The Dividing Line Between Human and Replicant Already Happened

In the film, Iron Man 3, the good guys encase themselves in tech. The bad guys put the tech inside their bodies. This is telling. Hollywood – and most of America – remains oddly uncomfortable with the notion of technology which “alters” our self – even as it alters everything we see, hear and touch.

No surprise, then, that Tony Stark, the man inside the Iron Man suit, fires off witty bombs in the vain hope it will ease his mental suffering rather than taking a pill – blue, red or otherwise – to help resolve his constant panic attacks.

This idea that the tech we place inside us is to be feared, unlike all the tech swirling outside of us, is a dated and dying relic of our fading, twentieth-century upbringing.

We are all already replicants.

Wikipedia defines “replicant” as “a bioengineered or biorobotic being created in the film Blade Runner. (Replicants) are virtually identical to an adult human, but have superior strength, agility, and variable intelligence depending on the model. Because of their physical similarity to humans, a replicant must be detected by its lack of emotional responses and empathy to questions posed in a Voight-Kampff test.”

What test could we use today to detect a replicant? Should we? Probably, it’s too late to discern. Rather than optimizing artificial intelligence tests, we may ultimately need to design tests to determine what is really real – assuming our future technology affords us one “true” sanctioned reality.

I suspect that many of us fear technology which goes inside us because we deeply fear that this changes, possibly forever, who we are, how we think, what we can do, what we believe, how we feel, even if only a little. As the world changes ever-faster, we cling to the idea that somehow we – our being, our self, our consciousness – can forever remain the same.

This is a false belief.

The truth is more frightening and far more awesome. Very soon, we will refuse to deny ourselves – all of us – the clear and present self-altering benefits and protections of advancing technology even while, as in our fiction, we cling to a idealized notion of the purity of who we are.

I believe I can prove this.

We are already live-tweeting (and vining) brain surgery. Anyone can witness a man’s brain being altered – or “repaired.” Highly technical work on human brains is about to become as commonplace as the work done on our hearts. Only this time, we will watch – making it radically more accessible.

Kaiba Gionfriddo, nearly 2 years old, is alive because doctors at the University of Michigan used a 3D printer to create a airway splint so that he can breathe. As the physical went digital, now, the digital – restricted only by our imagination – becomes physical.

Young Grady Hoffman was confined to an isolation room for two months. The child used a telepresence robot to interact with the outside world – which included his parents and siblings. How much of that child’s being was contained within the robot? 5%? 50%? How much a mere 5 years from now?

Should this young boy from South Africa be denied having a hand crafted for him by a 3D printer? Of course not. Should he not be allowed to pitch on his Little League baseball team even if the hand offers him some advantage? What if he goes pro?

These headphones monitor brainwaves then play songs to match the person’s mood. What better knowledge graph or recommendation engine could there be? On what day will Google Glass offer this capability – and make it worth our while to serve up exactly the right content in exchange for the stunningly personal data they can mine?

Children are alive, and we are entertained, by altering our bodies and having our brainwaves probed. Given that we cannot prevent our brainwaves from escaping our “being,” today’s brain monitoring headphones will probably lead to tomorrow’s grocery store Muzak – mundanely and algorithmically sending specific songs into our head – and ours alone – to entice us to spend more money in the toiletries aisle. How is this any different than commanding to a “replicant” to mop the floors?

Publicly funded scientists in the United States are actively working on fully restoring memories – such as those lost to the ravages of Alzheimer’s.

In people whose brains have suffered damage from Alzheimer’s, stroke, or injury, disrupted neuronal networks often prevent long-term memories from forming. For more than two decades, Dr. Berger has designed silicon chips to mimic the signal processing that those neurons do when they’re functioning properly—the work that allows us to recall experiences and knowledge for more than a minute. Ultimately, Berger wants to restore the ability to create long-term memories by implanting chips like these in the brain.

The path to success in this, which almost no one objects to, obviously opens up the potential for creating or altering memories. A memory, after all, is nothing but a series of electrical impulses. Tweak one or tweak them all – they have been changed. The fact is, the technology to alter and to create memories is a given. All that’s left now is to figure out how cheaply and massively scalable such technology is.

Everything about us – who we are, who we believe we are – is already altered by technology. Today’s baby-steps are next decade’s global disruption to our very notions of life, living and humanity.

