8 ms·

What could possibly go wrong?

by anentropic 4y ago

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
camjw 4y ago
We will add the nanobots' biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.
swores 4y ago
As with any new medical treatment, drug etc.... shall we just stop looking for new solutions?
- maxk42 4y ago
  In this case, yes.
  - risyachka 4y ago
    Actually in this case we need to double down on research.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- coldtea 4y ago
  In many cases, yes. Especially when there are low hanging fruits that could save billions that we haven't touched, not because the science is hard, but because the political willingless/empathy is low.
  - cortesoft 4y ago
    Sure, but much smaller groups are more able to make technological advancements than they can make political changes.
    - coldtea 4y ago
      >are more able to make technological advancements than they can make political changes. Yes, but without the political changes, the technological advancements are more likely to be used against us (or just as profit machines) than for good.
      - bennyg 4y ago
        I'm not sure why they have to be mutually exclusive. Some people are good at research and some people are good at politics. Why would the folks good at doing research stop doing the research and try to change policy? Parallelization is fine...
        coldtea 4y ago
        >I'm not sure why they have to be mutually exclusive. Because resources, will, people, etc. are finite. >Some people are good at research and some people are good at politics. The use of research is dictated by people good at politics (and bad as persons).
  - JoeAltmaier 4y ago
    There are 7 billion of us. Some can work on nanobots, while others work on low-hanging fruit. That is called a 'False Dilemma Fallacy'
    - amelius 4y ago
      Sadly, no. The nanobots will be used for very bad things. To give you an idea, imagine a nanobot that will go into your cells, detect your race based on your DNA, and then decide to kill you or not; imagine how bad dictators can use these selectively against whole groups of people. It's biological warfare on a completely new level.
      - moron4hire 4y ago
        You can't detect race from DNA https://backintyme.wordpress.com/article/can-dna-tell-what-race-you-are-k16kl3c2f2au-12 https://backintyme.wordpress.com/article/can-dna-tell-what-r...
        coldtea 4y ago
        Apparently you can. From the same article: "In conclusion, neither mtDNA nor Y DNA can give any hint as to your “racial” membership in U.S. society. Autosomal DNA, if very lopsided to one continent or another, can suggest what you look like. But this does not work for those Americans who choose to self-identify as Black despite having mostly European DNA, nor for White Americans unaware of their African DNA, nor for Hispanics, whose “racial” membership is determined by their culture, not by their genes". I guess the evil dictator the parent describes can skip this category: ("this does not work for those Americans who choose to self-identify as Black despite having mostly European DNA") and spare: ("white Americans unaware of their African DNA"). In fact, that evil white dictator would probably want to do so, even if it wasn't a technical limitation.
      - tintedfireglass 4y ago
        I can count on my fingers how many such people were there in the last century, that's incomparable to millions of lives that could be saved. :/
micromacrofoot 4y ago
It doesn't work and we have to kill bacteria the old fashioned way?
Thebroser 4y ago
I am always fascinated by the ignorance that is blatantly displayed on HN when it comes to biotech advancements. Not even some actual criticism of the tech, or even the faint understanding that this sort of thing is exploratory research. Wonder why this sort of skepticism is never applied to cutting edge AI research whose ethical ramifications are much more severe and which is already being utilized by bad actors to facilitate genocide [1]. [1] https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/widm.1278 https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/widm.1...
matheusmoreira 4y ago
The software controlling these things could be backdoored or otherwise vulnerable. Now that's frightening.
- ajuc 4y ago
  The software controlling these things is chemistry.
  - matheusmoreira 4y ago
    Is that so? I couldn't read the paywalled article. So it's just artificially designed proteins?

What could possibly go wrong?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

camjw 4y ago

We will add the nanobots' biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.

swores 4y ago

As with any new medical treatment, drug etc.... shall we just stop looking for new solutions?

maxk42 4y ago
In this case, yes.
- risyachka 4y ago
  Actually in this case we need to double down on research.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
coldtea 4y ago
In many cases, yes. Especially when there are low hanging fruits that could save billions that we haven't touched, not because the science is hard, but because the political willingless/empathy is low.
- cortesoft 4y ago
  Sure, but much smaller groups are more able to make technological advancements than they can make political changes.
  - coldtea 4y ago
    >are more able to make technological advancements than they can make political changes. Yes, but without the political changes, the technological advancements are more likely to be used against us (or just as profit machines) than for good.
    - bennyg 4y ago
      I'm not sure why they have to be mutually exclusive. Some people are good at research and some people are good at politics. Why would the folks good at doing research stop doing the research and try to change policy? Parallelization is fine...
      - coldtea 4y ago
        >I'm not sure why they have to be mutually exclusive. Because resources, will, people, etc. are finite. >Some people are good at research and some people are good at politics. The use of research is dictated by people good at politics (and bad as persons).
- JoeAltmaier 4y ago
  There are 7 billion of us. Some can work on nanobots, while others work on low-hanging fruit. That is called a 'False Dilemma Fallacy'
  - amelius 4y ago
    Sadly, no. The nanobots will be used for very bad things. To give you an idea, imagine a nanobot that will go into your cells, detect your race based on your DNA, and then decide to kill you or not; imagine how bad dictators can use these selectively against whole groups of people. It's biological warfare on a completely new level.
    - moron4hire 4y ago
      You can't detect race from DNA https://backintyme.wordpress.com/article/can-dna-tell-what-race-you-are-k16kl3c2f2au-12 https://backintyme.wordpress.com/article/can-dna-tell-what-r...
      - coldtea 4y ago
        Apparently you can. From the same article: "In conclusion, neither mtDNA nor Y DNA can give any hint as to your “racial” membership in U.S. society. Autosomal DNA, if very lopsided to one continent or another, can suggest what you look like. But this does not work for those Americans who choose to self-identify as Black despite having mostly European DNA, nor for White Americans unaware of their African DNA, nor for Hispanics, whose “racial” membership is determined by their culture, not by their genes". I guess the evil dictator the parent describes can skip this category: ("this does not work for those Americans who choose to self-identify as Black despite having mostly European DNA") and spare: ("white Americans unaware of their African DNA"). In fact, that evil white dictator would probably want to do so, even if it wasn't a technical limitation.
    - tintedfireglass 4y ago
      I can count on my fingers how many such people were there in the last century, that's incomparable to millions of lives that could be saved. :/

micromacrofoot 4y ago

It doesn't work and we have to kill bacteria the old fashioned way?

Thebroser 4y ago

I am always fascinated by the ignorance that is blatantly displayed on HN when it comes to biotech advancements. Not even some actual criticism of the tech, or even the faint understanding that this sort of thing is exploratory research. Wonder why this sort of skepticism is never applied to cutting edge AI research whose ethical ramifications are much more severe and which is already being utilized by bad actors to facilitate genocide [1]. [1] https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/widm.1278 https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/widm.1...

matheusmoreira 4y ago

The software controlling these things could be backdoored or otherwise vulnerable. Now that's frightening.

ajuc 4y ago
The software controlling these things is chemistry.
- matheusmoreira 4y ago
  Is that so? I couldn't read the paywalled article. So it's just artificially designed proteins?