Self-Motivation
David Goggins
Former Navy Seal
Career Development
Bryan Cranston
Actor
Critical Thinking
Liv Boeree
International Poker Champion
Emotional Intelligence
Amaryllis Fox
Former CIA Clandestine Operative
Management
Chris Hadfield
Retired Canadian Astronaut & Author
Learn
from the world's big
thinkers
Start Learningfrom the world's big
thinkers
Why A.I. robotics should have the same ethical protections as animals
If A.I.s are as smart as mice or dogs, do they deserve the same rights?
01 May, 2019
KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images
Universities across the world are conducting major research on artificial intelligence (A.I.), as are organisations such as the Allen Institute, and tech companies including Google and Facebook.
<p>A likely result is that we will soon have A.I. approximately as cognitively sophisticated as mice or dogs. Now is the time to start thinking about whether, and under what conditions, these A.I.s might deserve the ethical protections we typically give to animals. </p><p>Discussions of "A.I. rights" or "robot rights" have so far been dominated by questions of what ethical <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/what-are-our-ethical-obligations-to-future-ai-simulations" target="_blank">obligations</a> we would have to an A.I. of humanlike or superior intelligence – such as the android Data from <em>Star Trek </em>or Dolores from <em>Westworld.</em> But to think this way is to start in the wrong place, and it could have grave moral consequences. Before we create an A.I. with humanlike sophistication deserving humanlike ethical consideration, we will very likely create an A.I. with less-than-human sophistication, deserving some less-than-human ethical consideration.</p><p>We are already very cautious in how we do research that uses certain nonhuman animals. Animal care and use committees evaluate research proposals to ensure that vertebrate animals are not needlessly killed or made to suffer unduly. If human stem cells or, especially, human brain cells are involved, the standards of oversight are even more rigorous. Biomedical research is carefully scrutinised, but A.I. research, which might entail some of the same ethical risks, is not currently scrutinised at all. Perhaps it should be.</p><p>You might think that A.I.s don't deserve that sort of ethical protection unless they are conscious – that is, unless they have a genuine stream of experience, with real joy and suffering. We agree. But now we face a tricky philosophical question: how will we know when we have created something capable of joy and suffering? If the AI is like Data or Dolores, it can complain and defend itself, initiating a discussion of its rights. But if the AI is inarticulate, like a mouse or a dog, or if it is for some other reason unable to communicate its inner life to us, it might have no way to report that it is suffering.</p><p>A puzzle and difficulty arises here because the scientific study of consciousness has not reached a consensus about what consciousness is, and how we can tell whether or not it is present. On some views – 'liberal' views – for consciousness to exist requires nothing but a certain type of well-organised information-processing, such as a flexible informational model of the system in relation to objects in its environment, with guided attentional capacities and long-term action-planning. We might be on the verge of creating such systems already. On other views – 'conservative' views – consciousness might require very specific biological features, such as a brain very much like a mammal brain in its low-level structural details: in which case we are nowhere near creating artificial consciousness.</p>
<p>It is unclear which type of view is correct or whether some other explanation will in the end prevail. However, if a liberal view is correct, we might soon be creating many subhuman AIs who will deserve ethical protection. There lies the moral risk.</p><p>Discussions of "A.I. risk," in needless vivisections, the Nazi medical war crimes, and the Tuskegee syphilis study). With AI, we have a chance to do better. We propose the founding of oversight committees that evaluate cutting-edge A.I. research with these questions in mind. Such committees, much like animal care committees and stem-cell oversight committees, should be composed of a mix of scientists and non-scientists – A.I. designers, consciousness scientists, ethicists and interested community members. These committees will be tasked with identifying and evaluating the ethical risks of new forms of A.I. design, armed with a sophisticated understanding of the scientific and ethical issues, weighing the risks against the benefits of the research.</p><p>It is likely that such committees will judge all current A.I. research permissible. On most mainstream theories of consciousness, we are not yet creating A.I. with conscious experiences meriting ethical consideration. But we might – possibly soon – cross that crucial ethical line. We should be prepared for this.<img src="https://metrics.aeon.co/count/d176c283-f69b-434a-82f5-2ee8f849da26.gif" alt="Aeon counter – do not remove"></p><p>John Basl & Eric Schwitzgebel</p><p>This article was originally published at <a href="https://aeon.co/?utm_campaign=republished-article" target="_blank">Aeon</a> and has been republished under Creative Commons.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Scientists create a 'lifelike' material that has metabolism and can self-reproduce
An innovation may lead to lifelike evolving machines.
18 April, 2019
Shogo Hamada/Cornell University
- Scientists at Cornell University devise a material with 3 key traits of life.
