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Week 4 [05-11.11.18] Are we all cyborgs?

Did you ever hear about Neural Lace technology or Neuralink company?
Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk. Which is working on creating an
importable brain-computer interface. Elon Musk in April of 2017 said that company aims to make
devices to treat serious brain diseases with the eventual goal of human enhancement. Neural Lace
technology stands for "human enhancement". This technology will allow humans to connect their
brains with Artificial Intelligence. And even if it sounds like a Sci-Fi Novel it could be our near future.
Neural Lace is an ultra-thin mesh that can be implanted in the skull, forming a collection of electrodes
capable of monitoring brain function. It creates an interface between the brain and the machine. So
ultimately it is an interface which will provide us with faster connectivity with our computer which will
increase our brain possibilities. And as result, we will become cyborgs.




But do you ever think that we already enhance our brain with computers and even smartphones?
For example notes, photos, videos, appointments in a calendar is a much better storage than your
brain and it increases our brain potential. Your smartphone can make complex math calculations in
seconds or connect to servers which will do much more complex calculations, which will take you a
lot of time to do it by your own. It can surf the internet in order to serve you more up to date information about the weather in a country where you are planning to go or road traffic. So smartphones are already a robotic part of us, so we are already cyborgs with low-speed connectivity with our mechanical part, due to limited speed with which we are typing...


Do you agree with the statement that we are cyborgs in the context presented above?
Do you think that Neural Lace technology has a future, or it only a science fiction?
Would you like to use Neural Lace?


Sources:


Comments

Marcin Mróz said…
It's interesting theory and in this context I could agree with it as odd as it sounds. But in general I would not consider us as cyborgs we just use the tools that we have made to simplify our lifes. We would perform the same tasks using other tools if we didn't have smartphones and we would accomplish them, but in longer period of time. Neural Lace sounds a bit creepy to me, humanity would have to go too far with use of technology to actually use it on daily basis. Maybe I could try it if there would be no possibilities of damaging my brain or any other consequences that could turn myself into vegetable. And of course there would have to be an option to plug it out, because I wouldn't like to turn for example my every single thought into a Google query. ;)
Personally I do not agree with the statement that using a smartphone makes you a cyborg. It can make complex calculations, has access to the information of all sorts of any topic, can translate (roughly) from any language to any. But it does not boost your brain at all. In fact, it is a brain in that case, actually. If you transfer all the calculations and thinking to your smartphone, your very own brain becomes just a decoder that converts visual signal received by your eyes to the comprehensible neuro signals, which allows you to recognize and process received information... Hopefully. In my opinion, exactly the same will happen with the installation of foreign devices into human's brain. It is not the actual brain that will be thinking anymore, but some electronics, no matter how sophisticated. Your main thinking organ will slowly fade without action, and soon be reorganized into a bio connector between your new computer brain and the biological body. A super dangerous situation indeed. Not because of the fact that people are turning into robots, but because of how easily they can be remotely controlled now. Just can an EMP or something and disable the whole city or country. Amazing.
Lukasz Mroczek said…
Hmm… although it sounds really convincing I don’t agree that we are cyborgs. I’d rather say that we are intelligent creatures that made a good use of technology(in some cases bad) and I also try to avoid technology in my life where it’s not necessary. It’s hard to say whether this technology has a future but I believe that it has because nowadays there are no impossible things. Although this technology sounds great and seems to be a good fun I’d like to use it after it’s deeply tested on different people :D
I dont agree that we are cyborgs and i don't think it is a right description of ourselves. Neural Lace technology is our future, without any doubt, but it is not a close future, it will need a lot of time to make it more real. I would rather say yes, than no. I'm always for new technologies in our world, but will it be safe for me? That kind of thing needs to be tested a lot, so we will see what is going to happen.
Nataliya Tkach said…
People who enter the university for 5 years become cyborg ;D On the exam, they remember something they never knew. But seriously, I do not think that we are cyborg. Neural Lace technology is exactly the future, but it is not clear what is good or bad. This technology is just beginning to emerge, and for the first tests on living beings more than a decade will pass. And to its full implementation in human life, we most likely will not live. Neural Lace technology can affect a person’s personality by changing their self-image.
Unknown said…
We are not cyborgs because of smartphones. They are not the part of our body. They don't enhance our mental or physical state.