Deliberate, publicly-sanctioned alterations to the human mind is the final frontier – and the future has arrived. UC Berkeley scientists are working to protect computing systems by having your brain activity serve as a identifier – your personalized access code, as it were. The few people who actually read William Gibson’s Neuromancer thirty years ago likely never really believed they would be alive to experience such a blurred physical-cyber existence.

In fact, we may have already surpassed this fiction. Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto are using bulk computing power to monitor an individual’s MRI scans to determine what that person is dreaming. Know what a person hears, perceives, dreams – and feels – is to know that someone or some external force can alter each of these. Won’t each of us embed technology within ourselves just to prevent this?

Soon, we will consume technology if for no other reason to retain our sense of self, not lose it.

We are a society that fears the potential ill effects – and possible amorality – of consuming drugs like ecstasy while at the same time idly accepting shockingly advancing changes to who we are as human beings. We need to face the truth: we are on the cusp of technologically altering our self to maintain our self.

Published by

Brian S Hall

Brian S Hall writes about mobile devices, crowdsourced entertainment, and the integration of cars and computers. His work has been published with Macworld, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, ReadWrite and numerous others. Multiple columns have been cited as "must reads" by AllThingsD and Re/Code and he has been blacklisted by some of the top editors in the industry. Brian has been a guest on several radio programs and podcasts.

311 thoughts on “The Dividing Line Between Human and Replicant Already Happened”

  1. It is pretty much the post-modern existential question, isn’t it? I think we are OK with modifications that make us either “normal” or better. I think we are fundamentally fearful of the uncontrollable especially with regard to ourselves. Who is in control of me when that new fangled gadget is inside me or my brain?

    I think it is more the rationalists’ dilemma. If we really are only the sum of our parts, altering our parts fundamentally alters who we are. Even if we are more than the sum of our parts, what affect do our parts have on that which is not? The question becomes one of free will vs predetermination. And we do love our free will, real or perceived.

    Joe

    1. Great comment, thanks. I was happy to have a chance to write this here. We understand that technology is altering our world and possibly our selves. I wanted to show that soon we will be (somewhat) forced to consume technology simply to *maintain* our sense of self.

      1. An artist, Makoto Fujimura, put the pre-modern-post-human questions like this (Futral’s paraphrase):

        pre-modern art asked, how do you paint a flower?

        modern art asked, what is a flower?

        post-modern art asked, is there a flower?

        Which brings us to our post-human era of not just technological blending, but also other genetic possibilities. What is a human?

        Joe

      2. Some people are so far into technology that they’ve lost their perspective. Not naming any names, of course.

  2. “How much of that child’s being was contained within the robot?” You might as well ask how much of your being is contained within a landline phone when you make a call, or how much of your being is contained within a table lamp when you turn it on. That’s a pretty strange view.

    “A memory, after all, is nothing but a series of electrical impulses.” Have you forgotten what life is?

  3. ضع في اعتبارك أن البقع على الرخام تتشكل بسرعة ويمكن سكب الكثير من المشروبات الساخنة والباردة عليها. امسح الرخام بقطعة قماش ناعمة ورطبه بالماء الدافئ لإزالة الغبار والبقع الصغيرة ، لا تفرك الرخام بقوة حتى لا تتلفه ، بل مرر القماش فوقه دون الضغط على الرخام ، وحتى تختفي أخيرا ، حرك الخرقة في حركات دائرية إلى الأماكن التي تحتاج إلى القليل من الضغط. بعد التنظيف ، امسح الرخام على الفور بقطعة قماش ناعمة وجافة أخرى لتجفيفه ومنع تراكم الأوساخ عليه. لتنظيف أعمق ، استخدم الصابون الطبيعي أو منظف الرخام ، وعندما يتراكم الغبار أو الأوساخ عليه وعلى الجرانيت ، استخدم قطعة قماش ناعمة لتنظيف الرخام عن طريق وضع القليل من صابون الأطباق في ماء دافئ ، ورطبه بالماء والصابون وامسح الرخام به جيدا. يوصى باستخدام بيروكسيد الهيدروجين لتنظيف الرخام ، على الرغم من أنه يجب ملاحظة أنه لا ينبغي أبدا استخدام الخل لتنظيف الرخام ، لأنه يسبب التآكل. استخدام نسيج الجلد المدبوغ الناعم في عملية تجفيف الرخام بعد تنظيفه جيدا. قم بإزالة أي بقع قد تتراكم على الرخام ، ولكن كإجراء أمان ، قم أولا بخلط الماء وصودا الخبز ، ثم ضع قناعا ، ثم ضع الخليط على البقعة ، وقم بتغطية المنطقة بغلاف بلاستيكي واتركها لمدة أربع وعشرين ساعة ، بعد انتهاء الفيلم ، قم بإزالة الفيلم وامسح المنطقة بقطعة قماش مبللة. امسح المنطقة ، يمكن تكرار العملية إذا كانت البقعة لا تزال موجودة ، يمكن استخدام بيروكسيد الهيدروجين لإزالة البقعة بنفس الطريقة المذكورة أعلاه ، ولكن يجب التأكد من أن لون الرخام ليس داكنا جدا لتجنب إتلافه. يمكن استخدام نشا الذرة لإزالة الشحوم من الرخام عن طريق سكب القليل على البقعة وتركها لمدة 20 دقيقة حتى يمتصها الرخام. ثم امسح المكان برفق شديد بقطعة قماش مبللة.