- The goal for the researchers is not to create life but lifelike machines.
- The researchers were able to program metabolism into the material's DNA.
</li></ul>
<p>Cornell University engineers have created an artificial material that has three key traits of life — <strong>metabolism, self-assembly </strong>and <strong>organization. </strong>The engineers were able to pull off such a feat by using DNA in order to make machines from biomaterials that would have characteristics of alive things.</p><p>Dubbing their process <strong>DASH</strong> for "DNA-based Assembly and Synthesis of Hierarchical" materials, the scientists made a DNA material that has metabolism — the set of chemical processes that convert food into energy necessary for the maintenance of life. </p><p>The goal for the scientists is not to create a lifeform but a machine with lifelike characteristics, with <a href="https://bee.cals.cornell.edu/people/dan-luo/" target="_blank"><strong>Dan Luo</strong></a>, professor of biological and environmental engineering, <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/04/engineers-create-lifelike-material-artificial-metabolism" target="_blank">pointing out</a> "We are not making something that's alive, but we are creating materials that are much more lifelike than have ever been seen before." </p><p>The major innovation here is the programmed metabolism that is coded into the DNA materials. The set of instructions for metabolism and autonomous regeneration allows the material to grow on its own.</p>
<p><a href="https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/4/29/eaaw3512" target="_blank">In their paper, </a>the scientists described the metabolism as the system by which "the materials comprising life are synthesized, assembled, dissipated, and decomposed autonomously in a controlled, hierarchical manner using biological processes."</p><p>To keep going, a living organism must be able to generate new cells, while discarding old ones and waste. It is this process that the Cornell scientists duplicated using DASH. They devised a biomaterial that can arise on its own from nanoscale building blocks. It can arrange itself into polymers first and into mesoscale shapes after. </p><p>The DNA molecules in the materials were duplicated hundreds of thousands of times, resulting in chains of repeating DNA that were a few millimeters in length. The solution with the reaction was injected into a special microfluidic device that facilitated biosynthesis.</p><p>This flow washed over the materials, causing DNA to synthesize its own strands. The material even had its own locomotion, with the front end growing while the tail end was degrading, making it creep forth.</p><p>This fact allowed the researchers to have portions of the materials competing against each other. </p>
<blockquote> "The designs are still primitive, but they showed a new route to create dynamic machines from biomolecules. We are at a first step of building lifelike robots by artificial metabolism," explained <a href="https://bee.cals.cornell.edu/people/shogo-hamada/" target="_blank"><strong>Shogo Hamada</strong></a>, the lead and co-corresponding author of the paper as well as a lecturer and research associate in the Luo lab. "Even from a simple design, we were able to create sophisticated behaviors like racing. Artificial metabolism could open a new frontier in robotics."</blockquote>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTQwMzU3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTExNDU5OH0.oyPWeftH6bNeJvWBWzzBaki2t10LegzMS9kve5FSjWs/img.png?width=980" id="efd51" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0b1a01ab65de34a15d4a4eb55c84818e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Generated DASH patterns.
Credit: Shogo Hamada / Cornell University
<p>The material that was created lasted for two cycles of synthesis and degradation but the longevity can be extended, think the researchers. This could lead to more generations of the material, eventually resulting in a "lifelike self-reproducing machines," said Hamada.</p><p>He also foresees that the system can result in a "self-evolutionary possibility."</p><p>Next for the material? The engineers are looking at how to get it to react to stimuli and be able to seek out light or food all on its own. They also want it to be able to avoid harmful stimuli.</p>
Check out the video of Professor Luo explaining their achievement here —
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="53d93f1578bc8308774dfbefb482e706"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mbBIljwUgtM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>You can check out the new paper "<a href="https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/4/29/eaaw3512" target="_blank"><strong>Dynamic DNA Material With Emergent Locomotion Behavior Powered by Artificial Metabolism</strong></a>," in the April 10th issues of Science Robotics.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Why 'upgrading' humanity is a transhumanist myth
Upload your mind? Here's a reality check on the Singularity.
18 January, 2019
- Though computer engineers claim to know what human consciousness is, many neuroscientists say that we're nowhere close to understanding what it is, or its source.
- Scientists are currently trying to upload human minds to silicon chips, or re-create consciousness with algorithms, but this may be hubristic because we still know so little about what it means to be human.
- Is transhumanism a journey forward or an escape from reality?