I am a huge supporter of transhumanism, because in my opinion our flesh is weak. We have all the resources now to work on enhancement of what we have as our bodies, but for some reason, we only have a few ideas, like Neural Lace. My only fear, concerning transhumanism is the tone of social problems it will bring. Discrimination by artificiality, how do you like that? That's some "Detroit: Become Human" kind of stuff. But the potential is huge and I hope that, despite all the possible failures, the positive outcome will be justified.
Unknown said…
Our brain consists of neurons that transmit an impulse, which can be compared to digital bits, so in a sense we're cyborgs.
I think that the development of such companies is the future. Even if it does not achieve its goal, it is sure that research will expand knowledge in the field of bioinformatics.
Yes, if Neural Lace would exist, I would like to try it.
Vladlen Kyselov said…
I would like to believe that we are cyborg and if we are not I hope that one day it will possible to "upgrade " your body. I think nowadays neural technologies are really far away from we can call "artificial intelligence", simply because all neural networks are making decisions based on huge amount of data that we gave them to make them learn. I hope that great minds will find the way how to solve this problem soon and we will be able to move to a new era of automated machines, that will help us to prolong our lives.
Kristina Moroz said…
I don't agree with this statement but who knows maybe in future we will be...or at least part of our bodies. In one hand it could be useful to have Neural Lace technology in future so it can help people who's brain doesn't actually works how it should. But on another hand it's could replace human emotions and "ourselves".
As for myself, I don't know if I ready to try it. It's a little bit scaring.
Computers are just tools and as long as they’re not part of our biological bodies, using them doesn’t make us cyborgs. That being said, I have seen some artificial limbs that make their owners definitely fall into the category of cyborgs. Take a look at that tattooing arm (https://youtu.be/EWTmNIny1Q0) — that’s the most cyberpunk thing that I’ve ever seen in real life.

I think companies such as Neural Lace definitely have bright futures before them. I feel human enhancement will become more needed and more mainstream with the coming years. I just hope the law keeps up with the innovation to prevent catastrophic results.

I would like to use Neural Lace myself, but only after a thousand other people have used it before me. I definitely don’t want to be a guinea pig.
I think that “cyborg” means being that has both organic and artificial (mechanic, electronic etc.) parts, so it is overuse of this term. But if we look at it in a less strict way, then I agree that humans are already cyborgs.
In my opinion, companies like Neural Lance have great potential. It is only matter of time when people will merge their brains with computers, maybe in 5, 10 or even 100 years but it I think it will eventually happen. Human brain is essentially outstanding asynchronous neural network which can adapt, learn and what is more important, it can create new ideas. However it is relatively weak when it comes to fast calculations and our “animal” body has a lot limitations when it comes to data access. If we omit our eyes, ears and other natural receptors, and connect computers directly to brains we may get ability to perform extremely complicated calculations in real time and instant access to any data, for example the internet, which is more or less collection of all human knowledge. I think that it is the future, so I would be extremely happy if I get access to Neural Lance.
Do you agree with the statement that we are cyborgs in the context presented above?
No, I don't. I think term cyborg is misused in this case.
Do you think that Neural Lace technology has a future, or it only a science fiction?
Of course it has a future. In this way we can enhance power of our brains and invent even greater things.
Would you like to use Neural Lace?
I think I would like to try it, but if it is supposed to be permanent - then no.
I also disagree with the fact that using a smartphone makes us cyborgs. Unfortunately, since when smartphones or computers appeared, people rarely count anything in the head, electronic equipment doesn't help us, but it doesn't mean that we turn off thinking at all or that some device is able to completely turn it off. I will also disagree with the fact that pinning us on a device will turn off thinking for us, it is nonsense and fear of ignorant people. Well-used electronics can develop and push us for a faster development of our civilization, not stagnation.
I think that we curretly cannot be called cyborgs, if we gain information from internet or smartphones it is not the same as loading it directly in brain, because the cavemen who gained information from wall paintings could be called cyborgs as well then. As for Neural LAce technology i think that it represents multiple possibilities and as many dangers, as it will be possible to load a harmful information in the brain of user, buggy and badly written software will actually become dangerous for people, thus i would not hurry to embrace such technology.
Filip Sawicki said…
I agree, we are already kind of cyborgs, but so did our ancestors since they started using various tools and machines. From the beginning of our civilizations we already had strong relationship with enhancing our lives by various means. Only recently we started using smartphones to digitalize ourselves. I’m really interested with what ingenious devices will Neural Lace come up in the future. There is a vast ocean of unknown technologies to be discovered and implemented that’ll improve our lives. Especially I’m interested in connection between internet and our minds, how cool would that be? I hope that I’ll see and use that still in my lifetime.
I would rather disagree on that statement. There are a lot arguments proving that we are not cybernetic organism because most of the abilities which are given us thru electronic devices are not in use used in right way. For some people it is just some kind of entertainment. For sure, huge servers with massive calculation abilities are used now in since, researches etc. However it is still a tool.

