Medical miracle AND a manmade horror beyond my comprehension.
Reminds me of a quote from the game Alpha Centauri:
I think, and my thoughts cross the barrier into the synapses of the machine, just as the good doctor intended. But what I cannot shake, and what hints at things to come, is that thoughts cross back. In my dreams, the sensibility of the machine invades the periphery of my consciousness: dark, rigid, cold, alien. Evolution is at work here, but just what is evolving remains to be seen.
Commissioner Pravin Lal, “Man and Machine”
The guaranteed abuse of this technology far FAR outweighs the benefits, imo.
A better solution to combat those disorders would be to prevent their formation in the first place with early detection and improved medical sciences and procedures.
The human brain is one of the last places we have left that isn't entirely owned and controlled by some corporation or state agency. I do not trust any government to regulate it properly and I do not trust a single corporation to develop it with good intentions. It would be abused instantly as shareholders pitch tents in their pants over selling it to law enforcement and advertisers.
I don’t think the understanding of the human brain is really good enough to engineer a properly functional one.
And I suspect that any companies touting they have such a device are ether overstating how effective what they have is, or outright lying about the capabilities.
If we did have enough understanding to engineer a device, I suspect it would be possible to fix such issues without grafting in electronics.
Anything beyond publicly funded research smells of grift to me.
We don’t need to completely understand both sides as long as one of them can adapt. The brain can adapt to an incredible of amount of crazy shit. And that’s why this is extra dangerous.
Exactly, we don’t know how the brain would adapt to having electric impulses wired right in to it, and it could adapt in some seriously negative ways.
It is simultaneously the most promising and most dangerous tech imaginable. There are so many amazing and wonderful things it could enable. There are so many horrifying and terrible ways it could go wrong. It has to be approached with utmost caution and incredibly well thought out regulation and standards. I'm not sure I trust any government or institution in existence in the world currently to manage it the way it needs to be.
Of course you're right but everyone will still just buy it from Temu and use it to watch funny cat videos and cute dances. "My recommendations are so great now! It's like they can read my mind!".
Bidirectional is a "hell no." One-directional I can get on board with, though I don't like the idea of my thoughts being available to anyone else. Minimal interface where I can control typing of a keyboard or drive a car or whatever, sure. I don't want anything that can read ALL of my thoughts, because once that thing is connected to the internet then you know it'll be monetized and weaponized.
So reading what was posted my concern is that medical startups that sell it properly aren't prepared for several decades of supporting it.
I'm quite supportive of disability assisting technology and the ability to use machines to connect the brain to the body or prostheses are things I'm generally in favor of (when the disabled are consulted and listened to).
Now, Elon's cyberpunk nightmare version of this where minds and computers are swapping thoughts directly? No, I'm not on board with that. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be anywhere near the horizon.
I don't like it. I might be able to get on board with read-access to my brain (especially if I end up paralyzed or something) if I felt the tech was secure enough, but I'd be very worried about abuse of write access (writing in loyalty to the community party, for example)
what do you mean my thoughts on bidirectional brain-computer interfaces
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