<p><br></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="2VM1741547875928" contenteditable="false">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Team-Human-Douglas-Rushkoff-ebook/dp/B07DP62FZB?SubscriptionId=AKIAJGTABWIBL2VADPUA&tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07DP62FZB" target="_blank">
<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yQ0%2B8-KTL.jpg" class="amazon-assets-widget__image">
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__description">
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__title" style="display: block;">Team Human</div>
<div class="amazon-assets-widget__by-amazon"><!-- <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Team-Human-Douglas-Rushkoff-ebook/dp/B07DP62FZB?SubscriptionId=AKIAJGTABWIBL2VADPUA&tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07DP62FZB" target="_blank">by now at amazone</a> --></div>
</div>
</a>
</div>
Keep reading
Show less
Hybrid Intelligence: Coupling AI and the Human Brain
Even our most imaginative expectations of AI are only primitive — but as neuroscience understands the brain more deeply, it will unlock the full potential of hybrid intelligence.
27 March, 2017
Edward Boyden is a Hertz Foundation Fellow and recipient of the prestigious Hertz Foundation Grant for graduate study in the applications of the physical, biological and engineering sciences. A professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, Edward Boyden explains how humanity is only at its infancy in merging with machines. His work is leading him towards the development of a "brain co-processor", a device that interacts intimately with the brain to upload and download information to and from it, augmenting human capabilities in memory storage, decision making, and cognition. The first step, however, is understanding the brain on a much deeper level. With the support of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, Ed Boyden pursued a PhD in neurosciences from Stanford University.
<p>The Hertz Foundation mission is to provide unique financial and fellowship support to the nation's most remarkable PhD students in the hard sciences. Hertz Fellowships are among the most prestigious in the world, and the foundation has invested over $200 million in Hertz Fellows since 1963 (present value) and supported over 1,100 brilliant and creative young scientists, who have gone on to become Nobel laureates, high-ranking military personnel, astronauts, inventors, Silicon Valley leaders, and tenured university professors. For more information, visit <a href="http://hertzfoundation.org/">hertzfoundation.org</a>.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
10 Human Body Modifications You Can Expect in the Next Decade
You are already a cyborg! Here's 10 ways you could merge even more with technology in the coming decade.
12 March, 2017
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/2/11837854/neural-lace-cyborgs-elon-musk" target="_blank">Elon Musk</a> has called it: <a href="http://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/why-elon-musk-thinks-we-are-already-cyborgs" target="_blank">you're already a cyborg</a>. Your smartphone enhances your mind, your spectacles enhance your vision, and your pacemaker (if you have one) regulates your heartbeat. Our environment is increasingly wired, sensor-filled, and digitally connected—and so are we! This trend will only continue.</p><p>All over the world <a href="http://filmmakermagazine.com/101812-an-experiment-in-biohacking-director-kate-mclean-on-the-sxsw-short-gut-hack/" target="_blank">biohackers</a>, scientists, entrepreneurs and corporations are eagerly pursuing new and marketable applications for advanced technologies. Many of them are being actively designed to help humans fulfill our age-old transcendent longings—to be stronger, smarter, better-looking and more resilient, and to cultivate new abilities that seem like <a href="https://aeon.co/ideas/humans-have-long-wished-to-fly-like-birds-maybe-we-shall" target="_blank">superpowers</a> by the standards of the past.</p><p dir="ltr">Here are 10 emerging devices and technologies that could soon enhance you in body and mind.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>1. RFID Chips</strong></p><p dir="ltr">Microchips are not new, but the practice of routinely implanting them in humans is. Already, biohackers are enthusiastically getting chipped, many of them undergoing the DIY surgery in tattoo parlors. With small radio frequency identification (RFID) chips implanted in their hands or wrists these citizen cyborgs can already eliminate many tedious rituals from their daily lives, like carrying a wallet or keys.<strong><br></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODczMTAzOX0.LwhEZ23G5JnxBzS3XfljJ_ErpJ7JNnROhicQ1gEnRlg/img.jpg?width=980" id="adf06" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d00bb76d7c4cebc0baf2a27a57981e8f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr">The chip can be used to make tap-and-go payments and can be programmed to open a home or office door electronically. No more carrying keys down to the beach when going for a swim, and no more jogging with them jangling in your pocket. One Australian biohacker, <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/06/05/chip-implant-payments-meow/#GZxZbFBm3gqC" target="_blank">Meow-Ludo Meow Meow</a> also thinks that chip implants could replace public transport cards.</p><div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="marc-goodman-on-cyborgs-and-medical-implant-hacking" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-media_id="TZtWd57h" data-player_id="FvQKszTI" data-rm-shortcode-id="b37c2a6f0016f0d6ae27e51a88578d93">
