Science fiction has a history of envisioning cybernetic technology. From Johnny Mnemonic, to Ghost in the Shell and The Matrix to name a few, the cyberpunk fantasy has captivated our vision for positive and negative technological development. Fantasy is fast advancing towards a mainstream technological reality.

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Merging technology with the brain is already being done with brain-computer interfaces brain–computer interfaces (BCI), neural-control interfaces (NCI), mind-machine interfaces (MMI), direct neural interfaces (DNI), or brain–machine interfaces (BMI) to act as a prosthetic for impaired senses or disabilities. The reality might be that we're already closer to the future than we think. Donald Marshall has talked about his story of brain chip implants used to download consciousness and take over the bodies of others. That's a frightening reality to live in, if it's true. Maybe that exists, maybe not, but we are headed in that direction it seems.

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Sensory augmentation isn't the only thing being worked on. Brain implants are being developed to enhance memory, and thereby affect intelligence capacities.

Memory Recall

A new deep brain stimulation device can listen to the brain and improve one's ability to recall a list of words by 15%. This is promising for those who have neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease that slowly degenerate their cognitive functions.

The device is fine tuned to activate memory network components in the brain when it struggles to store memories. Electrical stimulation has been used before to improve memory, but targeting specific pathways is how this device works. Other precision devices were also made, but were an open loop system and didn't get feedback from the brain to tweak the stimulation. The new device is close loop and varies electrical stimulation based on feedback from the lateral temporal cortex. It works like a pacemaker, listening to what's going on before acting to stimulate memory enhancement.

Neuromodulation algorithms can be further developed to apply different changes to the brain. Neuromodulation is when nerve activity is altered by stimulating specific neurological sites. This can be done with chemicals like pharmaceuticals, electrical or other energy stimulation. It's already been used to relive pain and restore functionality to bowel and bladder control as well as tremor control suffered by Parkinson's disease and other ailments.

New Age of Enhanced Brain Power

Kernel is a recent startup created by Bryan Johnson, and funded with $100 million of his own money. His stated goal is to contribute to the progress of humanity through enhancing intelligence, with the aim of dramatically increasing our quality of life.

In the last century, we greatly expanded the notion of what it means to be human. Remarkable innovations in both science and technology brought us to the moon, laid the foundation of the Internet, and cured many of the most pressing diseases that plagued us for eons.

What’s next?

To further explore our own human boundaries, a wave of new technologies needs to emerge that can access, read, and write from the most powerful tool we have—the human brain.

There has been early testing to show the technology works in rats. Recording the electrical frequencies in one rat allowed a memory to be transfered to another rat. The device was also used in monkeys to improve difficult memory recall tasks.

For human potential, Kernel is working with the University of Southern California in Los Angeles to study the brain activity from epilepsy implants to understand more about how our memory functions. Learning how to mirror and mimic memory is also required for further technological progress into AI development. We don't yet understand how our own consciousness is created. Until such a time, it's less likely we will spontaneously create a real artificial consciousness that compares to our own.

This technology would first be developed to aid those with memory issues, like: not being able to form lasting memories, sufferers of concussions, strokes, Alzheimer's, dementia, and traumatic brain injury. Patients who have had electrical stimulation in the hippocampus have shown that this process is effective at enhancing memorization abilities. All of this stimulation is currently done while connected to a computer.

The ideal device will be smaller, and will monitor and stimulate multiple neurons in the hippocampus. It will store data, interface with external devices for control and monitoring, and process data to enhance brain power. Potential applications for the technology are:

• VR time dilation
• faster learning
• faster recall
• memory optimization through selective deletion
• computer interfacing
• downloading memories

The Matrix - "I Know Kung Fu"

Mind Control

All of this might sound great, but is has potential for abuse as well. We have to be weary how much we entrust control of ourselves to others. The appeal to "enhance" is quite an allure that can cost us gravely. All because we aren't content being who we are as biological beings. Desiring to be more than biological, and become technological beings, are dangerous grounds to pursue.

Enhanced learning can become enhanced dumbing down. Memory deletion can be used to control what we understand and how we view the world. If anyone has watched Stargate SG-1, there is an episode where the inhabitants are being protected from a toxic atmosphere by a dome. They have instant recall of any information, as they are all linked to a network with a device that feeds them the data. But they are being slowly killed off by an AI program that is deleting their memories of the size of their dome-protected village and who lives there. As the dome shrinks due to diminishing power, people who are outside the new dome are left to die, without being remembered to have ever existed.

Computer interfacing, like in the cyberpunk series Ghost in the Shell, can also lead to complete control of your body, and even brain-death. We could even have whole identities replace who we are. As this tech becomes more trendy, the privacy concerns that will arise will also fade and the dangers will become but a memory for most. A trap might be set at this point.

I see a lot of potential for greater control of humanity through this tech, if not directly, then indirectly through more bread and circus manipulation of our senses and affinity for pleasure and stimulus. We like to be entertained after all. Living in a virtual reality, losing ourselves there, wasting time and energy in a false reality... woops... am I talking about the future or the current era of gaming and "augmented reality"?

While some see great visions for the future, others are more skeptical and doubtful much of this will work. Determining which bit of code represents a certain memory capacity, and then modifying to enhance or create memory might be tougher than envisioned. The simpler control of activating neurons to stimulate memories has worked (like in mice), and might indicate the next approach they take if the current enhancement fails. This could sure be handy for some nefarious people who want to literally control the brains and minds of people.

One thing seems clear, this new niche for the future, of bio-tech, cybertech, and AI's, might be one of the largest industries to ever emerge. Synthetic life along with AIs is also part of the vision many people have for our future. I'm not too sure if it's all good though. Humanity is dabbling with exciting technology but is also walking on dangerous grounds. Biological humanity might die away in the end...

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References:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/new-startup-aims-to-commercialize-a-brain-prosthetic-to-improve-memory
https://www.inverse.com/article/19812-kernel-neural-implant-prosthesis-singularity-artificial-intelligence
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2109868-100-million-project-to-make-intelligence-boosting-brain-implant/
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brain-implants-would-make-the-matrix-come-to-life-2016-08-26
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/08/15/putting-a-computer-in-your-brain-is-no-longer-science-fiction/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26113-swap-bad-memories-for-good-at-the-flick-of-a-switch/
http://kernel.co/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3872745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3919468/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02753-0
https://www.sciencealert.com/closed-loop-deep-brain-stimulation-improves-memorisation
http://www.neuromodulation.com/neuromodulation-defined

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