  Despite its successes, to date Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still
characterized by a number of shortcomings with regards to different application
domains and goals. These limitations are arguably both conceptual (e.g.,
related to underlying theoretical models, such as symbolic vs. connectionist),
and operational (e.g., related to robustness and ability to generalize).
Biologically inspired AI, and more specifically brain-inspired AI, promises to
provide further biological aspects beyond those that are already traditionally
included in AI, making it possible to assess and possibly overcome some of its
present shortcomings. This article examines some conceptual, technical, and
ethical issues raised by the development and use of brain-inspired AI. Against
this background, the paper asks whether there is anything ethically unique
about brain-inspired AI. The aim of the paper is to introduce a method that has
a heuristic nature and that can be applied to identify and address the ethical
issues arising from brain-inspired AI. The conclusion resulting from the
application of this method is that, compared to traditional AI, brain-inspired
AI raises new foundational ethical issues and some new practical ethical
issues, and exacerbates some of the issues raised by traditional AI.
