What is a brain-computer interface?
In the Matrix movies, human consciousness is accessed by installing electrodes in the body and connecting to a computer via an interface plug. Today, the possibility exists for such a technology to be realized, known as a brain-machine interface. A brain-computer interface is a communication system that does not rely on the normal output pathways of the nerves around the brain and the normal output pathways of the muscles. It can capture and analyze an organism’s EEG signals in real time and convert them into output commands to enable information transfer and control between the brain and external devices.
The brain-computer interface has a wide range of application scenarios, mainly in the fields of medical care, gaming, entertainment, learning, and education. The medical field is the main direction of brain-computer interface applications, which can help patients with neurological dysfunction. In the field of education, it is mainly applied to track students’ learning performance and emotion regulation. In gaming and entertainment, it is mainly used to create virtual environments and perform virtual game control.
The brain-machine interface creates a new evolution of the human being by treating and enhancing the human being, thus creating a “co-evolution” between the brain and the machine. At a certain point, this co-evolution will lead to a new stage of brain-machine fusion. We have already seen the ‘external integration of the human and the smartphone: the mobile phone becomes a shell on the human body, just like the shell on a turtle, and stays attached to the human body all the time, but only in an external way. The implantable brain-computer interface will transform this external bond into an internal fusion, which in the process of directly modulating the brain will change it in a new way, transforming the meaning of man and machine. In 2002, Kevin Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the UK, experimented with breaking the boundaries of man and machine himself by implanting a device in his arm which connected electrodes to neural tissue. The device enabled him to activate a robotic arm and control a wheelchair with his thoughts alone. He thus became the world’s first half-human, half-robot. This also announced that the idea of brain-machine fusion to human-machine fusion was not a pipe dream.
The post-human era: the broad extension of human identity
With the development of brain-computer interface technology, the question that ultimately concerns people more is actually the question of the relationship between man and machine. In Cyborg’s definition, the boundaries between man and machine dissolve. The “Ship of Theseus” is coming to meet the machine as it penetrates deeper and deeper into the brain. The elegant Greek historian and philosopher Plutarch posed this question in the 1st century AD: If the wood in the ship of Theseus is gradually replaced by new wood until none of the original wood remains, is the ship the same? Likewise, if the human brain and even body functions are gradually connected and replaced by various machines, is the human being still the same?
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at the close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.—— Dylan Thomas
The answer to this question is usually in two directions. From the first view, there is no change in the essential properties of the human being, only in the structure. This understanding lies in the fact that BCI is an enhancement of the human physique and does not change the nature of the human being. On the other view, the brain-computer interface has actually changed the human being. The general position is that humans can be derived into new species by the incorporation or ‘grafting’ of technology. When a man takes the form of a cyborg, he is no longer a product of nature, but a product of “nature + technology”.
The above two answers address the question of whether the future of brain-computer interfaces will facilitate human freedom or lead to the rise of machine domination. However, the authors argue that the risks posed by current augmented technologies for brain-computer interfaces hardly promote human freedom. One factor that cannot be ignored is equality. Fukuyama argues that the “uncertainties” brought about by posthumanism “will destroy the egalitarian foundations of human dignity and liberal democracy. In fact, when brain-computer interfaces are actually implemented, the distributive justice and social equity claimed for augmented BCIs will be difficult to achieve under the dominance of techno-capitalism and individualism, but will instead push the gap between rich and poor to the extreme. Furthermore, the operation of brain-computer interfaces relies on the design of precisely designed algorithms and system implementations, and deviations at any step can have an impact. Both the developers and users of the technology must be aware of the presence of bias, intentional or unintentional, in the process, and the consequences of behavior caused by bias are difficult to assess. It is difficult to determine the true motivation for action, to reasonably weigh up the benefits and risks of each party, or even to attribute an autonomous decision-making motive and a clear goal orientation to the behavior. More importantly, can human autonomy be maintained with access to brain-computer interfaces? The odds are that it can’t. This is a good answer to the question of whether brain-machine interfaces can lead to human freedom. A brain-computer interface would influence the user’s decisions and change the body’s own decision-making process, and then he would no longer be ‘him’.
Conclusion
Technology itself does not give us the answer to what the future of humanity will ultimately be. Brain-computer interfaces, in their blind pursuit of enhancing human fitness, will not only bring unpredictable risks of various kinds, but their inherent emphasis on competition and efficiency will also result in a weaker connection with the ‘human’, leading to a weakening of human relationships. While the technology of brain-computer interfaces carries many expectations, how the ethical risks and challenges of brain-computer interfaces are addressed will be key to the future exploration of the technology.
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