Technology and World Change
Session 12
Presentation Week
Group 1: Mind-controlled prosthetics (own)
Group 2: Transhumanism
The group gave a very detailed account of history of the
different kinds of prosthetics being used today to track the evolutionary
changes that have taken place so I found it to be very interesting. Also, in
their website, they mentioned some of the specific prosthetics that are now
available in the market such as the brain pacemaker that helps patients with
neurological conditions to maintain neural equilibrium. There are cochlear
implants as well where helps people hear better, at least 80% better than
compared to using hearing aids. The bionic eye was also introduced in their
website where it enables patients with total vision loss to see forms and
perception with light by detecting dark and light to identify the location of
objects. These are just some of the many products the group has introduced in
their website. Furthermore, I like how they would also give a brief description
of how the products actually work.
Under the “future implications” tab, they explored 4 main
areas which are social, economical, geopolitical and environmental
implications. One of the social implications of prosthetics would enable to
empower individuals who are challenged in some physical condition. Prosthetics
can help them to be on par with peers who do not possess such disabilities. The
group then addressed the issue about prosthetics being more advanced than the
original, biological form itself. Unfortunately, I feel that there are already
prosthetics that are more powerful than the original form. As having done our
own research on mind-controlled prosthetics, there are some products that can
exert a force of 250 pounds of force per hand, which is deadly. Other advanced
prosthetics also allow people to run faster, walk less effortlessly, more
accurate. The production of such prosthetics is only a few years away. I
believe that there will be many social concerns with regard to this but all we
can do is to find certain solutions that will keep these things in check.
Another implication they further discussed was about the
geopolitical concerns that surround the future use of transhumans. Because of
the many advantages of using the transhumanist technology, may lead to faster
economic growth, or countries trying to out-compete with one another to improve
on their transhumanist technology (especially for military use and global
dominance).
Group 3: Food: Our Future
I was especially drawn into the group’s presentation because
of their short skit at the beginning of their presentation which I thought was
brilliant. As for their website, I looked particularly at their “alternatives”
to alleviating world hunger. The group identified food distribution and food
supply as 2 main factors of world hunger. Mainly arguing for the point that as
important as the production of food is, so is the way in which these produce
are actually distributed across the world. Furthermore, they also pondered upon
the possibility that there might not even be sufficient food produced in the
first place. Either ways, the 2 reasons still lead to world hunger.
Under “Food Distribution”, they further expanded to talking
about what constitutes to a poor distribution of food such as “Food Wastage” as
well as “Accessibility”. According to their research, 30%-50% of food produced
never really end up being consumed. Even though there has been measures put in
place to prolong the shelf life of such food, measures to decrease food wastage
(as leftovers) are nearly non-existent. The group introduced a smart phone
application called “LeftoverSwap” where people can trade or simply give away
their leftovers to people in the nearby area but this further raises the
question of hygiene or the social stigma. I wished the group had delved more
into why there is so much food wastage. Is there a particular correlation to
the development of a society and the amount of food wastage? What more can be
done about this?
Under the same tab, they identified some of the problems of
accessibility in developing nations. Because rural areas are not well connected
to the cities, they might not have the required transportation services to
acquire the food that they need. One possible solution thought of by the group
is that with the advent of technology, mobile markets can be used to eradicate
this problem. Would have been better if the group could give certain examples
of a mobile market!
Under “Food Supply” the group focused on “Meat Production”
and “Urban Farming”. I will only look at the portion of urban farming. With
more and more people moving to urban areas, the potential of urban farming is
only set to grow. This basically means utilizing unused spaces in cities to
grow vegetation. This could lead to a self-sustaining city and at the same
time, minimize the effect the carbon emissions. It’s a win-win situation!