    شركة تنظيف منازل

  4. Aw, this was a really nice post. Taking the time and actual effort to generate a great articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I put things off a lot and don’t manage to get anything done.

  5. The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices.

  6. An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment. I think that you should write more about this issue, it may not be a taboo matter but typically people don’t talk about these issues. To the next! Kind regards!!

  7. Thank you, I have recently been looking for info approximately this topic for a long timeand yours is the best I’ve came upon till now. But, what concerning thebottom line? Are you sure about the supply?

  8. Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteersannd starting a neew prokect in a community in the same niche.Your blog provided us usefvul information towork on. You have done a marvellous job!

  9. I am curious to find out what blog platform you are using? I’m having some minor security issues with my latest blog and I would like to find something more safeguarded. Do you have any suggestions?

  10. Your style is really unique in comparison to other folks I’ve read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this blog.

  11. An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I do think that you ought to write more on this issue, it may not be a taboo subject but generally people do not speak about these subjects. To the next! Many thanks!!

  12. I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one today..

  13. Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Very helpful information specially the last part I care for such information a lot. I was seeking this particular info for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.

  14. Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will certainly return.

  15. I gave https://www.cornbreadhemp.com/products/cbd-balm a try for the treatment of the primary adjust, and I’m amazed! They tasted great and provided a sanity of calmness and relaxation. My importance melted away, and I slept outstrip too. These gummies are a game-changer on the side of me, and I enthusiastically commend them to anyone seeking natural worry relief and think twice sleep.

  16. Please let me know if you’re looking for a author for your weblog.
    You have some really good posts and I believe I would be a good asset.
    If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to
    write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.
    Please send me an email if interested. Regards!

  17. An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a colleague who has been conducting a little
    homework on this. And he actually bought me breakfast simply because I stumbled upon it for him…
    lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the
    meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to
    discuss this subject here on your website.

  18. CBD, or cannabidiol, has been a feign changer an eye to me. Delta 8 Gummies 250mg I’ve struggled with anxiety in return years and force tried assorted disparate medications, but nothing has worked as well as CBD. It helps me to be peace and at ease without any side effects. I also obtain that it helps with sleep and labour management. I’ve tried some brands, but I’ve bring about that the ones that are lab tested and have a good noted are the most effective. Complete, I enthusiastically plug CBD for anyone who struggles with uneasiness, be in the arms of morpheus issues, or dyed in the wool pain.

  19. Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to
    check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I
    love the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I
    get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my phone ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, fantastic
    blog!

  20. SightCare is a powerful formula that supports healthy eyes the natural way. It is specifically designed for both men and women who are suffering from poor eyesight.

  21. GlucoTrust 75% off for sale. GlucoTrust is a dietary supplement that has been designed to support healthy blood sugar levels and promote weight loss in a natural way.

  22. Quietum Plus is a 100% natural supplement designed to address ear ringing and other hearing issues. This formula uses only the best in class and natural ingredients to achieve desired results.

  23. NeuroPure is a breakthrough dietary formula designed to alleviate neuropathy, a condition that affects a significant number of individuals with diabetes.

  24. Hi there, I discovered your blog via Google even as looking
    for a related matter, your website came up, it seems great.
    I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
    Hi there, simply changed into alert to your blog via
    Google, and found that it is truly informative. I’m gonna
    be careful for brussels. I will appreciate in the event you continue this
    in future. Numerous other folks will be benefited from your writing.

    Cheers!

  25. With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My site has a
    lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it
    is popping it up all over the internet without my agreement.
    Do you know any methods to help reduce content from being
    ripped off? I’d certainly appreciate it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *