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posted by martyb on Friday July 19 2019, @12:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the superhero-cyborgs-need-a-special-suit,-too dept.

Why I'm turning my son into a cyborg (archive) (alt)

Imagine if everyone spoke a language you don't understand. People have been speaking it around you since the day you were born, but while everyone else picks it up immediately, for you it means nothing. Others become frustrated with you. Friendships and jobs are difficult. Just being "normal" becomes a battle.

For many with autism, this is the language of emotion. For those on the spectrum, fluency in facial expressions doesn't come for free as it does for "neurotypicals." To them, reading facial expressions seems like a superpower.

So when my son was diagnosed, I reacted not just as a mom. I reacted as a mad scientist and built him a superpower.

This isn't the first time I've played mad scientist with my son's biology. When he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I hacked his insulin pump and built an AI that learned to match his insulin to his emotions and activities. I've also explored neurotechnologies to augment human sight, hearing, memory, creativity, and emotions. Tiger moms might obsess over the "right" prep schools and extracurriculars for their child, but I say why leave their intellect up to chance?

I've chosen to turn my son into a cyborg and change the definition of what it means to be human. But do my son's engineered superpowers make him more human, or less?


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  • (Score: 2) by aiwarrior on Friday July 19 2019, @04:25PM (5 children)

    by aiwarrior (1812) on Friday July 19 2019, @04:25PM (#869041) Journal

    I do not understand how non consented tampering with the medical device of another person is legal. The father can be a genius but the procedures to approve an insulin pump exist because a bug could cause death or disability (amputation, blindness more?).
    Just because a child is under his responsibility does not mean that he can gamble with the life of another. On the contrary, given that a child did not yet law recognizable free will and responsibilty, the father should not be able to do this modifications to his child. Seriously, hacking the insulin pump of a child? What an idiot! Why not help his child be normal.

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  • (Score: 2) by epitaxial on Friday July 19 2019, @04:47PM (4 children)

    by epitaxial (3165) on Friday July 19 2019, @04:47PM (#869054)

    The parent is the owner of the pump. They can modify or even destroy it as they wish.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aiwarrior on Friday July 19 2019, @05:37PM

      by aiwarrior (1812) on Friday July 19 2019, @05:37PM (#869070) Journal

      Indeed, use it modified on a person which cannot legally consent to it is another matter though.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 19 2019, @06:58PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 19 2019, @06:58PM (#869114)

      Are you autistic or just dense? If the parent modifies their child's pump then that child dies from incorrect insulin dosing, that is manslaughter vs murder.

      • (Score: 2) by epitaxial on Friday July 19 2019, @07:03PM

        by epitaxial (3165) on Friday July 19 2019, @07:03PM (#869119)

        No it isn't. Murder means there was intent. But now you're going purely by conjecture on events that did not occur.

    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday July 19 2019, @07:54PM

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Friday July 19 2019, @07:54PM (#869145) Journal

      Not really. The device was prescribed by a physician to be used according to the directions of that physician. The pump was certified by the FDA. Tampering with the device constitutes violates both the FDA certification and the orders of the physician ordering the prescription.

      Let's put it another way, and make it a pain pump instead of an insulin pump. Person modifies the device to drop the opioid flow twice as fast. Still OK with that? (You might be. The FDA nor the prescribing physician will be).

      --
      This sig for rent.