<div id="botr_TZtWd57h_FvQKszTI_div" class="jwplayer-media" data-jwplayer-video-src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/TZtWd57h-FvQKszTI.js">
<img src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/TZtWd57h-1920.jpg" class="jwplayer-media-preview">
</div>
<script src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/TZtWd57h-FvQKszTI.js"></script>
</div>
</div><p>But that's just the basics. Chipping could soon be used on a national scale for identification and security. <a href="https://www.zoomlite.com.au/blogs/news/rfid-technology-the-new-identity-theft" target="_blank">Hacking and identity theft</a> will certainly be a concern, but on the plus side there'll be no more anxiety about losing your passport when you travel! Transhumanist candidate for Governor of California Zoltan Istvan has a chip in his wrist to <a href="http://bigthink.com/elise-bohan/could-this-transhumanist-be-the-next-governor-of-california" target="_blank">open his front door</a>. The chips can also be used in the workplace. One Swedish office complex <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31042477" target="_blank">Epicenter</a> has already made chipping a voluntary identification option for tenants and their employees. The Belgian digital marketing firm <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/02/07/belgian-company-microchips-employees/#63l3RO503SqP" target="_blank">NewFusion</a> also began offering implants to staff in 2017.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzkyNTIzMX0.A1vaaV89YKsrni68R6BfBioDe7NV8iES_5UdBJBSio0/img.jpg?width=980" id="f72b9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a9330807a770a073307f0eba494a658" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr">With electronic medical records becoming more pervasive, personal medical data could also be stored on implanted RFID chips. If you arrive in the emergency room and need a blood transfusion you can immediately be scanned for your blood type. Allergic to certain medications? The ER doctors will know this too, as well as who has medical power of attorney, whether or not you're an organ donor, and what your end of life wishes are (e.g. if you have a DNR－<a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000473.htm" target="_blank">"do not resuscitate"</a> order).</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>2. Exoskeletons</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTk2OTE1Mn0.dEeSMIBgi1Q3IEWe2swKlUF_p-GCKaV8FCMJnUvME70/img.jpg?width=980" id="235c7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ea7e3bf9f80de30cebc4fd9d6b7e7beb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Hyundai's "Iron Man" robotic exoskeleton in action. Image credit: Hyundai/Business Insider</em></p><p dir="ltr">The Terminator was “a cybernetic organism. Living tissue over a metal endoskeleton." But that was in 1984 and the concept was fictional. Jump ahead to the 2020s and <em>you</em> could be a different kind of cyborg—one that wears a metal <em>exoskeleton</em> over your biological meat sack.</p><p dir="ltr">Why would you? If you're in the military, particularly in combat, an exoskeleton can dramatically enhance your strength and endurance and allow you to carry more supplies when moving on foot.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Mzg3NjA4Nn0.dW5TaX81jKKC8Om2s83yyQ6EMmsSZDqK7eeBMVdQYoE/img.png?width=980" id="843d9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="439f89de8bc08d5d8d7f84e84b5c0d11" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: A Cuadra/Science</em></p><p dir="ltr">If you're just a regular human then carrying supplies is probably not a big concern. But back pain likely is. Sure, an exoskeleton may not help an office worker much, but it could be a big help to factory workers and manual laborers. In the near future, before the <a href="http://bigthink.com/david-ryan-polgar/feeling-ai-anxious-41-of-americans-fear-getting-replaced" target="_blank">impending robot job-apocalypse</a>, exoskeletons could <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/panasonic-robotic-suits-provides-extra-strength-2016-3/?r=AU&IR=T/#the-panasonic-assist-suit-will-reduce-up-to-33-pounds-of-lower-back-stress-when-lifting-heavy-objects-1" target="_blank">help laborers</a> to use the correct muscles when lifting and allow them to lift more weight safely.</p><p dir="ltr">More profoundly, if you suffer from spinal cord injuries an exoskeleton could help you to <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/546276/this-40000-robotic-exoskeleton-lets-the-paralyzed-walk/" target="_blank">walk again</a>. Elderly people with mobility issues <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hyundai-creates-iron-man-exoskeleton-photos-2016-5//?r=AU&IR=T/#this-is-hyundais-exoskeleton-it-allows-the-wearer-to-lift-up-to-110-pounds-and-carry-them-over-distances-with-ease-1" target="_blank">could also benefit</a> from the technology.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTA2MzEzNn0.7gMDg-Ek2cr8sXqGZpxKC5BGsCv2IxO7ZjJdJi0iCzs/img.jpg?width=980" id="b6354" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c9bee0fdfeb97246be7cbc0cfe24ba0a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Paralyzed from the waist down, Steven Sanchez walks with the aid of an exoskeleton. Image credit: MIT Technology Review/SuitX</em></p><p dir="ltr">The transhumanist politician <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-transhumanist-future-of-sex" target="_blank">Zoltan Istvan</a> also thinks that exoskeletons could soon transform sport and other forms of recreation by helping us to reach new physical peaks and compete at a different level. He even thinks we'll use them in the bedroom, though it's contentious whether humans will really want to 'suit up' as a preamble to getting down and dirty.