Digital technology and total surveillance on the Internet: an interview with Sean O.Brien

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

While change is daunting, it can have a significant impact on our society, despite the widespread belief that one person's efforts are just a drop in the ocean. The influence of Snowden (and many others) proves otherwise. Free apps and ad-supported internet businesses are destroying net neutrality in the part of the planet known as the "Global South." Judge for yourself how difficult it is to find a balance between the need to monetize your own business and the desire to respect user privacy.

To be honest, I don't believe in the internet, which is driven by advertising. The trend to invest more and more money in advertising to achieve more views has long outlived its usefulness. In contrast, another trend is emerging - to reduce the cost of traditional advertising. Constantly popping up advertisements only annoy users. More and more consumers are spending time in front of the TV screen, which means that advertising space is discounted.

Neuralink will focus its brain implants on patients with disabilities in an effort to restore them to use their limbs.

“We hope that next year, after FDA approval, we will be able to use implants in our first humans - people with severe spinal cord injuries such as tetraplegic and quadriplegic,” said Elon Musk.

Musk's company isn't the first to go this far. In July 2021, neurotech startup Synchron received FDA clearance to begin testing its neural implants in paralyzed people.

It is impossible to deny the benefits that can be derived from the fact that a person will have access to limbs that are paralyzed. This is truly a remarkable achievement for human innovation. However, many are concerned about the ethical aspects of technology-human fusion if it goes beyond this area of application.

Many years ago, people believed that Ray Kurzweil did not have time to dine with his predictions that computers and humans - a singularity event - would eventually become reality. And yet we are here. As a result, this topic, often referred to as "transhumanism", has become the subject of heated debate.

Transhumanism is often described as:

"a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the improvement of the human condition through the development and widespread dissemination of sophisticated technologies that can significantly increase life expectancy, mood and cognitive abilities, and predicts the emergence of such technologies in the future."

Many are concerned that we lose sight of what it means to be human. But it is also true that many treat this concept on an all-or-nothing basis - either everything is bad or everything is good. But instead of just defending our positions, perhaps we can spark curiosity and listen to all sides.

Yuval Harari, author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humanity, discusses this issue in simple terms. He stated that technology is advancing at such a breakneck pace that very soon we will be developing people who will surpass the species we know today so much that they will become a completely new species.

“Soon we will be able to rewire our bodies and brains, whether through genetic engineering or by directly connecting the brain to a computer. Or by creating completely inorganic entities or artificial intelligence - which is not based on an organic body and an organic brain at all. going beyond just another kind."

Where this can lead, since the billionaires from Silicon Valley have the power to change the entire human race. Should they ask the rest of humanity if this is a good idea? Or should we just accept the fact that this is already happening?