Having long ago dabbled in the area of experimental psychology (and specifically concepts of brain interfaces) then I'm impressed by 1024 channels of #Neuralink, the use of industrialised components, the durability, the size, the signal analysis ... but ...
... even at mass produced scales, at a cost of a few thousand $ then this opens up a whole new world of inequality. Some tough questions for society going forward.
X : You seem negative?
Me : The opposite. I just want us to think beyond the benefits to how rewards are distributed. Imagine a world with no books or universities where one could download the knowledge of a lawyer if you could afford it ... what happens if you can't?
X : If you could afford it?
Me : The device might be a few thousands $ (a barrier for many) but the lifetime legal knowledge of an expert must be worth a few million $ (a barrier to most). Cross generational inheritance of knowledge and skills through electronic means ...
... ok, that may be far away (30 to 50 years or so) but eventually we will have to face that question or we could do what we normally do which is discount the future and let them work out the problems we create - see environment etc.
X : No books or universities?
Me : These are not needed for the purposes of training if you can download the experiences of a professional - a lawyer - from a market of content.
X : What if I can't afford the content?
Me : You could buy cheaper content, a cleaner for example.
X : Embedding social inequality?
Me : Permanently. These are amazing advances in technology but we have to think beyond the benefit to an individual and look at how the rewards are shared within society. We need to have that "We" vs "Me" conversation that the pandemic points to.
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