Addiction Economy lessons for Neuralink
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - Just pondering what Addiction Economy industries like cigs & UPF can contribute to thinking about new tech products when I saw this from the excellent Andrew Maynard on the hype & possibility of Musk's Neuralink, which is hoping to bring sight to the blind.
He gives a great run through of the problem with anchoring the starting point in the quick fix of sci-fi films; underestimating the complexity of seeing; overestimating the ability of tech to do the job & failure to consider d the human & social aspects of the tech even if it works. It is unclear whether these things have been considered at all.
So if we are to draw lessons from cigs, UPF, Social Media etc (& my last 25 years in 'responsible tech'?) Perhaps:
(a) The ethical issues & technical shortcomings may have been thought through, but if negatives are shown, will be denied, hidden & obscured by disinformation with research developed to show that in fact the product is a total wonder for humanity and anyone who says different is either a luddite, an idiot, a democrat or failing to understand blind people. (Pretty sure all of Grant Ennis 9 Frames of Disinformation will be used!)
(b) All the money sloshing around in Musk Inc will be used to help this disinformation befuddle regulators, hype the product in the eyes of the public & the full force of X & Musk's media profile used to dismiss those expressing concerns.
(c ) Academics, NGOs and individuals, including blind people who do not agree that this is going to be the answer, will be personally ridiculed & where possible their reputation trashed.
(d) Blind people using the product will be tied in forever, but when the trial stops or the product doesn't work will be left in the lurch. Andrew reports "As Fine and Boynton note in their August article in The Conversation, “In our almost 20 years researching bionic eyes, we’ve seen the complexity of the human brain defeat company after company. Patients pay the cost when these devices fail, left stranded with orphaned technologies in their eye or brain.” So you are promised sight, and left still blind with bits of electronics & metal in your head you they don't take out.
We aren't optimistic, because if as a society we can't even prevent mass corporate killings from cigarettes, a product we know all about, where the cause & effect is crystal clear, where the cost to society is visible & crippling & where we know what to do to stop it, but don't - we have no expectation of this happening with neurotech in general or this latest Must product specifically.
Perhaps I'm just in a pessimistic mood today. Let's hope so.