For those seriously concerned that Facebook is getting too deeply into people's lives, Mark Zuckerberg's latest comments at Harvard should be a wake-up call. During a nearly two-hour interview with Harvard Law School professor Jonathan Zittrain in front of cameras and audiences of students, Facebook CEO appeared from almost every angle. Responding to claims of ethnic cleansing and censorship at the company and on the platform, Zuckerberg said he did not ask for that much responsibility. And no one would, he said.
Instead, Facebook will create its own Supreme Court, he told Zittrain, an external committee tasked with tackling sensitive issues on the platform. "I cannot make a decision that refutes their opinion," promised Mark.
And this is after the data leak that Facebook followed those who wished Zuckerberg ill, openly expressing their thoughts on the social network.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan. Zuckerberg has shown welcome resignation to himself and his company. But then he described something that really excited him - and the ugly pride of Silicon Valley turned to face again.
It turns out Facebook is developing a brain-computer interface, a promising new technology. The idea is to allow people to orient themselves intuitively and by the power of thought in augmented reality - a neuro-controlled version of the world, the very mirror world about which we have already written. No typing, no conversation, nothing should distract you from interacting with digital additions to the landscape: navigation instructions will be superimposed directly on the freeway; short biographies will float alongside conference attendees; 3D furniture models will surround you as you move around the apartment.
Facebook wants to help people with augmented reality
The Harvard audience was a little taken aback by this turn of the conversation. Sittrain even joked that everyone would have the constitutional right to remain silent in the presence of technology listening in on thoughts. But here, too, the already proven protection of large tech companies from criticism for violating user privacy will work: the consent of the users themselves. "Presumably," Zuckerberg said, "it will be something that someone will choose to use as a product."
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In short, Zuckerberg is not giving up on his mission to connect people around the world for fun and profit. As well as the dark images of cops probing the brain. And even apologizes in advance. “I don’t know how we got to this,” he announced cheerfully, “but I am a little aware of future technologies and research, they are very interesting.”
Of course, Facebook already follows people as they travel the world with GPS and a smartphone in their pocket, and is tracking their online activity the same way. Are we going to let Facebook penetrate our mortal bodies so that we can order pizza faster and with more toppings? Zuckerberg is definitely counting on it.
Frankly, Facebook has no plans to infiltrate the brain. First, a surgical implant, according to Zuckerberg, will not scale well: "If you are actually trying to create something that everyone will use, you need to pay attention to non-invasive things."
The technology that Zuckerberg described is a device that looks like a swimming cap. It surrounds the brain and detects connections between specific thoughts and specific blood currents or brain activity, presumably to facilitate the operation of glasses or headsets from Oculus VR, which is part of Facebook. Scientists can already tell when a person thinks of a giraffe or an elephant based on neural activity, Zuckerberg said. Mind typing will work on the same principles.
As with many Facebook innovations, Zuckerberg sees nothing in the brain-computer interface that violates the integrity of the person - what Louis Brandes defined as "the right to be left alone" in thoughts. On the contrary, he sees that this technology will expand human capabilities. “The way our phones work today, all computing systems organized around applications and tasks, are fundamentally different from how our brains work and how we understand the world,” said Mark. "This is one of the reasons why I am just thrilled with the long-term perspective of things like augmented reality - because it will give us a platform that is actually similar to how we think about different things."
Augmented reality makes more sense when the smart version is on top of the mundane. “The clock will detect chairs; chairs will detect spreadsheets; glasses will find the watch, even under the sleeve; tablets will see the insides of the turbine; the turbines will see workers around. Suddenly, our environment, natural and artificial, will work as one. Except for people with their closed thoughts and desires. But then they will put glasses with neurocomputer interfaces.
Zuckerberg explained the potential benefits of this technology in the same way he did when he announced Facebook research in 2017: “Our brains are producing enough data to stream four HD movies every second. The problem is that the best way to transmit information to the world - speech - can transmit as much data as a 1980s modem. We're working on a system that will allow you to type text directly from your brain, five times faster than you can type on your phone today. Ultimately, we want to turn this into a wearable technology that can be produced on a large scale. Even a simple yes / no button in your head could make the augmented reality nature much more natural."
Ilya Khel