Here are some predictions for the future. [This is the 42 min video we saw in class.] These predictions date from three years ago so some are already 'coming in'.
To find out more about technology that already exists, look here. [This is the 2 min clip that some groups watched.]
What are your predictions for the future?
[Helpful vocab here.]
For me, the most interesting and worrying moment is when Kevin Warwick starts to explain his work. Kevin's goal is nothing less than to be the one who ushers in a new age of cyborg humans. He states:"The future I see [as] very rosy if you are a cyborg, or if you are an artificial intelligence machine. If you are a human, well, your time's up."
If he's right, you might want to get on the winning side as soon as possible - why not apply to be his research assistant? You can find out more about him at www.kevinwarwick.com
What makes Kevin special is his degree of personal commitment. In 1998 he started experimenting with a transponder chip (inserted in his forearm) connected to his nervous system. This chip provided a link between his nervous system and other electronic devices. It allowed him to operate doors, lights, heaters and other computers without lifting a finger. He was able to use his hand movements to operate a cyborg hand or (as if he were disabled) a motorised wheelchair.
Obviously this 'connectivity' is limited as it is only one-way. So can you guess what his stage two was? To study the transmission of signals between people. He upgraded his chip and then went ahead and implanted another in his wife - so that they could 'communicate' movement to each other at a distance. And the next step? Obvious, logical and potentially frightening: to progress from movement to the transmissions of thoughts and emotions.
What do you think? Is this research exciting? interesting? irrelevant? scary? worrying? necessary? dangerous? ethical?
There are other examples of robot technology successfully being used on or in humans here. In this case, a woman is cured of long-term depression at the touch of a button.
Whenever we think about the future we look at it as something which is far away from us and that we won't probably live, a common statement that we tend to make would be “I'll be dead by then” but at the pace at which technology is developing we might not have the chance to scape from the future.
ReplyDeleteAfter having watched the video and read about this man's experiment I must say that all my predictions have changed. It's frightening and exciting to think that what seemed impossible yesterday might be our everyday reality tomorrow.
Moreover some people wonder if we should start worrying about the future but what can we do about it?
Maybe we should know and worry more about the present because as it is shown in the video we are missing the great discoveries that are being made.
I was so impressed about what this man has been capable to achieve! How can it be that nowadays we give such little importance to this kind of news? If I were to choose I would probably put this everywhere in the news and let everyone know about it.
At last, I have been thinking about a world which such devices as the ones mentioned in the article and I wonder if the aspirations for life that we will have in the future are going to be the different and how the world is going to be organized.
In my opinion the future is as scary as fascinating.
The future is closer to us than we’ve ever thought. It is in our human nature to imagine what the world will be like in ten twenty, thirty... years time. This is all part of a life-cycle, as time evolves so does technology, science, ideals…
ReplyDeleteEverything that we imagine can be real in a future not so far away. In this case, as shown in the video, lots of technological improvements have been created but they were once considered part of someone’s crazy imagination. For example, telephone devices were once thought as futuristic machines but today we wouldn’t imagine life without them, gadgets which were considered as part of an imaginary future nowadays are common in our daily lives, such as 3D movies, video games without joysticks, cars which work with alternative fuel...
It’s difficult for me to imagine what the future has in store for us. Let’s face it, everything is possible. Whatever we have in mind, can be real in a future. The thought of there being no limits is quite frightening, who knows, perhaps someday we will no longer be the dominant species in the planet.