I guess there is a future for Neural Lace. Just by looking at nowadays technologies where for people who lost their sight or hearing. Right now, using special electronic tools it is possible to bring those feelings back.

Probably yes, I would do it. Just under the condition if it was tested well )
Unknown said…
Based on current information about this technology it wouldn't be so simple to just plug in and out. Due to some liquid should be inserted inside your head... Also, I think even when it will be well tested will be a risk to demage your brain...

What if think about the decision to use Neural Lace in the context that everyone around already uses it. And this is must have improvement in order to be competitive in business or science.
Unknown said…
Amazing theory. So, EMP is a nuclear bomb of a future :D.
Unknown said…
I believe it newer becomes totally safe even after a lot of testings. But in my opinion, if this technology will ever become real it can also become in humans competitive advantage.
Unknown said…
Interesting point. I also think that it another risk of this technology that it can change person self-image, and their identity.
Unknown said…
Also, an interesting change which could become real with such technologies: "discrimination by artificiality". Now it sounds ridiculous, but maybe in future, it will be a common problem as now race or sex discrimination.
Unknown said…
Are you not afraid to be harmed by such technology. As mentioned before, to be harmed physically by using this technology or mentally by losing your personal identity?
Unknown said…
I understand that word "cyborg" is overuse in terms of computers and smartphones. But I believe that mechanical part shouldn't imitate some real human part or be directly connected to the human body to be called cyborg.
Unknown said…
By saying that you will be happy to get access to Neural Lance. You mean that you would like to try it among the first people or would like to wait once it will be already tested with other peoples?
Unknown said…
I believe Neuro Lance technology could be implemented only constantly with no possibility to disconnect.
Unknown said…
But I believe you couldn't say challenge statement that nowadays with a smartphone you could perform calculations which wouldn't be able to do with your brain itself.
Unknown said…
A lot of dangers connected with using such technology. But I believe it also has a lot of advantages. I also believe it could also face a lot of ethic issues.
Unknown said…
I think that we are not cyborgs, but we make the most of the devices, I think that neural lance definitely has a future and I would definitely like to use it, thanks to this technology you can create an ideal man who has knowledge about everything and many people thanks to that he will get help.
We are deffinitely not cyborgs but indeed we are really close to become them. Many devices that increases our brain potential are reall so we can make the next step to become more like cyborgs.
It's hard to say for now if Neural Lace technology has a future but this technology can change a lot.
I would like to try Neural Lace- it's sounds interesting.
Unknown said…
I don't think that things like smartphones make us cyborgs - while they are certainly very helpful to the point of almost being indispensable, they are not a part of our bodies and are not neccessary for our bodies to function. However, things like implants or hearing aids are attached to our body, and whether using those makes us cyborgs is a bit more debatable.

As for how impactful the Neural Lace technology is going to be, I'm honestly not sure. It's entirely possible that it will end up having a huge impact on our world and technology, but right now, it's too early to say for sure. It might very well end up being a failure due to economic or technological problems.

When it comes to using the technology personally, I would definitely not want to use it in it's early stages, as I feel like it would be too risky to use something that is untested. However, I would certainly be interested in it once it becomes safe and popular enough to the point that everyone can get one.
Unknown said…
Do you agree with the statement that we are cyborgs in the context presented above?

A cyborg (/ˈsaɪbɔːrɡ/) short for "cybernetic organism") is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts according to wiki. This is simply not according to the word description.

Do you think that Neural Lace technology has a future, or it only a science fiction?

Gonna be really great to try that technology and a lot of things would be much more fun like games that would feel real or work that can be done few hundred times faster

Would you like to use Neural Lace?

That would be definitely fun although I would wait till technology used by others to make sure lack of health issues after using.
1. I don't agree with the statement - having a computer in Your pocket is different than having computer in Your brain.

2. I think it might has a feature, but it wil take a lot of time for this to became available for "normal" people

3. Yes, but I woudln't like to be one of the testers
Peter Clemenza said…
Another mr fancy startup elon musk with his totally brand new ideas to collect your cash. Just read the introduction:

Neuralink is developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers. We are building a team of multidisciplinary experts passionate about making a world-changing impact.

some basic, random words for dumb people. ultra-high bandwidth - why not ultra-low?

