The genetic and biometric ways in which the human body can be edited.
Edited Humans (28)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 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.
Discussion Prompts:
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?
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Test Run-
- 2 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. In this narrative, Max, a citizen whose Feed was hacked, has to get the device removed from his body as his best friends watch. This procedure includes the removal of some of his memories from both his brain and from the device, although they manage to upload these into a cloud.
- Kinolab
- 2019
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- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
Implanted Technology and Disconnection
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. In this narrative, Max, a citizen whose Feed was hacked, has to get the device removed from his body as his best friends watch. This procedure includes the removal of some of his memories from both his brain and from the device, although they manage to upload these into a cloud.
Discussion Prompts:
What are the risks involved with brain-computer interfaces, especially when we need to ‘remove’ them from our brains? How might this increase medical costs? How can memory and consciousness be ‘backed up’ and ‘uploaded’ back into our bodies using advanced technology?
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- 20 min
- MIT Press
- 2018
Lilith, a contract laborer, ends up in a dangerous situation when the self-driving ship she rides malfunctions. Kyleen, a human who has undergone a human-editing networking process called “meshing,” is able to control a proxy robot via a brain-computer interface to help Lilith get to her destination safely.
- MIT Press
- 2018
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- 20 min
- MIT Press
- 2018
Robotic Proxies and Telepresence: “Different Seas” by Alastair Reynolds
Lilith, a contract laborer, ends up in a dangerous situation when the self-driving ship she rides malfunctions. Kyleen, a human who has undergone a human-editing networking process called “meshing,” is able to control a proxy robot via a brain-computer interface to help Lilith get to her destination safely.
Discussion Prompts:
How can robotic proxies be helpful to people in danger? Who should be allowed or certified to operate these, in theory? How might these be implicated in inequitable class structures, as outlined in the story? Should humans be networked with machines, and would this really be to the ultimate benefit of humanity?
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 1973
Simulacron is a virtual reality full of 10,000 simulated humans who believe themselves to be sentient, but are actually nothing more than programs. The identity units in Simulacron do not know or understand that they are artificial beings, and they behave under the idea that they are real humans. “Real” humans can enter this virtual reality through a brain-computer interface, and control the virtual identity units. Christopher Nobody, a suspect whom Fred is trying to track down, had the revelation that he was an identity unit, and that realization led to a mental breakdown. In following this case, Fred meets Einstein, a virtual unit who desires to join the real world. As Einstein enacts the final stages of this plan, Fred discovers a shocking secret about his own identity. For a similar concept, see the narrative “Online Dating Algorithms” on the Hang the DJ episode of Black Mirror.
- Kinolab
- 1973
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 1973
Simulated Humans and Virtual Realities
Simulacron is a virtual reality full of 10,000 simulated humans who believe themselves to be sentient, but are actually nothing more than programs. The identity units in Simulacron do not know or understand that they are artificial beings, and they behave under the idea that they are real humans. “Real” humans can enter this virtual reality through a brain-computer interface, and control the virtual identity units. Christopher Nobody, a suspect whom Fred is trying to track down, had the revelation that he was an identity unit, and that realization led to a mental breakdown. In following this case, Fred meets Einstein, a virtual unit who desires to join the real world. As Einstein enacts the final stages of this plan, Fred discovers a shocking secret about his own identity. For a similar concept, see the narrative “Online Dating Algorithms” on the Hang the DJ episode of Black Mirror.
Discussion Prompts:
What purposes can virtual reality “laboratories” full of simulated humans serve in terms of research in fields such as sociology? Is it justifiable to make programs which believe themselves to be sentient humans, yet deny them access to the “real world”? How can AI mental health be reassured, especially when it comes to existential crises like the one Fred has?
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. Major, a security officer, sees how a garbage man is sad to know that his ghost has been hacked and filled with false memories of a family, and dives to set up her own reflections with self-identity developed later in the film, especially as she starts to believe that she may be entirely a cyborg with no knowledge of such an existence. Essentially, because the human body has become so thoroughly and regularly augmented with cybernetic parts and even computer brains, defining a real “human” becomes harder and harder.
- Kinolab
- 1995
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
Identity Through Memory and Data
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. Major, a security officer, sees how a garbage man is sad to know that his ghost has been hacked and filled with false memories of a family, and dives to set up her own reflections with self-identity developed later in the film, especially as she starts to believe that she may be entirely a cyborg with no knowledge of such an existence. Essentially, because the human body has become so thoroughly and regularly augmented with cybernetic parts and even computer brains, defining a real “human” becomes harder and harder.
Discussion Prompts:
If robots develop to the point where they can question their own existence as human, does the line between robot and human truly matter? For what reason? Is questioning human existence a fundamentally human trait? Can fake memories contribute to an identity as much as real ones? Is this a dangerous concept, or might it have positive utility? Do you agree with the assessment that “all data is just fantasy,” or an inaccurate abstraction of real life? What kinds of data, then, make up the human identity?
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Downsizing, the procedure which shrinks people down to only a few inches, is invented to combat environmental harm by producing less waste.
- Kinolab
- 2017
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Thought Experiment in Technological Environmentalism
Downsizing, the procedure which shrinks people down to only a few inches, is invented to combat environmental harm by producing less waste.
Discussion Prompts:
Should the technology to edit humans be created and used if it means saving the planet? How would consent factor into this? Are there any other workable technologies for aiding the environment through means such as ameliorating climate change? Should technological innovation be directed toward first identifying problems and then encompassing the most radical solution possible?
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