SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the Louis-Wu-would-like-a-word-with-you dept.
"What I think is so interesting is that the future is always flying cars," Leuthardt says, handing the resident his Sharpie and picking up a scalpel. "They captured the dystopian component: they talk about biology, the replicants. But they missed big chunks of the future. Where were the neural prosthetics?"
It's a topic that Leuthardt, a 44-year-old scientist and brain surgeon, has spent a lot of time imagining. In addition to his duties as a neurosurgeon at Washington University in St. Louis, he has published two novels and written an award-winning play aimed at "preparing society for the changes ahead." In his first novel, a techno-thriller called RedDevil 4, 90 percent of human beings have elected to get computer hardware implanted directly into their brains. This allows a seamless connection between people and computers, and a wide array of sensory experiences without leaving home. Leuthardt believes that in the next several decades such implants will be like plastic surgery or tattoos, undertaken with hardly a second thought.
The article reports Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are working on neural implants as well.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday December 01 2017, @08:30PM (6 children)
Did this guy somehow miss "The Matrix"? It was not a small, niche movie, and did far better in the theaters than Blade Runner did. (Blade Runner didn't do that great at the box office, but gained a strong following years later. From Wikipedia: "Blade Runner underperformed in North American theaters and polarized critics; some praised its thematic complexity and visuals, while others were displeased with its unconventional pacing and plot. However, it subsequently became an acclaimed cult film, and is now regarded as one of the all-time best science fiction movies. Hailed for its production design depicting a "retrofitted" future, Blade Runner remains a leading example of neo-noir cinema." The Matrix, OTOH, was a smash hit and immediately became part of the public conscious, much like Star Wars did in 1977 but to a lesser degree.)
Anyway, The Matrix had neural interfaces, and the world depicted there wasn't exactly great.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by urza9814 on Friday December 01 2017, @08:59PM (3 children)
The question in my mind is which comes first -- the full neural interface or true AI?
I think this is an extremely important concern. I think the neural interface is likely to end up as a kind of hive organism, where our networked technology eventually becomes an extension of ourselves, and our brains eventually merge towards a single global consciousness. But what happens if we plug in and find there's already a consciousness in there which might not be interested in sharing? Instead of the technology becoming an extension of ourselves, we may find that we become an extension of it!
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday December 01 2017, @09:03PM (2 children)
Sorry, hit submit a bit too quickly there...that was meant to relate to your original comment a bit more :)
Essentially The Matrix showed a possible result of the AI coming first. But rather than using us as a heat source, I think it would be more a matter of using us as processors. There's certainly tasks today which the human brain is better adapted for, and that's likely to be the case for a while. So the machines could find it worth keeping us around for the extra processors for a while. Plus we're pretty adaptable as a kind of mobile robotic platform, particularly since the AI would exist in a world built for human hands.
But I can't think of any movie that really shows the other side of that. We've occasionally gotten hive-minds, but they're generally some evil alien creature; never a possible best future for humanity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 01 2017, @09:15PM (1 child)
And then Dumbass Donald joins the hive mind.
*screaming*: FAKE NEWS! FAKE NEWS! HUGE! GREAT! I LOVE PUTIN COCK!!
*gulg* *gulg* *gulg*
Yeah cool bro sef I will pass on that hive mind of idiots.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday December 01 2017, @09:33PM
Well, we just shouldn't make Donald a neuron of this hive creature. Maybe he can be a skin cell or something ;)
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday December 01 2017, @09:37PM (1 child)
Forget the Matrix: This concept is a staple of cyberpunk going back long before the Matrix. And it can be both good, and very very very bad.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday December 01 2017, @10:17PM
IIRC, the Cyberpunk RPG has rules about losing your humanity as you upgrade your character with cybernetics. Too much of them cybers, and your character becomes crazy and unplayable.
Oh, look. a wiki: http://cyberpunk.wikia.com/wiki/Cyberpsychosis [wikia.com]