This will definitely be huge once it works completely. Will rich
people be installing new robotic limbs, Zaphod Beeblebrox-style?
Your mention of military applications reminded me of this article I
read last month back that discusses the legal ramifications of
soldiers using thoughts to control weapons: If a solidier uses pre-
conscious brain activity to control a weapon, and then commits a crime
with the weapon (e.g., friendly fire), can the soldier be prosecuted
for the criminal activity? http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/04/can-soldiers-be.html
The whole thing is speculation, of course, but a problem with
computers that can communicate directly with our brains is that we
don't have complete control over our thoughts. I have heard that the
current technology only uses parts of our brains we have conscious
control over, but in the future, as we demand more complex tasks and
faster performance from such technology, we might be willing to use
parts of the brains over which we have less conscious control,
particularly for military applications that require faster actions.
Giving up control over conscious decisions in order to have faster
computers might be like giving up control over our civil liberties in
order to feel safer -- something that we're already doing. Could this
be a first step to losing control to machines? Or further, could be
end up donating our conciousness to robots rather than giving it to
them by artificial intelligence?
(Of course, my ideas on the matter have devolved into a "robots taking
over the world" scenario, because it's fun to think about...)
On May 28, 4:26 pm, Jim Safley <jimsaf...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/science/29brain.html
> From the article:
> "Two monkeys with tiny sensors in their brains have learned to control
> a prosthetic arm with only their thoughts, using it to reach for and
> grab food and even to adjust for the size and stickiness of morsels
> when necessary, scientists reported Wednesday.
> "The report, released online by the journal Nature, is the most
> striking demonstration to date of brain-machine interface technology,
> which scientists expect will eventually allow people with spinal cord
> injuries and other paralyzing conditions to gain more control over
> their lives. The findings suggest that brain-controlled prosthetics,
> while not yet practical, are at least technically within reach."
> I imagine the interest for this technology will be enormous. Not only
> from the goodwill sector, as the article mentions, but from the
> military sector as well. Imagine a tank or a missile that is directed
> by the thoughts of a soldier wired for combat. Imagine an combat
> exoskeleton that uses mental as well as force feedback to negotiate
> its actions. These aren't new ideas, I'm sure, but now it seems closer
> to reality than ever.
