New technology
OK, so some of you might be expecting me to do a blog about new Apple products or suchlike - on this occasion far from it. Be warned: some readers might find the content and links contained in this blog upsetting.
There have been some amazing developments in robotics recently - we can now buy, for a few hundred pounds, humanoid miniature robots for our amusement; we have car production lines almost entirely run by robots; in Japan they’re even busy developing robots that can do housework for you. Apologies for the repetition of the word ‘robot’ in this first paragraph, but as you will see there is now a distinct difference between ‘robots’ and ‘cyborgs’.
Scientists have found a way to harness a rat’s brain power to control simple moving devices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QPiF4-iu6g
In the link you see above, a demonstration is done of a seemingly self-aware robot, acting in a similar way to how a domestic rat would in unfamiliar surroundings. Why? Because, in essence, it is a rat. This machine is hooked up to neurons harvested from the rat’s brain, giving simple sensor information to it whilst hijacking its neurons to control its movement. Just look at it. It’s acting scared, looking for a corner to hide in but frustrated because it can’t get over simple obstacles. Here is a truly self-aware cybernetic organism. A brief précie on the history of this project is available here: http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/13047/?a=f
So is this a good thing or not? The proof-of-concept has been shown to the world, and shows that, if this research can be applied to humans, truly realistic artificial limbs could be created, providing all the tactile feedback that one expects from one’s own appendages. Indeed, if scientists can find a way to keep the brain nourished and healthy after death of the host, a completely new body could (in theory, at least) be built to allow the essence of that human being to continue to exist beyond death. Brains from donors could be used as living processors for computer systems, an idea demonstrated well in Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Magi system - a decision-making supercomputer that is, in fact, controlled by three separate personalities, communicating with each other and producing a democratic, logical solution to technical and strategic problems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YVOGqCFTA4
On the other hand, the development of this technology is at the expense of the wellbeing of undisclosed number of test subjects - a number sure to rise as big industry begins to take notice of the potential for non-artificial intelligence in computer systems. While this would lead to fantastic gameplay, for example, it could potentially be the death knell for our last shred of human decency. At what point does this become too much? A hundred deaths of lab test animals? A handful of humans? And what if this technology, once developed to its potential, should fall into the wrong hands, effectively allowing someone of unsound, or even murderous, intent to develop for themselves new bodies, even when their old ones had been shot to hell? Our only option would be to resort back to the death sentence for all serious criminals, “just to be sure”.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” you say. “that kind of technology just isn’t possible, and even if it were I’m sure our greatest scientists would know how to control it.”
A few months - even a couple of days - ago, I’d have agreed with you. But in the light of this recent development I find myself unable to ignore the possibility that in the future, we may be in a world of both the wonders and horrors of science fiction. Any sci-fi geek would know that self-aware robots are not generally a good thing, and with sci-fi being the drive behind most scientific creations over the last few decades who’s to say that some of the terrifying concepts it puts across aren’t going to happen?
So it comes down to the good/bad question again. Is it worth the moral sacrifice to develop the technology that man may eventually come to depend upon? Is it just an extension of the destruction-creation cycle that epitomises the development of the Human Race?
I suspect we may have overstepped the mark on this one, and be travelling a route that cannot easily be reversed. Because whenever a new technology is brought about, without fail it is exploited for warfare and destruction. And rarely without consequence.
