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For any new technology it is important to ask, who will have access and how will we treat those without access. Sometimes new tech enriches all our lives, near
by Pfhreak 5y ago
For any new technology it is important to ask, who will have access and how will we treat those without access.
Sometimes new tech enriches all our lives, nearly everyone benefits from renewable energy for instance. In other cases you risk furthering the divide between haves and have nots. When a person experiencing homelessness has their neural device go bad, how do we ensure they aren't just left in the street suffering? Are we comfortable living in a world where the elderly are permitted to suffer from Alzheimer's when we have a cure like you describe, just because they were too poor to afford treatment?
Secondly, it is important to ask, how could the technology be used if greed or maliciousness are the main motivators. Do those downsides outweigh the positives?
I'm moderately bullish on brain computer interfaces, but I caution or challenge people to put on their engineering hats and really think deeply about both the positives and negatives of new technology.
- rdedev 5y agoIsn't it already happening now ? Many people simply don't go to the doctor because of the associated costs. But this dosent mean we shouldnt do research into curing diseases. A better solution to the scenario you provided above would be a nationalised healthcare system, or atleast something close to it where people can get a basic amount of care without having to think about money
- Pfhreak 5y agoYes, it's exactly what's happening now. It's extremely what's happening now. If you don't take deliberate acts in addressing your assumptions about access when thinking about the future, you'll end up in the same place as now. I'm saying looking at the current model and asking yourself, "Is this really the right model?" is a key part of building something new.