The Alien Next Door

“We used to treat the brain like soup, adding chemicals that enhance or suppress certain neurotransmitters,” said Rick Trosch, an American physician who works with deep brain therapies. “Now we’re treating it like circuitry.”

Ray Kurzweil noted in his book, The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) that we were increasingly combating cognitive and sensory afflictions by treating the brain and nervous system like a complex computational system. He cited examples of cochlear implants together with electronic speech processors that performed frequency analysis of sound waves so that deaf people could hear and understand voices. Other scientists have worked with retinal implants, small solar-powered computers that communicate to the optic nerve, that together with special glasses communicating to the implanted computer by laser signal, permit a blind person to see.

Research labs are developing a vast array of “intelligent” wearable devices that can enhance memory, awareness and cognition. Digging deeper, microchip implants, such as radio frequency identification devices (RFID) inserted in humans, are gaining momentum. On May 2, 2002, the first human was “chipped” for security reasons; the idea was that if he became ill or impaired, professionals could access his medical history by scanning his microchip implant. The next step in the evolution of this technology is the ability to track people using GPS and connect to additional personal information of importance such as medical data. Science fiction writer, Robert J. Sawyer calls such devices “companions” as used by an alternative society in his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy. Since 9/11 the idea of national identification has gained much approval by U.S. citizens.

On October 14, 2003, the Associated Press announced that monkeys with brain implants could consciously move a robot arm with their thoughts. This represented a key advance by researchers at Duke University, who were hoping to permit paralyzed people to perform similar tasks. Paul Woot Wolpe, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, stated that “we’re on the verge of profound changes in our ability to manipulate the brain.” New developments in neuroscience promise to improve memory, boost intellectual acumen, and fine-tune emotional responses through brain implants.

This excites transhumanists, who seek to expand technological opportunities for people to live longer and healthier lives and enhance their intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities through the use of genetic, cybernetic and nanotechnologies. From the transhuman perspective, “in time the line between machines and living beings will blur and eventually vanish, making us part of a bionic ecology.”

The US National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce initiated a program that “wires together biotechnology, IT, and cognitive neuroscience (under the acronym of NBIC) into one megatechnology by mastering nano-scale engineering.” In a detailed report that projected twenty years into the future, the authors declared that: “understanding the mind and brain will enable the creation of a new species of intelligent machine systems.” The report envisioned technological achievements that would seize control of the molecular world through nanotechnology including the re-engineering of neurons “so that our minds could talk directly to computers or to artificial limbs.” Brain-to-brain interaction, direct brain control devices via neuromorphic engineering, and retarding of the aging process would then be feasible…. I find this all equally wonderful and frightening…

Recommended Reading:
1. Dominguez, Alex (Associated Press). 2003. “Monkeys move robotic arms with their minds,” in the Vancouver Sun, October 14, 2003.
2. Gaitherburg, M.D. 2002. Medical Implant Information Performance and Policies Workshop, September 19-20, 2002. Final Report.
3. Hall, J. Storrs. “Ethics for Machines” in www.KurzweilAI.net. July 5, 2001.
4. Hutcheson, G.Dan. 2004. “The First Nanochips” in Scientific American 290 (4): 76-91. April, 2004.
5. Kurzweil, Ray. 1999. The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. Penguin Books. New York, N.Y. 388pp. It’s dated but still relevant for his past near-future predictions and commentary.
6. National Science Foundation and Department of Commerce. “Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science.” 2002. 402pp
7. Pentland, Alex P. 1998. “Wearable Intelligence” in Scientific American Presents: Exploring Intelligence 9 (4) Winter. 1998.
8. Sawyer, Robert J. The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy. Tor Books.
9. Thomas, Jim. 2003. “Future Perfect?” in The Ecologist, May 22, 2003.