Nine Intimidating Technological Innovations that You May Face in the Future. Part 3
The future will bring brand-new technological advances that may seem scary. Let’s find out whether we should be terrified of the technologically abundant future!
In this cycle, we continue talking about the fruits of technological progress that seems kind of debatable, provocative, and even vicious.
This article is dedicated to discussing technological advances that may enter our lives soon, and some of them are very much debatable. This information requires you to open your mind, remove mental boundaries, and if any critical thought crosses your mind, remind yourself that it is just a theory.
You may agree or disagree with these theories; you may welcome them or resist them. It’s completely okay because there is no right answer.
7. Immersive Reality and Brain-Computer Interfaces
We are already well acquainted with virtual realit — a simulation technique that transfers us to a computer-created reality by using specifically designed devices such as VR glasses. VR is used to play computer games or conduct professional training that is as close to real conditions as possible. There’s also augmented reality — a combination of real and virtual worlds where objects from the real world are artificially enhanced. However, immersive reality (IR) is something a little different.
IR is a technology that uses your brain impulses to create a virtual reality in your head. It doesn’t show you already created pictures but makes your brain create these pictures for you by using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). A BCI, also referred to as a “mind machine,” is a device that allows your brain to communicate with a computer to create impulses that are treated by the brain as natural and accepted.
The idea of controlling our brains (which is, by the way, the main computer of the body) is astonishing. You can create events, memories, experiences — everything! It’s like having a remote control in our heads.
It sounds creepy, but before we get down to imagining all the horrors that could happen if someone gains control over us, let’s try to imagine what good it can make. We all have fears, negative emotions or memories, and features of our character that we don’t like. What if we could erase them or modify them however we want? We if we could make ourselves smarter and more experienced without spending years learning? What if we could talk to people over large distances without using phones and many other functions? They say that we use only 10% of the brain’s capacity, so how about exploring that mysterious 90%?
Why Is It Scary?
The notion of our brains being fully managed terrifies us because of the two main things.
First, we may lose the connection with our real lives if we dive deep into IR. Even without IR, many people have completely lost any connection with their real lives, preferring video games instead. It’s a disease, a problem, not an option for handling one’s life.
Second, we may not be humans anymore. We would be able to turn ourselves to robots, and sooner or later, we will like that. We won’t have to make any effort to do something, and everything will be made for us. What will our lives be if we decide to become our own gods and turn our minds into this or that, reprogramming our brains? What about our basic human joys, such as adventure, surprises, happiness, and excitement? Will we be able to feel them at all? Are we really ready to reject them?
And there’s always the possibility of a hacker attack.
Should It Scare Us?
Yes, a little.
Let’s not lie to ourselves: we have always loved to create a “virtual reality.” It just had different shapes each time. First, people believed in magic. Then they created fairytales and different stories. Time flew by, and people invented TV with millions of movies and series about mermaids, witches, vampires, superheroes, aliens, and so on. Today, we have video games and social networks — another virtual reality where everyone can create their vision of a better life.
It’s just a part of us, and it doesn’t mean that we are unhappy. Everyone finds their own way to happiness. Would it matter whether it’s a real life or a simulated one? If it can make at least one person happier than he or she is today, it wouldn’t be done in vain, would it?
Yet, we should not forget that IR is a computer technology. It’s a system created by humans and, therefore, cannot be totally perfect. What if the BCI’s impulses caused some harm to our brains or changed them irreversibly? What if we got over-radiated by the constant influence on our brains, and our health worsened?
I guess BCIs won’t be more harmful than a nice cup of coffee in the early morning. Yes, caffeine has many drawbacks and surely some negative impacts on our bodies, but it also has many advantages and even useful properties. The same is the case with BCI. It can be destructive in some ways, but its overall purpose is to bring people pleasure and comfort.
What if this habit of drinking a cup of coffee in the morning turns into drug addiction? What if we become IR addicts with a desperate need to have a new dose of virtual reality? This issue is very important and should be closely addressed by the legislative system and medicine to know how to handle it properly.