Do you agree with the statement that we are cyborgs in the context presented above?
Not because of smartphones. Its just technology, little gadget that you can use to communicate.


Do you think that Neural Lace technology has a future, or it only a science fiction?
Would you like to use Neural Lace?
It has a future, but not nearest. We still struggle with basic diseases like flu. And they are talking about connecting brains to a machine?
Simply i do not agree as i dont feel so much connected with technology nither im at least partially cibernetic but i understand what it is all about. When it comes to your second question it's really hard but, i think this is true. If we can measure how our brain reacts to different stimulus then why can't we create similar signals. And now 3rd. Can't say for sure, it depends. WIll it be permanent, how exactly does it work. Can it be harmful etc. For now its just to much for me. Can't say anything for sure.
Unknown said…
I absolutely think that we are not yet cyborgs, and smartphones and all the technology that we surround ourselves only makes life easier for us.

In my opinion, these technologies of the future are, I think, the most sense. It is possible to do this and it has an amazingly huge development potential, but I would not use it because of the underdevelopment and the possibility of failure.
Unknown said…
Do you agree with the statement that we are cyborgs in the context presented above?
Nope, I don't think that I or others are cyborgs. Argument in your text just don't speak to me. We use devices to make our life easier. people did the same with books, maps etc. 2000 years ago. Were they cyborgs? I don't think so.
Do you think that Neural Lace technology has a future, or it only a science fiction?
It have a great future, it could make our lifes easier, faster etc. But it will take a looooot of time to implement it. In some time I mean about 150 years? So this does not incude me, nor my children.
Would you like to use Neural Lace?
Would like to use it, but there is no possibility to do so.
Yes, I think that we are cyborgs in some way. I believe that in future will be invented few tools that will help us to work with electronic world much more faster than now and we will be connected to internet and will be have access to all world information using our mind. I want to try latest technology that developed to move on this way and also I want to see what will be next in our technology evolution.
The concept of cyborg concerns me within the context of neoliberalism. I can mention some pretty mundane "be my best self" examples like calling your mom more and reading more books. A smartphone can help us do those things, in maybe in a way that kind of makes us a cyborg when we offload mental bandwidth onto an electronic device like reminding us to call mom or setting time in the schedule to read.
Unknown said…
We are quite the cyborg, too. You can say that we do not have artificial organs or arms. However, we all use technology in our life. And what will happen when all data from all devices is erased? When people entrust so much of our everyday life to those electronic devices, the argument that we are not cyborgs is not very convincing. To us, those technologies are already our second brain.
Is not that right?
Unknown said…
I don’t thing we are already cyborgs. We just have additional tools to get our lives easier just like Praeanthropus africanus created tools with stones to hunt. We will become cyborgs only if we modifies ours brains or different organs to be upgraded and connect body with electronic parts. Yes I thing I would like to use Neural Lace because it will be next step to the future and yes I thing this technology has a future.
Yea, but the smartphone is just a tool. A complicated tool, but still something external, something you can give to other person. It's like an advanced hammer. If I hold a hammer, am I already a cyborg? And by holding a smarphone? Or do I need to use it to become one?
Cyborg, by definition is an organism, whose life processes are partially or fully realized by a machine. A smartphone doesn't really realize any of my life processes. It's definitelly not thinking for me. It's just a tool I use to acomplish some tasks - like communicating with other people or finding some information - just like a regular phone, a computer or some other devices.
So no, smartphone doesn't make us a cyborg.
I do agree that we are already cyborgs, to a certain extent. Even our communication with each other is digitized through the internet at this point. For example, the smartphone has become integral to us, I think, it has become an "inorganic part" of our body, if I may say so. And I’m sure, Neural Lace will find its place in the future - it's just matter of time. but I would still be very hesitant to try it, at this point in time. Overall, concept and idea are great, but we will see.
“Internet human” is something I’ve been telling people about for some time now, as a sort of next step in the evolution of the human race. There’s already a significant amount of scientific studies into how daily use of computers and Internet are changing our brains, so I don’t think it it’s exaggerated to call our generation a new species of human. Having terabytes worth of information at our fingertips and a vast communication network opens up the whole world for us. Getting a more direct access to that would be the logical next step, and I think it’s only a matter of time until such technology is developed. At the same time, I’m wary of immediate adoption and usage of an invention like that. It’s not a secret that the Internet is already being manipulated and filled with malicious data and software, so the idea of connecting that straight to my brain has me concerned with all the bad things that could possibly be inflicted onto a person through such interface. I don’t dismiss the advancement, but I fear that proceeding without consideration of potential issues and drawbacks might bring more problems than benefits in the long run.
1. Do you agree with the statement that we are cyborgs in the context presented above?
Cyborgs do not have free will. I think that enhancing humans’ brains would be more of a drug, just like in the movies (e.g. Lucy / Limitless). Where after taking some substances they became some kind of a super human. They still had free will and were conscious and so that’s why I believe “cyborg” is not the right word.

