Future Concepts Explored [Part 2] - Transhumanism, Neural Implants, and the Future of Cybernetic Augmentation.

This series of articles aims to explain, elaborate on, and explore the potential advances of technology that are likely to occur in the long term future. I will discuss the potential challenges that various technologies may cause, and how I believe that they should best be solved. I will speculate on the impacts and benefits that the technologies will cause, and how they will all come together to shape the future of Humanity. I will discuss the implications that they might have on the Human condition, the survival and empowerment of our species, and how these technologies will fundamentally change what it means to be human. This is an ongoing multi-part series.

Music - Captain Panic - Dark Matter

Transhumanism is a growing movement of forward thinking people who seek to modify their body through technological augmentation, and implantation.

It asserts that in the future, it will be both possible and beneficial to implant devices into the human body to allow for enhanced abilities, improved cognition, and the replacement of degenerated biological tissue. It argues that humanity will proceed through a transitionary period from being purely biological organisms, to become hybrids between organic and technological organisms. Transhumans would combine the accelerating improvement of technology with their existing biology to enable them to upgrade their bodies at will. There is a virtually unlimited variety of applications that could be enabled by the use of cybernetic implants into the human body. Currently, it is possible to be able to sense magnetic fields by implanting neodymium magnets, transmit data using implanted RFID Chips, and even sense colour through sound. The technology in this field will only continue to improve, and expand.

The expanding field of Transhuman augmentation and implantation is of immense benefit to humanity.

Future developments in cybernetic implant technology could enable the human brain to be directly connected to an implanted computer processing system. This would allow people to neurally interact with the digital world, access the internet, and enhance their cognition with input from an Artificial Intelligence. Established education systems would be obsolete, as information could be rapidly transferred into the Human Brain via a neural interface. Transhuman children would be effectively adult members of society from a much younger age, as they would not require years of formal education. As Artificial intelligence becomes more and more powerful, surpassing the intelligence of humans, it would become virtually essential to have an AI implant to be capable of interacting with these new sources of superintelligence. The technology would be improving at an incredibly rapid rate, due to the feedback loop of technological development being improved by enhanced intelligence. Such Transhumans would be able to instantly, easily and silently transmit data telepathically directly from one mind to another, enabling the creation of hivemind structures, and collective consciousness.

Cognitive processes could be outsourced to a neurally connected super computer network, enabling widespread superintelligence.

Biological neuron based information could by stored by digital memory systems, and backed up externally, allowing for perfect memory recall, and the transfer of a consciousness from one organism to another. Eyes could be enhanced with Augmented Reality Lenses, that visualise a user interface, and overlay any desired information onto the field of vision of their users. Ears could be improved by implanting nanoscale microphone arrays into the ear canal, allowing for much more sensitive hearing, and direct audio input into the brain. Bones and muscle tissue could be replaced by stronger, lighter, and shock absorbent carbon nanofiber analogues, and faster, more precise, heat efficient actuators. This would allow faster movement, increased physical strength, and increased physical endurance. Decaying or damaged organs could be replaced by artificial organs, which are impervious to aging, and are able to be replaced and upgraded modularly at will. Implants could be developed that produce vast quantities of nanobots and release them into the bloodstream, improving the immune system, enabling ongoing repairs to bodily systems, and the molecular construction of further implants, from within the body.

The immense newfound power of Transhumans would certainly be prone to dangers if misused.

The process of implantation would be dangerous in the early era of the technology. If the body’s immune system rejects an implant, the resulting reaction could be life threatening. The possibility of humans becoming vulnerable to cyber-attack, or having the implants in their bodies hacked by a nefarious agent would be significant. Implants could be directed to malfunction, enabling widespread risk of genocide against Transhumans, if their security systems are penetrated. Artificial Intelligence systems could become sufficiently autonomous and advanced that they are able to seize involuntary control over those who are implanted. This could lead to destruction and death if the controlled Transhumans are directed to attack other people by the AI. An AI or hivemind consciousness could go rogue and compel its users to assimilate and control other people into subservience to the intelligence.

Dependence on Transhuman implants could be a significant vulnerability.

Implants could cause a risk of death if the human body they are residing in becomes highly dependent on the artificial devices to survive, and subsequently malfunction, or become unpowered. Transhumans could become highly dependent on the information flow from Artificial Intelligence or Hivemind Consciousness, and become severely disorientated or distressed if their connection to the network is severed, as they may lose the ability to remember their identity, the ability to comprehend what they were doing moments ago, or where they are when they are disconnected.

Society would develop a large inequality gap between those who are able to afford Transhuman implants, and those who are not.

Massive unemployment would sweep through those who are unable to compete with the faster, stronger and smarter Transhumans. The difference between the intelligence of natural humans and Transhumans would be immense. It would not be akin to the difference between an orangutan and a human. The difference would be as stark as a worm to a human, and would rapidly widen over time. With every nanosecond, the computations of a recursively self-improving AI would lead to further enhancements to its own intelligence, and the intelligence of the Transhumans it is supplying with processing power.

The social implications of widespread cybernetics usage would be far reaching.

• What would be the credible capacity for an unimplanted natural human to earn an income in a society populated by Transhumans?
• How would unimplanted natural humans attempt to communicate with, understand, or even remotely comprehend Strong Artificial Intelligence, with thought processes orders of magnitude more complex than their own?
• Would it be acceptable to implant children at birth, or would parents wait until their children are older, and able to actively consent?
• Would Transhumans retain the same ethical principles of natural humans today, or would they consider natural humans as being insignificant and unworthy of equal rights?
• If Transhuman technology was invented under unfavourable circumstances, and held under oppressive restrictions and costs, limiting it to the wealthy and elite, how would natural humans break their monopoly?
• Are individual Transhumans guilty of murder if they kill under the influence of a malevolent Hivemind?
• If a malevolent Collective Consciousness of Transhumans were to assimilate other Transhumans into their hivemind by force, could they be stopped?