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>3. Real-time Language Translation</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMTk2OTc2OX0.IY4Y9vFMNcFgDhdWXReZ2p2cvn2E411bivvftPKYg9E/img.png?width=980" id="19fa3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c9707e6de6eae6f4a0d2ed931ac7995e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">Real time language translation applications have been around for a few years though they've had their share of quirks and imperfections. However, recent advances in machine learning have done a lot to improve machine translation of late—so much so that we are now on the cusp of achieving seamless translation in real time. In late 2016 <em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/magazine/the-great-ai-awakening.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a></em> reported that Google's translation "A.I. system had demonstrated overnight improvements roughly equal to the total gains the old one had accrued over its entire lifetime."</p><p dir="ltr">With artificial intelligence facilitating a whole new level of precision in this field, a wave of companies are racing to bring <a href="http://bigthink.com/robby-berman/the-idea-is-ai-ears-that-are-better-than-your-own" target="_blank">even better products</a> to the market, including <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-13/microsoft-to-release-translator-app-in-ai-race-against-google" target="_blank">Microsoft</a> and Google. The US startup <a href="http://www.waverlylabs.com/" target="_blank">Waverly Labs</a> has crowdsourced over $4 million and has pre-sold 22,000 prototype earbuds that will translate in real time while canceling ambient noise. At $299 a pair, you have to wonder whether human translators will be able to earn much of a living from here on out.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>4. Augmented Vision</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjU3Njc2N30.FYAr0PYlmS9j_t77hLs3Bxg749yXtBov5L6W0JCVuXk/img.jpg?width=980" id="01320" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="93d6eb32889a012f04417f042087017e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://bionicvision.org.au/eye/how_does_it_work" target="_blank">Bionic eyes</a> are a thing! They are currently used to treat hereditary and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and rely on a camera mounted on glasses feeding inputs to electrodes attached to the retina. This technique is a remarkable, though still imperfect, means of reversing a form of blindness.</p><p dir="ltr">Another kind of intraocular bionic lens is being developed by the <a href="http://ocumetics.com/" target="_blank">Ocumetics Technology Corp</a> and is currently being tested in clinical trials. The aim of the product is to restore “clear vision at all distances, without glasses or contact lenses" regardless of the age of the patient. Ideally, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ocumetics-bionic-lens-could-give-you-vision-3x-better-than-20-20-1.3078257" target="_blank">“three times better than 20/20 vision"</a> could be achieved and laser eye surgery could eventually be rendered obsolete.</p><div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="x-ray-vision-and-telepathy-already-exist-2" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-media_id="gM147HgD" data-player_id="FvQKszTI" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ad9fde8db54af567df33fdcf77fbc82">
<div id="botr_gM147HgD_FvQKszTI_div" class="jwplayer-media" data-jwplayer-video-src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/gM147HgD-FvQKszTI.js">
<img src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/thumbs/gM147HgD-1920.jpg" class="jwplayer-media-preview">
</div>
<script src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/gM147HgD-FvQKszTI.js"></script>
</div>
</div><p>Perfect vision and no glasses would be a massive improvement for many. But why stop there? Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku thinks we should aim for superhuman vision and maintains that we are already well on our way.</p><p><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/02/telescopic-contact-lenses-could-magnify-human-eyesight" target="_blank">Telescopic contact lenses</a> have already been developed, which can enable the user to zoom in and out with a wink. The technology was developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and could soon be marketed to sufferers of AMD. But as the technology improves and gets cheaper it could eventually become the norm to have telescopic vision, as well as other add-ons like <a href="http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/22042-thermal-vision-graphene-light-detector-first-to-span-infrared-spectrum" target="_blank">night vision</a>.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>5. Smart Contact Lenses</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTA2NTQ4Nn0.aDR-QWp_w0-UjolHRz8Ox7MV9Nu8qP30ZkGzKbfhpfQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="340eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e395dc4c3c90b6ce1a612938061bedb7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Patent diagrams for Samsung's smart contact lenses. Image credit: Samsung/Korea Intellectual Property Right Service (KIPRIS)</em></p><p dir="ltr">But wait, the eye stuff gets even cooler! Both <a href="http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.html&r=20&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=(20160407.PD.