Group 4: Advertising and Sexuality
I am only going to focus on the future considerations for
this presentation because I felt that it was really an interesting part of
their whole thought process. The group thought of the idea of 3D sex ads. As
far-fetched some of us think this is, it is unfortunately before the groups
“predictions” would actually be realized. Sexual ads might become more “real”
for some, allowing some to feel that they may be more persuasive (at the same
time more provocative) and this might create an entirely new market for
sexually driven ads. Also, the advent of augmented reality only means that the
future of advertising would be more pronounced and convenient. Like trying on
clothes, or shopping for furniture would be made so much more convenient
because you can look at it on yourself or in your home without having to
actually purchase the project. They also looked at facial recognition.
Customized advertisements seem ridiculous and almost absurd, what exactly would
it take for advertisers to cater to the different needs and wants of consumers
and then create an advertisement out of that. But the group has identified that
with facial recognition, advertisers are able to achieve that. For example,
differentiating male from female, and based on the difference in gender, show
or display the relevant ads. Or even achieving a location-based mobile that
will shows ads of products or goods available within the vicinity.
The group identified 2 main ethical concerns with regard to
sex ads. Mainly that with these ads becoming even more realistic, they may
eventually entice viewers to extremes and ultimately, people might even find it
difficult to clearly define reality from the virtual world that they are unable
to suffice their desires. This may lead to social problems such as increased
cases of molestations, rapes or other related activities. Another issue was
that these ads might be used to manipulate people. The group said that this
could lead to greater disparity between the haves and the have-nots such that
people who can, do and those who can’t, don’t. In other words, people who can’t
afford the products are unable to satisfy their desires and this might lead to
a worsening of the rich poor divide. I may not entirely understand their second
point, because, isn’t that the main aim of all advertisements? To entice you to
believe that their product is something you should possess, regardless of
whether you can afford it? Furthermore, aren’t all ads already doing this? I
don’t think a car ad showing you the latest model of their line of cars means
everyone can afford it, but this does not mean that the rich poor divide will
certainly worsen because of that.
Group 5: Virtual Reality
I have to say that their video was really well done, it was
so real!! Amazing!
With their future references of augmented reality using the
google glasses, they mentioned about how could be used for education and in the
medical industry. Their points were quite similar to how the Leap Motion controller
could be applied in these industries as well. So I shall not spend too much
time mentioning about it again. But the group did bring up 2 new areas to
explore, mainly Construction & Home Maintenance and Law Enforcement. In the
former, google glass may enable anyhow to realign pipes just by knowing how to
read blueprints. You might just be able to receive instructions from an expert
through the glasses and fix the pipe on your own just by looking through the
google glass. Or in Law Enforcement, it might help in identifying criminals
using google’s facial recognition software. The glasses may have the ability to
scan license plates instantly, or monitor vital signals and remotely control
other devices.
The group also elaborated on the positives and negatives of
social implications how virtual reality might have. For starters, with virtual
reality, it might bring about increased convenience, or allowing the needy to
better integrate into society and it might even save lives. Greater convenience
here refers to being able to travel to foreign places and eliminating the
language barrier. As for the second point, it is just like how the Leap Motion
controller could help autistic children better integrate into society. And
saving lives here meant that more training applications could be simulated to
be more life like and this can prep those undergoing training to deal with more
realistic situations. Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages that come
along with it as well. It can never replace reality, so when it comes to
training even though situations can be simulated to be more life like, it will
not be able to predict other kinds of situation. There are some form of ethical
concerns as well such as Escapism or violent content, all of which lead to
social problems in society like addiction or increased cases of violence. And,
of course, reduced social interactions between people due to the lack of face
to face communication.
The group also went on to talk about the positives and
negatives about economic impacts for virtual reality. Such as increased
productivity and efficiency, lower cost in the long run as well as increased
global transaction. Such as training relevant personnel in a certain industry
by using a simulator and als, the possibility that global transactions might increase
as the virtual worlds allow people to meet at real time. But there might be a
socio economic divide because a high cost is incurred to purchase the
infrastructure for such a technology to be set in place such that countries who
have more are able to afford them and for those who do not have such power to
do so, lose out in the end. Furthermore, there might be loss of employment
since many of these jobs can be displaced using the relevant technology.
All in all, I really enjoyed the past 2 session because it
was really interesting to hear from all of the groups and to see all of their
masterpieces! Was really fun!
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