The genetic and biometric ways in which the human body can be edited.
Edited Humans (28)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
FILTERreset filters
Themes
Additional Filters:
-
- 15 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
CW: Violence and Genocide
Stripe is a soldier in a generic war who, like all of his other fellow soldiers, is connected to a brain-computer interface known as a MASS implant that provides him with information about targets and missions. The supposed goal of the fighting is to “protect” citizens from roaches, the disturbing humanoid monsters which Stripe hunts and kills within the cabin. Directly after Stripe is hit with a digital device held by one of the roaches, he watches his squadmate kill a “roach” that Stripe perceived as a human. Ultimately, one of the roaches and the military psychologist Arquette explain exactly how the MASS implants alter the soldiers’ perceptions of their surroundings and their targets.
- Kinolab
- 2016
Close btn
-
- 15 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
The Militarization of the Digital Alteration of Reality
CW: Violence and Genocide
Stripe is a soldier in a generic war who, like all of his other fellow soldiers, is connected to a brain-computer interface known as a MASS implant that provides him with information about targets and missions. The supposed goal of the fighting is to “protect” citizens from roaches, the disturbing humanoid monsters which Stripe hunts and kills within the cabin. Directly after Stripe is hit with a digital device held by one of the roaches, he watches his squadmate kill a “roach” that Stripe perceived as a human. Ultimately, one of the roaches and the military psychologist Arquette explain exactly how the MASS implants alter the soldiers’ perceptions of their surroundings and their targets.
Discussion Prompts:
How are digital technologies responsible for pushing “us vs. them” narratives relating to wars? How could VR technology make soldiers less sympathetic to their victims? What role might smaller-scale virtual realities, such as violent video games, play in this larger narrative? Should the military ever have unfettered access to cutting-edge digital development? How can empathy be prioritized in the digital age?
Black Mirror: Don't Let Them Come-
- 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
Close btn
-
- 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.
Discussion Prompts:
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?
-
- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
In this vignette, Matt describes his backstory as a member of an online community who used technology called “Z-eyes” to walk each other through activities such as flirting with women at bars. The Z-eyes technology directly streams all audiovisual data which his friend Harry experiences to his screen, and Matt is additionally able to use facial recognition and information searches to offer background information which enhances Harry’s plays.
- Kinolab
- 2014
Close btn
-
- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Vicarious Digital Living
In this vignette, Matt describes his backstory as a member of an online community who used technology called “Z-eyes” to walk each other through activities such as flirting with women at bars. The Z-eyes technology directly streams all audiovisual data which his friend Harry experiences to his screen, and Matt is additionally able to use facial recognition and information searches to offer background information which enhances Harry’s plays.
Discussion Prompts:
What are some problems with technology such as this being invisible, in terms of privacy? Could this have legitimate therapeutic purposes, such as being a treatment for social anxiety? How should technology like Z-eyes be regulated?
Movie Title:
-
- 7 min
- CNN
- 2021
The South Korean company Supertone has created a machine learning algorithm which has been able to replicate the voice of beloved singer Kim Kwang-seok, thus performing a new single in his voice even after his death. However, certain ethical questions such as who owns artwork created by AI and how to avoid fraud ought to be addressed before such technology is used more widely.
- CNN
- 2021
Close btn
-
- 7 min
- CNN
- 2021
South Korea has used AI to bring a dead superstar’s voice back to the stage, but ethical concerns abound
The South Korean company Supertone has created a machine learning algorithm which has been able to replicate the voice of beloved singer Kim Kwang-seok, thus performing a new single in his voice even after his death. However, certain ethical questions such as who owns artwork created by AI and how to avoid fraud ought to be addressed before such technology is used more widely.
Discussion Prompts:
How can synthetic media change the legacy of a certain person? Who do you believe should gain ownership of works created by AI? What factors does this depend upon? How might the music industry be changed by such AI? How could human singers compete with artificial ones if AI concerts became the norm?