Leaving for an indefinite future the dream of science fiction writers about distant planets, scientific thought turned in the opposite direction - comprehending the depths of the human personality and thinking. And, in contrast to interstellar flights, much more pragmatic prospects open up here - on the one hand, a fantastic expansion of the capabilities of a person and his brain, and on the other, unique opportunities for total control over both society and an individual.
The very creation of artificial intelligence in the middle of the 20th century put the problem on the agenda - how to make AI as convenient as possible to use, how to integrate humans and computers. The most logical answer is only this: a person should become a part of a computer, and a computer - a part of a person. Or, more precisely, humanity must become part of a computer network.
In fact, this is what we already have today in the form of the Internet. Who would have thought 20 years ago that some pathetic communication protocol for sending short text messages from computer to computer would turn into a powerful tool for social, financial and cultural upheavals?!.. We did not even notice how in the last 10 years we entered an era of global communications that forever changed the world much faster and deeper than the invention of a steam locomotive, an airplane or an atomic bomb. Facebook costs more than the GDP of an average country, revolutions are made through Twitter, and WikiLeaks reveals as many secrets as all the secret services of the 20th century would not have discovered.
But it is obvious that quantity is about to turn into quality. The “first signs” of the upcoming changes are already more like a cloud of countless locusts: computer glasses from Google allow you to see the world “augmented”, Kinect technology cancels the usual computer controls, voice recognition will soon replace keyboards. However, there is also the apogee of this trend: the integration of a computer directly into the brain and direct connection of consciousness to the worldwide network - as in the "Matrix".
Technically, work in this direction has already achieved significant success. Experts from the Universities of Utah and Wisconsin Bradley Greger and Adam Wilson have demonstrated that even now, a lot is possible: read signals from nerve endings in the brain and decode them into words, or even send messages to Twitter with the power of thought.
So far, equipment for brain encephalogram is used for such actions, and this is rather cumbersome and not always convenient. But, almost certainly, not far off (quite, apparently, not far off - within 3-5 years) is the day when all complex equipment will be replaced with one small chip made using nanotechnology, which will be able to both broadcast brain signals to the Network and receive them from there.
Progress cannot be stopped, but such an invention would bring a lot of benefits, multiplying the capabilities of the human brain, its learning ability, thinking abilities and, possibly, much that we do not yet know about. Not to mention how many disabled people would be able to get bionic prostheses that are easily and naturally operated. This suggests that work in this area is being carried out with great interest and rapid pace in the interests of commercial profit.
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And here it is time to touch upon the theme of the flip side of the achievements of technical progress: the use of neurotechnology in the interests of controlling and suppressing the personality.
All benefits can easily turn into threats: humanity integrated into the Network (or just a separate team) becomes completely controllable. Everyone's thoughts are literally "visible at a glance", as well as the location, biography, and, there is reason to believe, and the cash account, and all other official data. Of course, it is unlikely that such threats will be ignored in the spread of neurotechnologies - a certain possibility of protecting privacy will certainly be stipulated, but, most likely, things will turn out the same as in the case of mobile phones. Protection of negotiations and information about the location is legally "there", but the special services without the slightest problem get access to this data. If there is a technical opportunity, then sooner or later they will find a way to use it not in the interests of each individual person.
Already, a mobile phone is a "pocket spy" that demonstrates the circle of communication, the content of conversations with all subscribers, as well as the location and, in some cases with smartphones, the state of the account tied to a credit card, etc.
But everything appears in an even more interesting light: what if the chip will not only read information, but also transmit it to the brain. This is completely logical, because the interface between the brain and the Network must be two-way. What technical capabilities will the chip hide (most likely, different versions of the chips) - maybe the ability to influence certain nerve centers of a person to change his mood, or well-being, or behavior? Or even the chip will be able to kill a person on the right signal, which is also quite realistic, given that the brain is responsible for the state of the whole organism, and the chip becomes the “controller” of the brain?
Again, there are tangible social benefits to this innovation. It will be hoped that in this way it will be possible to completely destroy any crime, terrorism and war. But the one who will have a remote control from the network of chips of the population of his country receives power a hundred times more than any dictator.
Sooner or later, this will happen. The use of nanodevices for personal identification and its connection with the Internet is, one might say, an already resolved issue that scientists around the world are working on at a feverish pace, because discoveries in this area will literally make the inventor rich.
In a situation of total control over an individual, it is even difficult to say which is worse - when this control is in the hands of a tough state, or a soulless private corporation that considers people as statistical units in matters of profit and loss …