Aspirations of Current Research 63

At present, it is implausible to implant BCI-type devices into healthy human brains simply to experiment with ways in which to enhance communication—the safety risks are too great to undertake without any serious medical necessity.284 Thus nearly all implanted BCIs are confined to therapeutic purposes. However, transhumanist Ramez Naam notes, “The urge to help and heal will propel the design of more sophisticated implants and safer surgical procedures to implant them. It will teach us more about how the brain works, and it will gradually introduce the idea of brain implants to the general public. This will blunt the shock that will come when people begin using these implants to enhance themselves rather than cure disease.”285 As medical research into BCIs continues, along with myriad research into neuroscience done across the world, the body of knowledge as to how the brain functions increases. With increased knowledge of how parts of the brain work together, BCI research and development becomes more advanced, increasingly the likelihood that BCIs may become commonplace as an enhancement. And it is not only transhumanists who see the plausibility in BCI enhancement: the Natural Science Foundations reported in 2002 that in the coming decades, the convergence of nanotechnology with neuroscience and communication technologies may make BCIs affordable and widespread.286 They envision implanted BCIs being used to access the

284 _{Naam, More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement. 176} 285 _{Ibid., 176-177}

286 _{Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge, Converging Technologies for Improving Human}

Internet and communicate with others, and some believe this may even be possible by 2030.287

Retinal implants like the Dobelle Vision System288 and Second Sight289 bypass the damaged or injured human eye to transmit visual data received through small cameras directly onto the visual cortex. The effect is that blind humans have been able to regain some level of vision, with some even able to drive.290 Technologies such as these

demonstrate that digital information can be sent directly into and processed by the human brain. This would suggest that other visual data can be streamed into the brain as well, such as video or images from remote locations, so long as it is received by the implant and transmitted to the visual cortex. Similarly, cochlear implants bypass the eardrum entirely by receiving sound, turning it to digital information, and transmitting it directly into the cochlear nerve. These two technologies together—retinal and cochlear

implants—suggest that digital information may be used to augment healthy humans and their senses. External data received from the Internet may be transmitted directly into the cochlea and visual cortex, and allow humans to superimpose other information over their existing perceptions.291

Aside from these hypothetical future BCIs, many researchers today express interest in refining and improving upon existing BCIs. It is clear that research will continue to improve upon existing devices, making the possibility for cognitive

enhancement increasingly a reality. However, while much of BCI research takes place in medical contexts, there is considerable growth in BCI development by independent groups of engineers and computer scientists. These groups have yet to look to implanted

287 _{Hughes, Citizen Cyborg. 40}

288 _{Ryszard Tadeusiewicz, Pawel Rotter, and Mark N. Gasson, “Restoring Function: Application Exemplars} of Medical ICT Implants,” in Human ICT Implants: Technical, Legal and Ethical Considerations, ed. Mark N. Gasson, Eleni Kosta, and Diana M. Bowman, vol. 23, Information Technology and Law (The Hague: T.M.C. Asser, 2012), 50

289 _{“Second Sight,” last modified 2014, http://2-sight.eu/en/home-en.} 290 _{Hughes, Citizen Cyborg. 17}

291 _{Bert-Jaap Koops and Ronald Leenes, “Cheating With Implants: Implications of the Hidden Information} Advantage of Bionic Ears and Eyes,” in Human ICT Implants: Technical, Legal and Ethical

Considerations, ed. Mark N. Gasson, Eleni Kosta, and Diana M. Bowman, vol. 23, Information Technology and Law (The Hague: T.M.C. Asser, 2012), 115

BCIs, but their work on non-invasive systems is impressive, as many developers can construct primitive games and applications in a matter of days.292 While researchers working with therapeutic and medical BCIs are subject to ethical review in both the design and development process, as well as with human subjects and distributing these technologies to patients, those who develop BCIs within the realm of engineering and computer science—namely those working on BCI-based consumer products and applications—are not subject to those same ethical evaluations.

So far I’ve shown that there is a considerable amount of discussion about

cognitive enhancement, through a variety of technologies. I’ve showcased BCIs as both ttherapeutic tool and an enhancement device. At this point, I will turn to look at the ethics involved with BCIs, both in theory, in development, and in distribution. Many BCIs are developing without ethics playing any major part for designers or businesspersons. As the following chapter will show, those engaged in talking about the ethics of such

enhancements are missing this fundamental issue: BCIs are not the same as other forms of cognitive enhancement, and demand attention sooner rather than later to prevent the multitude of negative outcomes both transhumanists and their opponents debate.

292 _{“Brainihack: An All About BCI Hackathon Held at Google Tel Aviv Campus,” Neurogadget, October} 18, 2013.