents at the nanoscale. Academics have warned that the resultant patent thicket is harming progress in the technology Usman Mushtaq and Joshua M. Pearce "Open Source Appropriate Nanotechnology " Chapter 9 in editors Donald Maclurcan and Natalia Radywyl, Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability , CRC Press, pp. 191-213, 2012.Stallman's got company: Researcher wants nanotech patent moratorium - Ars TechnicaFreeze on nanotechnology patents proposed to help grow the sector - Wired UK 11-23-2012 and have argued in the top journal Nature that there should be a moratorium on patents on "building block" nanotechnologies. Over 800 nano-related patents were granted in 2003, and the numbers are increasing year to year. Corporations are already taking out broad-ranging patents on nanoscale discoveries and inventions. For example, two corporations, NEC and IBM, hold the basic patents on carbon nanotubes, one of the current cornerstones of nanotechnology. Carbon nanotubes have a wide range of uses, and look set to become crucial to several industries from electronics and computers, to strengthened materials to drug delivery and diagnostics. Carbon nanotubes are poised to become a major traded commodity with the potential to replace major conventional raw materials. However, as their use expands, anyone seeking to (legally) manufacture or sell carbon nanotubes, no matter what the application, must first buy a license from NEC or IBM.
The United States' essential facilities doctrine may be of importance as well as other anti-trust laws.
Potential benefits and risks for developing countries Nanotechnologies may provide new solutions for the millions of people in developing countries who lack access to basic services, such as safe water, reliable energy, health care, and education. The United Nations has set Millennium Development Goals for meeting these needs. The 2004 UN Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation noted that some of the advantages of nanotechnology include production using little labor, land, or maintenance, high productivity, low cost, and modest requirements for materials and energy.
Many developing countries, for example Costa Rica, Chile, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia, are investing considerable resources in research and development of nanotechnologies. Emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa are spending millions of US dollars annually on R&D, and are rapidly increasing their scientific output as demonstrated by their increasing numbers of publications in peer-reviewed scientific publications.