4 ms·

> That said, I don't know if neuralink is doing something really important or is too fast-and-loose. When I was young, I thought the concept of neural interfac

> That said, I don't know if neuralink is doing something really important or is too fast-and-loose. When I was young, I thought the concept of neural interfaces was fascinating, and couldn't wait until it would become available. Now I understand that they would be nothing more than an excuse to wire advertisements directly into our brains, and I think maybe humanity doesn't need them, after all.

wilg 3y ago
You don't "understand" that you "fear" that. It's a profoundly important difference.
- m463 3y ago
  With a little a/b testing we can normalize these advertisements. As a cheesecake factory waitress once told me when I commented on the advertisements inside their menu, "Lots of customers really like it!"
dr_kiszonka 3y ago
> Now I understand that they would be nothing more than an excuse to wire advertisements directly into our brains Unless you can afford the Premium+ subscription, of course.
- roarcher 3y ago
  Which will eventually include "reduced advertising", which you can get rid of by upgrading to Premium+ Ultra.
  - a_bonobo 3y ago
    and then the company goes under and you have a useless chip rotting in your brain! See https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete
    - HankB99 3y ago
      I think that someone would buy out the failed company and then suck up all of your thoughts so they could sell that to advertisers and maybe the police.
      - rvnx 3y ago
        Other benefits for politics: if you are reluctant to go to war or planning to escape it, then you can be detected early and be sent to re-education camp (until thoughts injection is developed)
    - roarcher 3y ago
      Whoa, I remember reading about these things in some "How Things Work" book when I was a kid. Sad to see that this is what became of them, but I'm not surprised.
m463 3y ago
Actually, now that you say that, I realize how most medical devices are connected to one (or more) motherships. If you define "advertising" correctly (surveillance) this will definitely happen.
owenpalmer 3y ago
just use an ad blocker xD
herculity275 3y ago
This is such a tired, vapid take tho. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of BCI tech (and Neuralink in particular) but "they will just use it to serve us ads" completely overlooks the potential of this tech.
- mostlysimilar 3y ago
  Is it? The internet has incredible potential. For a brief period of time in the early 2000s it felt like it was going to live up to that potential. Now it's a festering wound on our collective psyche as a species. Augmenting our minds directly with our technology probably does have the potential to bring humanity to soaring heights. But in our current state, the powerful people who will be responsible for this technology will not use it for our good. They'll use it to further enrich themselves. ... which yes, probably means serving us advertisements.
- rocqua 3y ago
  It doesn't overlook the potential. It decides the potential, however amazing, isn't worth it. There is amazing potential in this tech. But also incredible potential for abuse by the powerful. And the powerful have a way of getting away with such abuse.

wilg 3y ago

You don't "understand" that you "fear" that. It's a profoundly important difference.

m463 3y ago
With a little a/b testing we can normalize these advertisements. As a cheesecake factory waitress once told me when I commented on the advertisements inside their menu, "Lots of customers really like it!"

dr_kiszonka 3y ago

> Now I understand that they would be nothing more than an excuse to wire advertisements directly into our brains Unless you can afford the Premium+ subscription, of course.

roarcher 3y ago
Which will eventually include "reduced advertising", which you can get rid of by upgrading to Premium+ Ultra.
- a_bonobo 3y ago
  and then the company goes under and you have a useless chip rotting in your brain! See https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete
  - HankB99 3y ago
    I think that someone would buy out the failed company and then suck up all of your thoughts so they could sell that to advertisers and maybe the police.
    - rvnx 3y ago
      Other benefits for politics: if you are reluctant to go to war or planning to escape it, then you can be detected early and be sent to re-education camp (until thoughts injection is developed)
  - roarcher 3y ago
    Whoa, I remember reading about these things in some "How Things Work" book when I was a kid. Sad to see that this is what became of them, but I'm not surprised.

m463 3y ago

Actually, now that you say that, I realize how most medical devices are connected to one (or more) motherships. If you define "advertising" correctly (surveillance) this will definitely happen.

owenpalmer 3y ago

just use an ad blocker xD

herculity275 3y ago

This is such a tired, vapid take tho. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of BCI tech (and Neuralink in particular) but "they will just use it to serve us ads" completely overlooks the potential of this tech.

mostlysimilar 3y ago
Is it? The internet has incredible potential. For a brief period of time in the early 2000s it felt like it was going to live up to that potential. Now it's a festering wound on our collective psyche as a species. Augmenting our minds directly with our technology probably does have the potential to bring humanity to soaring heights. But in our current state, the powerful people who will be responsible for this technology will not use it for our good. They'll use it to further enrich themselves. ... which yes, probably means serving us advertisements.
rocqua 3y ago
It doesn't overlook the potential. It decides the potential, however amazing, isn't worth it. There is amazing potential in this tech. But also incredible potential for abuse by the powerful. And the powerful have a way of getting away with such abuse.