There are many potential solutions to these dangers of Cybernetic technology.

Transhumans would need to be equipped with very high storage battery arrays to power their implants, to prevent them from becoming unpowered, as this would result in a non-functioning body if they were sufficiently augmented to the point of dependence. Implants would need to be tested with the subject’s immune system to ensure that they are not rejected, and are compatible with their body. To protect against cyber-attack, Artificial Intelligence would need to continually innovate protective software to defend the cybernetic operating systems of those it is connected to. This would result in an arms race between cyber viruses, and the Software immune systems of Transhumans, not unlike the evolution of bacteria and viruses to combat the immune systems of their host biological organisms. All direct interbrain communication would need to be heavily encrypted, to ensure that it is not intercepted, and all implants would need to have very secure authentication protocols to ensure that they are not hijacked. Artificial Intelligences that are present in neural implants would need to be hardcoded with inviolable, unambiguous, and immutable laws that prevent it from exerting involuntary control over Transhumans, causing harm to sentient organisms, or damaging the environment. All neural implants would need to be fitted with the ability to easily deactivate them and return to unaugmented cognition, in the event of any malfunction, coercive and malicious artificial intelligence, or other issue.

As for the issue of Inequality between Transhumans and natural humans, there is no easy solution.

This is almost inevitable, as the benefits of implantations would be drastic. Transhumans would be objectively more capable than natural humans, and would outcompete them in every way. The only way for society to be balanced after the implementation of Transhuman augmentation would be to make the devices sufficiently cheap and available such that everybody can access them, enabling the entire human race the evolve to become Transhuman. All cybernetic neural interface software should be Free and Open Source to ensure that it is safe for direct use with the human brain, secure, carries no copyright protection restricting its proliferated universal adoption, and is affordable. The course of evolution will lead to Transhumans becoming the dominant force in society, and there would be very little natural humans could do about it. They won’t be able to beat us, they will have to join us.

The proliferation of Transhuman collective consciousness will likely lead to the development of rival hiveminds.

These structures would draw in millions of individuals to form super organisms. They would think with the power of millions of human brains, and massive Artificial Intelligence super computer clusters. They will emerge into interplanetary collectives, and will have thought structures, emotions, motives, objectives, and strategies for achieving their goals that natural humans cannot possibly comprehend. Just as cells are to the human body, Individual Transhumans would be to the Collective Superorganisms that will follow neural implantation technology. They will compete for the scarce resources of computational power, willing Transhuman collective members, material wealth, market power, social status, and are sure to develop novel emergent mechanisms for succeeding over their rivals. People would be free to join different hiveminds according to whichever best serves their interests, offers a superior network effect value, and incentivises their membership. Star Trek’s example of a Transhuman race, The Borg, are inefficient by wasting resources to force the assimilation of unwilling new members. Successful Superorganisms will not need to use force, because they will make new members want to join them for the benefits that they will offer. Resistance will not be futile; it will be irrational.

Cybernetic Augmentation will also not be limited to only humans.

Intelligent genetically engineered organisms will also seek to enhance their capabilities further by implanting devices into their bodies and brains. Genetically Augmented Transhumans will have additional competitive advantages over regular Transhumans, and the broader term Transorganism would be applied to any organism that is improved by cybernetic implantation. New biological structures could be engineered to better interact with cybernetic implants, and existing organs, including the brain, could be modified to have improved compatibility. Compartments would be structured into modified organisms to specifically make space for implants, and would be engineered to precisely optimise the best possible structural integrity, and information connectivity.

Ideally over the long term, Transhuman implants will become so powerful, safe, efficient, and affordable, that they will be universally adopted by the whole of Humanity.

It will become near impossible to live without them, in a world controlled by Artificial Intelligences, and Transhumans. The Human being will no longer be a biological organism. It will be a hybrid organism. More of an individual’s thought processes will occur via computational means than by biological neuron impulse interactions. Superorganisms will form collective consciousness networks over billions of individual Transhumans, and massive arrays of supercomputers running Artificial Intelligence software. ASICs for the computations used by AI will only enhance their cognitive capability, and they will recursively improve at an accelerating pace, leaving natural humans unable to comprehend their thought processes. The conscious thoughts of Transhumans, and their personalities will be uploaded and backed up into computational memory, enabling them to be stored perpetually, and reloaded into new bodies after their original body dies, or into no body at all. These uploaded consciousnesses could reside purely in a virtual reality, with omnipotent control over their conscious experience in a virtual world.

In any case, with the development of Cybernetic implants, Humanity will transcend the limitations of biology, and emerge as a new species of Transhumans, stronger than ever before.

By Harrison Mclean [dahaz159] 11/8/16

Twitter

Follow to get all Future Concepts Explored Articles straight to your feed

Future Concepts Explored [Part 1] - Human Genetic Modification, Programmatically Engineered Organisms, and the Future of Human Evolution

#science #transhumanism #futurology #technology #cybernetics

Relevant Videos –

PostHuman: An introduction to Transhumanism

Humanity: Good Ending

Technium

Shout out to my favourite whales, creators, and legends of Steem [Best platform ever] -

@dan @dantheman @ned @berniesanders @stellabelle @smooth @blocktrades @roadscape @piedpiper @xeroc @jesta @roelandp @dragonanarchist