2. Do you think that Neural Lace technology has a future, or it only a science fiction?
It certainly does. The question, however, is whether that is what we need?

3. Would you like to use Neural Lace?
I surely would. But I’m a bit worried that once I would have tried that it would be pretty hard getting back to the normal (in comparison to the enhanced) underperforming state of my brain.
Artem Lipovatyi said…
1. No, I do not agree with the fact that we are already cyborgs. Telephones are not an integral part of our body, as it should be the case with a microcomputer embedded in our brain. In the second case, we can say that the person is a cyborg.

2. It seems to me that this technology has the right to exist, however, is dangerous for humans. There is no guarantee that it will not want to control the human brain. In the near future, it will still seem like science fiction.

3. Definitely not. I want to have a sound mind and not be dependent on an electronic device in my head.
Artem Lipovatyi said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I disagree with this statement because in my thought cyborgs are peoples with some electronic part inside their body’s which can receive and send impulses to brain and central nervous system.
Yes, it’s definitely our future. Using direct connection between brain and computer will accelerate work of people.
Yes, after all tests I would like to use it.
Maybe yes, cause these things helps us to live and solve many small problems. I think that Neural Lace have a future. A lot of people want “upgrade” themselves in different ways, like some cyber eyes or hands. This technology sounds amazing, it could open up whole new worlds of possibilities for us. But to my mind it also could be very danger. For example, in a world where everyone’s thoughts are connected to the Internet, how would this affect our personal privacy? Because governments could spy on us or even take control of our minds. Also, hackers would able to exploit vulnerabilities in the software of our minds or inject viruses directly into our consciousness. All of this remains to be seen. But at this time I could answer that I don't want to use it.
Marcin Górski said…
I can't agree with statement that we are cyborgs. I'm only human and I don't have electronic inside of me (I hope!). If I think about cyborgs I always see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film) movie before my eyes. That's how I understand robots and that's why I can't agree with you. Have you ever watched this film?
Second question is very hard for me. I don't want to say that is impossible because everything has changed, people have money, especially Elon Musk, for explorations and that's why we have to be careful with saying about possible/impossible things.
I like new technologies but Neural Lace is something creepy for me. I can't imagine that, seriously! I'm okay with my body and I don't want to change it. I always thought that I'm brave...
Maciej Nowak said…
I would say that using smartphones on a daily basics makes us cyborgs is a bit of an overstatement. For me, to become a cyborg you would need something implanted into your body during a surgery and affect/improve your life. It is hard to tell me if Neural Lace technology has a future or some other design will be superior, but i believe that there will be huge group of people that will be interested in implants that augments your capabilities. Personally I would rather not use this kind of inventions, as I don't need them to enjoy my life.
1. Not really, we aren't cyborgs yet. We are just using those devices to make our lives easier. Just like we used tools back in IIth century. Not much difference, one tool is just more advanced than the other and that is all.

2. I think that it has a future and it might be an important step in development of our civilization.

3. That is a hard question. I would have to really know details. How this thing works etc. Despite that, I think I would be still too scared to use it.
I wouldn't agree that we are already cyborgs. In my opinion nowadays people are addicted to mobiles, computers and other devices because they make our lifes easier but for me the definition of being cyborg is that you need to be physicaly connected to robotic parts not just to use electronics to perfmorm better in life. Neural Lace has a future for sure. It's not a thing today because connection between device and brain is too slow, but it will be, when we would be able to connect things directly to people's brains.
I would love to use Neural Lace because it would make me super human and math would become finally easy.
Hmm,We're not cyborgs YET. Altough this is very interesting theory but for me its a little far-fetched it's true that we all sure smartphones but they're not part of our body and we can deal without them.
Yes, I think it could be a really near future, as you said they are working on it already so technology for that already exists they just need to solve some basic problems with that ( btw this topic reminds me about Black mirror- Netflix series there was a episode with artifical lens that worked similar to mentioned mesh).
I wouldn't be a tester for sure, I think injecting anything in your body is very dangerous ( not saying about vaccines ;) ), if this technology will be tested and 100 % safe, why not.

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