Few days ago I have read an article about Elon Musk's new Neuralink project, which is going to create technology that allows people to communicate with computers without any external interface [1]. It reminded me of one controversial scientist, Kevin Warwick [2], who is so passionate about integration of human and technology, that he tried few experiments on himself. I would like to present his article 'Homo Technologicus: Threat or Opportunity?' [3] about current and potential use of technology inside human body and some thoughts about it.
What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
Links
[1] http://www.wired.co.uk/article/elon-musk-neuralink
[2] http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2010/09/19/Professor-s-self-experiments-in-cybernetics-have-provoked-debate-in-the-field/stories/201009190195?pgpageversion=pgevoke
[3] http://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/1/3/199/htm
Hello, thanks for completely new topic.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about integrating technology into human body?
Technology has been integrated with human body for over 60 years or even longer, when first hearing aid was developed. Perhaps there were other technology tools that were implemented earlier. This example makes me aware that the correct answer does not exist or should be “It depends”. We can imagine devices, which may control people or allow other institutions to track our activities (special bands, smart watches, or even in the future chips).
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
The first and the biggest advantage that I can see is health protection. Technology can play preventive role for instance to protect elderly persons. Cons you can find in previous question.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
Yes, it is. It might be dangerous when technology will be able to control or at least have influence on our brain. In nova days people have a problem with privacy. Most of devices are tracking our activities and are trying to predict our future moves. From the other site when you will be hungry the other devices in your smart house can prepare you a food.
Hi Pawel,
Deletethank you for your answer. I totally agree with you. Technical devices placed in human body are not a new idea and can bring benefits for human health (as mentioned by you hearing aid, or pacemaker), but may also limit our freedom. It is complex subject, and as always the result will depend on how it will be used.
What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteToday I heard about Swedish people who as volunteers agreed to implant chips to their’s body. They called it biohacking but for me this term is not accurate. I think that it might be dangerous and it will only cause more of bad then good things.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
It maybe used as health protection. Maybe it will be easier to track what is going on in our bodies, maybe we will find out about some diseases earlier and that will help to cure it before it is too late.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
I think there is definitely a limit. We can be tracked - we will not keep in private where we have been, what we did, what we ate. Basically everything will be known and not kept in privacy. We have no idea how it can be also used, maybe it will be even dangerous for us. I absolutely love idea of having some sort of band or other external equipment that will allow us to interact with technology, but not inside our body.
Hi Cezary,
Deletethanks for sharing your opinion. I heard about those people too and personally I find it a little creepy ;)
What do you think about integrating technology into a human body?
ReplyDeleteI think that integrating technology into a human body is great only if it is used to save people's life or health. Currently, some technologies are implanted into human bodies like an artificial pacemaker, which already saves our lives.On the other hand, some more sophisticated devices implanted may be dangerous for us if used in a wrong way.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
Pros: In medical care, machines can supervise health of patients for 24/7 with the same precision. Machines can be more accurate than human and it is easier to calculate their performance. Cons: bad quality machines can break down in unexpected moments which may be dangerous.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity
I think that machines should not cross the limit of our privacy. It may be dangerous if unauthorized people have access to the data about our health, daily activities, and lifestyle.
Thank you for your answers. I also think that it can be very beneficial for medicine, but as always bad quality of devices or misuse of them can bring harm.
DeleteWhat do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteI don’t see anything bad in this. I thought about it myself. This is future, it will just come. We will use implants in our bodies. To be honest we already integrate technology into our bodies, for example in special type of prosthesis we use connection between muscles and mechanical prosthesis.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
I see only one arguments against. We can forget who we really are.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
Yes, if we make our bodies more mechanical than human. Such moment will be just too much.
I am glad you have such optimistic approach :)
DeleteI thank you for this article, reminded me of a tv program that I saw a few years ago, the scientist implanted a chip, and his smart home knew where the man is. This is fascinated - technology connected with human. But it seems to me that this is a very small border. But I see many advantages, speed of work, health monitoring and other. This is very fascinating. The machine is an extension of the human body! But i remember that all that is online, we should to treat as public.