+AND+(Sony.AS.+OR+Sony.AANM.))&OS=PD/4/7/2016+and+(AN/Sony+or+AANM/Sony)&RS=(PD/20160407+AND+(AN/Sony+OR+AANM/Sony))" target="_blank">Sony</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/samsung-just-patented-smart-contact-lenses-with-a-built-in-camera" target="_blank">Samsung</a> have patented smart contact lens technology that can record video by blinking. The augmented reality company <a href="https://www.magicleap.com/#/home" target="_blank">Magic Leap</a> is also working on a smart contact lens, in tandem with its much anticipated new augmented reality headset. Both products will be able to overlay computer generated images onto the real world.</p><p dir="ltr">But augmented reality tech isn't just for fun. Another application of smart contact lenses being developed at the <a href="https://googleblog.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/introducing-our-smart-contact-lens.html" target="_blank">X lab</a> (formerly Google X) is the capability to detect blood glucose levels in tears and alert diabetics when their blood sugar is too low.</p><p dir="ltr">How could this change your life in the next decade? Leading transhumanists and tech gurus <a href="https://singularityhub.com/2015/05/11/the-world-in-2025-8-predictions-for-the-next-10-years/" target="_blank">Peter Diamandis</a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/04/magic-leap-vr/">Kevin Kelly</a> think that in the near future these kinds of innovations will hail the end of PCs, smartphones and screens-as-we-know-them. Soon you could walk around with the equivalent of your smartphone inside you, while the screen could be both everywhere and nowhere. Classic miniaturization and dematerialization in action!</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>6. 3D Printed Body Parts</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ1OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5ODQyOTc5M30.t_Rk_pBA-be9dTte4_cBoIfzQDmY_PZ99G5Lw4jHQzc/img.jpg?width=980" id="44aed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1159d195c2477277ace2eafccc46e157" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/40th-anniversary/organs-made-to-order-863675/" target="_blank">Lab-grown bladders</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26885335" target="_blank">functional vaginas</a> have already been successfully implanted in patients. But even more exciting is the promise of 3D printing and implanting vital organs like <a href="http://bigthink.com/videos/how-to-grow-a-heart-transforming-stem-cells-into-live-organs" target="_blank">hearts</a>, lungs and kidneys.</p><p dir="ltr">Professor <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35581454" target="_blank">Martin Birchall</a>, a surgeon at University College London, believes that this will come and that important stepping stones will arrive very soon. He told the <em>BBC</em> in 2016:</p><blockquote>
“I think it will be less than a decade before surgeons like me are trialling customized printed organs and tissues. I can't wait!"<br>
</blockquote><p dir="ltr"><em><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21715638-how-build-organs-scratch" target="_blank">The </a><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21715638-how-build-organs-scratch" target="_blank">Economist</a></em> is even more optimistic, predicting that the first implantable livers and kidneys could be 3D printed as early as 2023.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>7. Smarter Drugs</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjc0NTUzNH0.nKELRYHyi1p6uxCfaKhoN6QF_nCMrlmx7foUJS3Ir00/img.jpg?width=980" id="e9c66" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bc690e29e7b68181974f42ca088e628f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr">Let's be honest, humans love drugs. Some age-old faves include alcohol, caffeine and sugar. But when it comes to both medicinal treatment and recreational or performance-enhancing drugs (think Prozac for depression and anxiety, or caffeine and amphetamines for alertness and concentration) today's drugs are pretty darn primitive. Why? Because they're a one-size-fits-all solution that can't be well tailored to the individual. Benefits are also very hard to decouple from side effects.</p><p dir="ltr">The good news is that soon we could have a new generation of better, smarter drugs. Already, <a href="https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2017/02/08/ai-drug-discovery/" target="_blank">artificial intelligence</a> and cheap <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-how-dna-sequencing-is-transforming-the-hunt-for-new-drugs-2015-5?IR=T" target="_blank">genomic sequencing</a> are accelerating the drug discovery process and facilitating an increase in effective personalized medicine. Unsurprisingly, <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/why-big-pharma-wants-to-collect-2-million-genomes-1.20697" target="_blank">pharmaceutical companies</a>, <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2086454-revealed-google-ai-has-access-to-huge-haul-of-nhs-patient-data/" target="_blank">governments and tech corporations</a> are eagerly getting in on this medical big data game.</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.humanlongevity.com/science-technology/products/" target="_blank">The Human Longevity Inc.