8. Mind Upload
Take everything you have read here and multiply it by ten. You not only have access to a virtual life but also you live there for good.
Can’t make out what I am talking about? Watch the new series Upload, and everything will become clear. The series takes us into a world where people can prolong their mental existence by uploading their conscience to a virtual reality after death. The body dies, but you don’t.
It’s like our minds and souls are a hard drive storing all the information about us and our lives. Sound like too much? I would sooner say, “sounds like the future.” And it’s true that it could very likely become our reality in the years to come. The body is just a physical shape that won’t be necessary anymore. Information from your brain will be uploaded to a computer, and your mind will keep on living, feeling, experiencing, and reacting just like when you were alive.
Why Is It Scary?
Sounds weird, doesn’t it? That’s why it is so intimidating.
No one has experienced a mind upload, so we don’t have any practical knowledge about what happens next — or whether “next” happens at all.
Yes, it’s weird to imagine that we could live in the form of a computer program or a file, but it’s also kind of strange that our consciousness and mind only exist as long as our biological shape does.
Our consciousness isn’t directly connected to a physical brain or its cells. Neurons are renewed all throughout our lives. They never stay the same, so it’s a fact that information is somehow transferred from one cell to another without any damage. We don’t feel our neurons dying or being born, so we don’t physically realize how our minds are updating. That is why we think that a mind upload may be possible.
Should It Scare Us?
Maybe.
What happens if our consciousness never returns to a body after its uploaded? People would just turn into computer programs purposelessly operating forever. Who would maintain this operation if everyone is uploaded and never returns to a physical shape?
No one can answer these questions. It’s too far from where we stand today, too unrealistic. It is pure science fiction that we can only keep guessing about. At least, for now.
If you ask me, I believe that people will learn to regain the mind. I think that it’s not a brain or its cells that store information like a USB. Our minds live when there is a synergy of impulses, and it doesn’t matter whether they are natural or artificially created. But that’s only a theory.
Being far from the concept today doesn’t mean that it will never come to life. There are high chances that our children or their children will face mind uploads. It’s time that scientists and physicians address the issue — or at least try to.
9. Artificial General Intelligence
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is an AI technology that has the ability to learn multiple tasks and skills, just like humans can. It’s like an AI with consciousness.
AGI will improve itself throughout its life. It could potentially get to a point where its intelligence is millions of times stronger than ours, and we will be nothing more than a bag of bones in comparison.
It doesn’t sound like a bright future at all. Such technologies are so intimidating that they can turn into real threats against all of humankind.
Why Is It Scary?
We’ve seen a lot of moves where AI takes over the world and goes nuts. These films are the pictures our brains draw the moment we hear about the technology of an overall “higher” intelligence.
The issue is highly controversial. Some people are very critical of the whole idea of creating AGI because they simply don’t believe that replacing a human brain is possible. Others see it as a robot rebellion — something millions of times smarter than us will definitely find a way to get rid of the robes that humankind tries to throw on it. After all, it’s intelligence made from a human analog. But are intelligence and a mind the same thing? Can something intelligent be conscious? There are too many questions to answer in one day.
Should It Scare Us?
Yes, it should.
The main issue with AI is that no one can say precisely what the boundaries are for it. Will it obey these boundaries, or will it set boundaries for us instead? We want progress, we want high-tech, and we are afraid of it.
If we don’t get to control AI entirely without any compromise, then we could face severe problems. AGI will be so smart that nothing will stop it from reaching its goals. However intelligent it is, it won’t feel like us, and it won’t see that any radical action could hurt or even kill us. It won’t sit there and grieve over a dead body. It’s a program that has only “yes” or “no.” No mean averages.
Since I was a little kid, I have dreamed about higher minds and imagined how I’d create them. Today, I want to make sure these minds won’t destroy us.
Technology is a great achievement — until it becomes too smart and threatening. High technologies that can twist our lives for good have to be managed wisely and only aimed at improving our lives. If we don’t learn to control them, they will learn to control us, and they will do so much faster than we can imagine.