ReplyDeleteHi Maciej,
Deleteyou are absolutely right. And as I support direct connection between human and machin in medicine, I have some doubts when it comes to use it for managing smart house or having an access to the workplace.
What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteElectrodes which are placed outside of the skull can detect very few electric signals from the brain and electrodes placed inside the skull create scar tissue in the brain.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?There is a great potential for people who are paralyzed or other disabilities. For example deciding to move the mouse...moving it...and the cursor actually moving. Transmit visual images to the mind of a blind person, allowing them to see. Or helping people with epilepsy. Cons: Ethical issues which may prevent its development
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
The limit is just in our brain and ethic how we will be using it. Se we should special secured system standing behind this technology to prevent sensitive data from leaking.
Thank you for sharing your opinion. I really like the examples you wrote (paralyzed people or patients with epilepsy), they show how much human health can benefit from technology.
DeleteThanks for this interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about integrating technology into human body?
I believe it is a real future of our lives. There is a need for enhancing our abilities but also it is (not so new) way of illness treatment. I see there have been outlined some examples of the inclusion of technology, for example hearing aid since 1950s.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
The most visible effects of the human-machine interaction are those which are beneficial, for example paralyzed patients acquire missing abilities. It will be also possible to prevent from certain diseases like mental illness. Thinking about cons it seems it will be connected with a lack of privacy - people can be hacked.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
There are some ethical limits but also some technical issues. People would be dependent on the used device as well as electricity.
Thank you for your answers. Good point about dependency on electricity! :)
DeleteWhat do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteI am afraid that I haven't watched Japanese culture movies so I don't really fill this subject. You could think about some implants that helps you in your everyday routines. Imagine that you have some implant in your body that helps you open the door. This would recompense the lost of your body part but with a little bit of imagination this could extend possibility of natural body part.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
I tried to give quick comment in previous answer for this question.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
I am afraid that there are always people who are motivated by hate or greed that are focused not on scientific research but in increasing medical market. This is very dangerous so I would leave this question in this point.
Hi! Thank you for your answers. It is hard to disagree, that how technology is (or will be) used depends on human motivation.
Delete1. What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteDo you know what one of the most annoying things about having a cell phone is? Having to remember where I put it. It’s so obnoxious: One day it’s in my car, the next it’s in the office. I just can’t keep track of it. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just integrate the phone into my brain, and no more losing it.
This simple argument is pushing many towards the idea that we can combine our biological parts with technological parts, not simply for the sake of empowering those who are crippled, but also to expand a person’s abilities beyond their capabilities.
2. What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
Pros. I will no longer lose my phone ;). Seriously speaking: helping disabled or ill people to communicate.
Cons. There is always risk that such interface can be use in order to influence on human behaviour .
3. Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
Of course. As I mention above there is always risk that such interface can be use in order to influence on human behaviour .
1. What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteThis is the thing I am personally afraid of, comparing only to the idea of cloning people. It is very tempting to be able to control our bodies, to change the non-working or bad-working parts of them, to program particular functions as new ones or better ones. Simply to help disabled and suffering people.
But it also tempting to improve the nature and that is the first step to one-way ticket to the adventure we are not able to stop acting.
After all, this is unevitable scenario, the only one thing we can do is to control it as long as we are able to judge it as ethically acceptable.
2. What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
As for me, the list of pros begins with creating opportunities allowing disable people to do the things they have never did from their birth (see examples in the article “Homo Technologicus: Threat or Opportunity?”). Apart from that, the great advantage is also the knowledge we gain thanks to such possibilities. We are able to find out the details of mechanisms functioning in our bodies. We are going to be able to explain more and more, and as a result we are going to have conscious impact on healing process without hard interference.
On the other hand, the most frighten con is the vision of fast-changing human gender, very difficult to control. Another big one is possibility to harm people instead of treat – mistakes are more probable when the healing process is not practically and totally examined.
3. Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
The problem is, where the limit is placed, and the answer depends on who and when is going to judge this. Explaining my point of view, I indicate that it is possible that interfering into our bodies, including creating connections between our brain and technological equipment, may cause the changes in a way we think, feel, etc. As a result, this is difficult to predict our future reactions and behaviors – I mean we may not able to notice crossing the limit we defined earlier. What’s more, designating the limit now is not a guarantee we control the process, because developing integrating activities, humans and their minds change all the time. It is possible some of people who’d already experienced such interference, may have crossed such limit.
What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteDeus ex machine ? :) I don't mind enhancing myself. However, in most situations it's hard to stop. When you have better eyes, you want stronger arms or legs or wings etc. Where to stop? When we have spent all of the money?
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
For example, replacing eyes of a blind person with cameras. Is it beneficial? Furthermore, replacing damaged legs/arms with augmented ones. Can those parts be hacked? Consider remote attacks on your eyes and so on.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
I know it's old, but it's worth watching even though, it's a game trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elQC62FUgqw
Most of the processes that are being discussed in the article and in this comment section have already started. Especially regarding to major changes in brains' development. For example, being constantly online accustoms us not to litter our minds with lots of data because Google remembers most of information for us. Brains of the 2000's children are developing in a way unimaginable for their grandparents, and so change principal moral values of the generation. But, fortunatelly, ethics tend to become more sensitive regarding individual human beings and even animals (raise of the vege-movements, for example). That's why I find the last sentences of the article absurd and highly exaggerated. Certainly, advanced technological manipulation of a human body may deepen the inequalities, but in a way we cannot really foresee right now, as we do not know the real cost of such technologies.
ReplyDeleteSuch solutions are positive because they help people to overcome their limitations (such as illness, accident effects, etc ...) and negative because they depend on external factors and their availability. Effective person-to-machine communication will contribute to the rapid development of solutions. It is difficult to predict how it will affect the health of societies. It is partly dependent on further directions of development ...
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteI think it can greatly improve human lives, of course there are some questions to be answered but in general it's better to put some clear ethical borders which shouldn't be crossed than not have a possiblity to put those borders at all.
What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
Of course the ease and speed of communication between human and computer is very big gain. For example British Air Force were working on systems for their jet pilots to be able to control the plan using just human thoughts in emergency situations. On the other side I can think of new type of viruses which can affect people because of such direct communications. So there is big gain to be made but with great risk.
Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
I think the most dangerous is the fact that someone will be capable and decide for us where is this "limit"
- What do you think about integrating technology into human body?
ReplyDeleteAccording to me the human cyborgs issue isn’t a new problem. We have been meeting such people in the streets for more than 30 years. I mean those people who have been implanted artificial ear components. It improves or even restores their sense of hearing so their interact with environment as if they were cyborgs. Unlikely, from a medical point of view they are even so defined.
- What are the pros and cons of direct human-machine interaction?
I see the advantages not only for science but also for human’s health. It can help in them to monitor the body and some diseases could be detected at an early stage. And the main disadvantage I see in everything besides medicine. I’m just not convinced about proper use of this technology in the human body.
- Do you think, that there is a limit, behind which it might be dangerous to humanity?
Yes, however it depends on specific situation. Personally I believe that it is unethical to use technology to improve human’s body. Only for medical assistance it is justified in use.
I don't think it's a good idea, but I guess at certain point in the future such experiments will be inevitable and will become part of our everyday life. I fear that sophisticated devices, when implanted in our bodies, might be used in a wrong way.
ReplyDeleteBut of course direct human-machine interaction might be a useful tool in early diagnostics of diseases. We might be able to get to know our body better, its needs and limitations. Nevertheless, implanting some IT stuff in our body is dangerous, as somebody might take advantage from such a possibility to make bad use of obtained pieces of information and act against humanity.
I think integrating technology into human body is generally good process. It is not only case of monitoring and analyzing our health but it also can be used to give us faster access to knowledge, rescue if we are in danger or be verification of our identity. The most important for me about this topic is security and privacy. Nowadays we are thinking about how people could control devices and databases. How can we be protected from reverse influence? In longer future we could imagine attempts to influence on people by this connection. Finally I think the most important security line is ban on massive personalized data collection from body connected devices.
ReplyDelete