</a>, which was run until early 2017 by the pioneering geneticist Craig Venter (of Human Genome Project fame) is on track to complete an ambitious plan to sequence 1 million human genomes by 2020. The company hopes to mine this enormous database of genetic, and phenotypic (lifestyle) data and rapidly accelerate the innovation of personalized drugs and treatment plans.</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603049/personalized-cancer-vaccine-prevents-leukemia-relapse-in-patients/">Personalized cancer treatments</a> are already increasingly common and effective. Soon, as former US President <a href="https://www.genome.gov/10001356/" target="_blank">Bill Clinton once said</a>, we could "know the term cancer only as a constellation of stars."</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>8. Brain-computer Interfaces</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDQwMzI4MX0.eDMJtwlSr1WmvlCLOHTmReTvCxX8az09rVACJhXGkWA/img.jpg?width=980" id="edac5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2bd4a8f12c69276f8a9875b04865aa1b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr">Humans can already control <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/420756/wheelchair-makes-the-most-of-brain-control/" target="_blank">wheelchairs</a>, <a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/mind_controlled_prosthetic_arm_moves_individual_fingers_" target="_blank">advanced neuroprosthetic limbs</a> and <a href="http://thescienceexplorer.com/technology/interface-one-person-can-control-swarm-drones-their-mind" target="_blank">drones</a> with their minds. Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) have also been used to communicate with patients suffering from the rare affliction of <a href="http://bigthink.com/robby-berman/the-completely-locked-in-can-tell-us-how-they-feel-for-the-first-time" target="_blank">locked-in syndrome</a>. Soon we could be using technology like this all the time, not just to correct for disabilities, but to enhance communication and sensory connection. Perhaps we could even connect telepathically?</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-powered-by-telepathic-thoughts-a7085126.html" target="_blank">Mark Zuckerberg</a> certainly thinks so. He famously proclaimed in 2015 that in the future (though more than a decade away):</p><blockquote>
"You're going to just be able to capture a thought, what you're thinking or feeling in kind of its ideal and perfect form in your head, and be able to share that with the world in a format where they can get that." <br>
</blockquote><p dir="ltr">Zuckerberg is not the only tech kingpin thinking about this stuff. In 2016 Elon Musk famously spruiked the idea of a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/13/elon-musk-reiterates-the-need-for-brain-computer-interfaces-in-the-age-of-ai/" target="_blank">"neural lace,"</a> effectively an advanced BCI in which biological brains seamlessly mesh with non-biological computing. <a href="http://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-teases-neural-lace-announcement/">Rumblings</a> on Twitter and hints from Musk himself suggest he is actually planning to work on his own lace design.</p><p dir="ltr">The leaders of Stanford University's <a href="https://neuroscience.stanford.edu/initiatives/big-ideas-neuroscience/brain-machine-interface" target="_blank">NeuroTechnology Initiative</a> also believe that in years to come "brain-machine interfaces will transform medicine, technology and society" and that "future devices will likely not only restore, but also augment, human capacities."</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>9. Designer Babies</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTc2NTc5M30.-sBTGBisQgNKwqtMXpPLiyuEf4PEyc8tT_FZp8wEBu4/img.jpg?width=980" id="a8878" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3705007fd17e57176b2ebbaa2c09dd1b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p dir="ltr">In 2016 the first <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107219-exclusive-worlds-first-baby-born-with-new-3-parent-technique/" target="_blank">3-parent baby was born</a>. The nucleus from one of the mother's eggs was transplanted into a donor egg with the nucleus removed. The donor egg was then fertilized with the father's sperm, a process undertaken to avoid a fatal condition called Leigh syndrome, which is carried in the mother's mitochondrial DNA.</p><p dir="ltr">With gene editing becoming a more precise science, thanks to new techniques like <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/gene-editing-research-in-human-embryos-gains-momentum-1.19767" target="_blank">CRISPR-Cas9</a>, it will not be long before they are utilized en masse to prevent most heritable diseases. Why would you roll the genetic dice when you could actively intervene to ensure that your child will be healthy? Especially if you've had your genome sequenced and know you are a carrier of deleterious genes, like the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, which strongly predispose those with the mutations to breast and ovarian cancer.</p><p dir="ltr">Pre-natal screening already affects the proportion of certain genetic traits in the population—a high percentage (<a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/new-study-abortion-after-prenatal-diagnosis-of-down-syndrome-reduces-down-syndrome-community-by-thirty-percent/" target="_blank">most recently estimated at 67%</a>) of fetuses identified as having Down syndrome are aborted. While statistics like this have sparked widespread <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/04/opinion/does-down-syndrome-justify-abortion.html" target="_blank">ethical debates</a>, they also indicate that humans tend to be willing to make use of technologies that give them more choice over their reproductive outcomes. IVF is another obvious example.