Cyberpunk is just around the corner…
We live in a cutting-edge. Technologies are developing pretty fast. Today, probably, it would be hard to surprise someone with robots, self-driving cars, 3D-printers, and their abilities. Even now people are developing bionic hands, legs, exoskeletons to make the lives of people with debilities easier. They are implementing a software inside, trying to do their best, only that people to feel like a full-fledged cell of society.
2016
Thanks to a BCI developed at the University of Pittsburgh that stimulates the sensory region of the brain, the man, whose name is Nathan Copeland, is the first one who managed to feel a sense of touch through a mind-controlled robotic arm.
Upgrade your brain like hardware for PC…
But if there is a technology that can help not only people with limited opportunities but also healthy people to increase their productivity?
If you had a chance to upgrade yourself, would you let other people to implant a chip in the brain?
It sounds like a creepy fiction, however, nowadays scientists are actively developing such chips, brain computers, that are able to increase your productivity, working in a global company, and also expand your memory, allowing you never to forget a name or a face of a certain person, to remember everything detailed.
There are various ways of connecting brain signals with brain computers, or BCIs – but the Elon Mask’s company called “Neuralink” has developed this technology, even more, using tiny, super-thin, flexible micro-electrodes, which allow special small device to be implanted inside the brain, in order to read and record the neural signals activity. This technology has already been tested on animals, and they are preparing for the next step, testing on humans.
2019
Elon Musk told about Neuralink’s plans for its progressive BCI technology, which involves using a specially built surgical robot, machine to implement thousands of thread-like electrodes into the brain.
The technology isn’t there yet, however, a separate, removable device would be a better option for healthy people, because it could be kept and used outside the body and switched off easily anytime.
Although this technology may be extremely beneficial, and mind-controlled devices can be invented, people will be facing some ethical problems. For example, their life would be even less private than now, their memories and thoughts would be monitored all the time. In addition, people’s devices can be easily hacked, controlled and probably their future behavior will not be the same. They can totally lose their freedom.
So before improving your brain with implants, you should ask yourself…
Is it worth living in a world in which there is no freedom?
Sources:
https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/should-you-upgrade-your-brain/