Bioinformatics (86)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 7 min
- Singularity Hub
- 2018
New inventions which help study or improve brain functions will hopefully become more democratized and obtainable down the road, despite being currently expensive. Machines such as wearable MRIs or Brain-Machine Interfaces ideally simplify invasive medical procedures, and provide hopes for recovery from afflictions such as strokes or depression.
- Singularity Hub
- 2018
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- 7 min
- Singularity Hub
- 2018
Hacking the Mind just got easier with these new tools
New inventions which help study or improve brain functions will hopefully become more democratized and obtainable down the road, despite being currently expensive. Machines such as wearable MRIs or Brain-Machine Interfaces ideally simplify invasive medical procedures, and provide hopes for recovery from afflictions such as strokes or depression.
What are some risks that may be involved with technology being able to control our neuronal activity? How can we ensure that adoption of this technology remains a choice and not an imposition?
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 1990
Data’s father reveals that he would like to give him an “emotions” chip in hopes that it will enhance his experience living among humans and increase his trust in others. However, Data is concerned after seeing how emotions cause his brother to seem more volatile.
- Kinolab
- 1990
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 1990
Emotion Chip: Bringing Robotic Life Closer to Human Life
Data’s father reveals that he would like to give him an “emotions” chip in hopes that it will enhance his experience living among humans and increase his trust in others. However, Data is concerned after seeing how emotions cause his brother to seem more volatile.
Can we and should we program AI to have emotions? What implications do emotions have for AI rights? If humans count on AI for quick and objective decision making, what impact might AI emotions have on this goal?
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Emotion Chip-
- 11 min
- Kinolab
- 1993
Geordie uses a brain-computer interface, which projects his consciousness into a mobile avatar controlled by his neural impulses, to explore distant ships. This humanoid avatar is able to perform tasks that go beyond human capabilities, such as shooting phaser beams from the hands. However, upon discovering the dead crew of the Raman, it is revealed that the lines separating his virtual reality and true reality are blurred.
- Kinolab
- 1993
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- 11 min
- Kinolab
- 1993
Interface: The Virtual Extension of the Self
Geordie uses a brain-computer interface, which projects his consciousness into a mobile avatar controlled by his neural impulses, to explore distant ships. This humanoid avatar is able to perform tasks that go beyond human capabilities, such as shooting phaser beams from the hands. However, upon discovering the dead crew of the Raman, it is revealed that the lines separating his virtual reality and true reality are blurred.
What non-fantastical applications might you be able to think of for a technology similar to this, especially in regards to transferring neural impulses into a machine? What are the consequences of giving machines unbridled access to our thoughts? How can machines get in the way of perception of objective reality?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Kelly and Yorkie, two women near death in the real world, meet and start a relationship with one another in San Junipero, a virtual reality program which hosts both “visitors” (older living people who spend small increments of time within) and “residents” (humans who have died and have had their consciousness uploaded to the cloud). The program is accessed via a brain-computer interface, which allows the humans to alter their own appearance and the appearance of the town according to their wishes. Once it is revealed that Yorkie plans to pass away and upload her consciousness into San Junipero permanently, Kelly is faced with a hard choice.
- Kinolab
- 2016
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Afterlives and Liberation in Digital Utopias
Kelly and Yorkie, two women near death in the real world, meet and start a relationship with one another in San Junipero, a virtual reality program which hosts both “visitors” (older living people who spend small increments of time within) and “residents” (humans who have died and have had their consciousness uploaded to the cloud). The program is accessed via a brain-computer interface, which allows the humans to alter their own appearance and the appearance of the town according to their wishes. Once it is revealed that Yorkie plans to pass away and upload her consciousness into San Junipero permanently, Kelly is faced with a hard choice.
How do digital worlds and platforms allow people a space for self-exploration and liberation that might not be possible in the real world? What are the positive outcomes of people being able to shape their identity as they please in digital worlds, especially as it relates to marginalized identities such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community? If digital immortality is to become a reality, how should it be presented/regulated? How should its creators avoid it becoming a sort of “trap”? Given the various secular and religious views on the afterlife, how could an agreed vision of a digital afterlife be reached?
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon, as he does with Walton in this narrative.
- Kinolab
- 2017
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Virtual Vindictiveness and Simulated Clones Part I: Daly and Walton
Robert Daly is a programmer at the company Callister, which developed the immersive virtual reality game Infinity and its community for the entertainment of users. Daly is typically seen in the shadow of the co-founder of the company, the charismatic James Walton. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Daly possesses a personal modification of the Infinity game program, where he is able to upload sentient digital clones of his co-workers to take out his frustrations upon, as he does with Walton in this narrative.
What should the ethical boundaries be in terms of creating digital copies of real-life people to manipulate in virtual realities? How would this alter the perception of autonomy or entitlement? Should the capability to create exact digital likenesses of real people be created for any reason? If so, how should their autonomy be ensured, since they are technically a piece of programming? Are digital copies of a person entitled to the same rights that their corporeal selves have?
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
In an imagined future of London, citizens all across the globe are connected to the Feed, a device and network accessed constantly through a brain-computer interface. Kate Hatfield, a new mother, discovers that someone has hacked into the device in her head, and thus was able to access some of her lived memories. Later, the culprit of this hack is revealed to be her father-in-law Lawrence, who was attempting to implant the Feed into Bea, the new baby.
- Kinolab
- 2019
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
Consent and Control with Personal Data
In an imagined future of London, citizens all across the globe are connected to the Feed, a device and network accessed constantly through a brain-computer interface. Kate Hatfield, a new mother, discovers that someone has hacked into the device in her head, and thus was able to access some of her lived memories. Later, the culprit of this hack is revealed to be her father-in-law Lawrence, who was attempting to implant the Feed into Bea, the new baby.
What are the dangers that come with ‘backing up’ memory to some type of cloud account? What risks are posed by hackers and corporations that run such backing up services? Is there something special about the transient, temporary nature of human memory that should remain as it is? How much of our privacy are we willing to sacrifice in order for safety/connectivity? How should consent work in terms of installing a brain-computer interface into a person? Should a parent or other family member be able to decide this for a child?