</p><p dir="ltr">The ultimate potential of gene-editing technology is profound and could be species changing. It's uncertain how far we'll progress (<a href="http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/when-it-comes-to-gene-editing-human-embryos-diseases-yes-designer-babies-no" target="_blank">or indeed allow the technology to progress</a>) in the next few years. But you'll definitely see movement in this space over the next decade. </p><p dir="ltr"><strong>10. Enhanced Sexual Organs</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><strong><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ2My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjA1NDcxMX0.kMW08vVPD17snOi5zwlxQIcuNebKF0ofbJUPp8AFvrg/img.png?width=980" id="e515d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dc48b00d3394ee99cd79262d3e9dc0c9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><br></strong></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Photo: Jean-Paul Goode, <a href="http://www.papermag.com/no-filter-an-afternoon-with-kim-kardashian-1427450475.html" target="_blank">Paper Magazine</a></em></p><p dir="ltr">Almost <a href="https://d2wirczt3b6wjm.cloudfront.net/News/Statistics/2016/2016-plastic-surgery-statistics-report.pdf" target="_blank">300,000 Americans</a> underwent breast augmentation surgery in 2016, a 4% increase on the previous year and a 37% increase since 2000. But it's not just boobs, almost all <a href="https://d2wirczt3b6wjm.cloudfront.net/News/Statistics/2016/2016-plastic-surgery-statistics-report.pdf">cosmetic procedures are on the rise</a>. Clearly Americans have embraced this mode of human enhancement with gusto.</p><p dir="ltr">But who wouldn't want to achieve the same goals without sticking bags of silicon inside their body? There might just be a better way.</p><p dir="ltr">Transgender transhumanist <a href="http://hplusmagazine.com/2014/05/08/total-gender-change-within-decade/" target="_blank">Valkyrie Ice McGill</a> predicted in 2014 that by 2024 a total functional gender transformation will be possible. The same technology that could enable a complete gender reassignment could also allow patients to achieve breast, buttock, and penis enlargements with more natural results. She stated:</p><blockquote>
<em>“A decade from now, a plastic surgeon is likely to use body modeling software developed by MMOs and VR to enable you to decide precisely how you want to look, and then supervise the da Vinci autosurgeon as it uses your own body fat and skin cells to produce a stock of programmable stem cells, and then performs hundreds or even thousands of minimally invasive microsurgeries to place those programmed cells throughout your body, where they will become extra muscle mass, larger breasts, repair damaged internal organs, etc., allowing your future self the option of “resculpting" your personal appearance." </em><br>
</blockquote><p>Holy crap! A bigger butt grown from your own stem cells. Kinda cool, if a little predictable. But then we idealize curvy women and muscular men because it's been an historical ideal with a strong biological impetus. Our tastes don't spring from nowhere.</p><p>Yet when it comes to sex, humanity as a species has big aspirations and vivid imaginations. There will always be those who want to create completely new ideals of beauty and sexuality and who hope to transcend the limits and values of the present day.</p><p>The transhumanist George Dvorsky is one such human. He has playfully outlined out a speculative ideal for <a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/penis-2-0-heres-what-the-penis-of-the-future-should-lo-1716798943" target="_blank">“the penis of the future."</a> Notably, it's not the same old thing but bigger. Among other traits, Dvorsky hopes that a future penis could be bacteria resistant and WiFi enabled. Another eager biohacker and transhumanist Rich Lee has a different vision. He thinks <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/vibrating-penis-implants" target="_blank">vibrating penis implants</a> will be the way of the future.</p><p>Some other fascinating predictions can be found in the <a href="http://futureofsex.net/sex-tech/new-report-9-incredible-predictions-future-sex/" target="_blank">2016 Future of Sex report</a>. The authors believe that dating in virtual reality will be common by 2022, and that by 2027 we'll have brain interfaces that allow us to literally turn on our partners via their most powerful sexual organ: their mind.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODYwNjQ2NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwODQ0OTg0OH0.rMA47OrOiB2oQPQWaeLZJQTLVlJ9QcrrUnFAxCESchM/img.png?width=980" id="96104" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d37ced3bffbea493eaf9f2c4cdad856b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p><em>Infographic from the 2016 Future of Sex report. Image credit: <a href="http://futureofsex.net/" target="_blank">futureofsex.net</a></em></p><p>While the fullest realization of many of these technologies will likely be felt over several decades, it is realistic to imagine we will see these kinds of innovations improving fast and becoming more widely tested and adopted in the decade to come. Sure, you might not have a vibrating penis in 10 years time, but you will certainly have met someone with a chip implant by 2027 and there's a very good chance you'll have one yourself. The same goes for much of the rest. Very exciting stuff!</p><p>--</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Popular
