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Hacking Your Brain to Order Dreams On Demand

2020/1/13

First Contact with Laurie Segall

AI Deep Dive AI Insights AI Chapters Transcript

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Lori Siegel

Moran Cerf

Topics

Lori Siegel: 本期节目探讨了脑机接口技术、思想操控以及由此带来的伦理和社会问题。嘉宾Moran Cerf是一位神经科学教授，他深入研究了人类大脑的可操控性，并分享了他对未来科技发展趋势的预测，包括脑机接口技术可能被黑客利用，操纵人们的思想和行为，以及由此可能造成的社会不平等和新的物种出现。 Moran Cerf还分享了他过去作为黑客的经历，以及他如何将黑客技术应用于神经科学研究。他认为，未来脑机接口技术可能带来许多好处，例如增强认知能力、改善健康状况等，但也存在巨大的风险，例如被用于操纵选举、传播虚假信息等。他强调，我们需要在技术发展早期就关注伦理问题，并制定相应的规章制度，以防止技术被滥用。 Moran Cerf: 我认为未来脑机接口技术可能被用于操纵人们的思想和行为，这将带来巨大的风险。例如，黑客可以利用脑机接口技术来改变人们的记忆、偏见，甚至操纵他们的投票行为。此外，脑机接口技术还可能导致社会不平等，因为只有少数人能够负担得起这项技术，而大多数人将被排除在外。更进一步，脑机接口技术可能会创造出一种新的超级人类，他们拥有远超普通人的智力和能力，这将导致人类社会出现前所未有的不平等。我过去作为黑客的经历让我深刻认识到技术的两面性。技术既可以被用于造福人类，也可以被用于危害人类。因此，我们需要在技术发展早期就关注伦理问题，并制定相应的规章制度，以防止技术被滥用。

Deep Dive

Key Insights

Why is the brain increasingly considered hackable in the modern era?

The brain is increasingly seen as hackable because of advancements in neuroscience and technology that allow for manipulation of thoughts, memories, and behaviors. This includes techniques like changing memories during sleep and influencing decision-making through subtle cues.

What is the potential of brain implants to enhance human capabilities?

Brain implants could potentially enhance human capabilities by allowing direct access to vast amounts of information, improving decision-making, and even controlling external devices like exoskeletons. However, this technology also raises ethical concerns about creating a society with extreme inequality in intelligence and capabilities.

How could brain implants be weaponized for political manipulation?

Brain implants could be weaponized by allowing large-scale manipulation of thoughts and behaviors with just a button press. This could be used to influence voting patterns, create misinformation, or even change people's political beliefs on a massive scale, making traditional disinformation campaigns seem trivial by comparison.

What are the ethical concerns surrounding the use of brain implants?

The ethical concerns include the potential for creating a society with extreme inequality, where those with enhanced intelligence and capabilities are seen as a different species. There's also the risk of misuse by bad actors to manipulate thoughts and behaviors, leading to a loss of trust in one's own mind.

How close are we to being able to control dreams on demand?

We are close to being able to control dreams on a basic level, such as inducing positive or negative dreams with specific smells. However, more advanced control, like choosing specific dream content, is still in the engineering phase and could become a reality soon.

What is the role of smell in influencing human behavior and decision-making?

Smell plays a significant role in influencing human behavior and decision-making, particularly in dating and social interactions. Studies show that people unconsciously smell others' hands after a handshake, which can influence their attraction and preferences without them even realizing it.

What are the unintended consequences of technology meant to enhance the brain?

The unintended consequences include the potential for creating a society with extreme inequality, where those with enhanced capabilities are seen as a different species. There's also the risk of misuse by bad actors to manipulate thoughts and behaviors, leading to a loss of trust in one's own mind.

How can technology impact human relationships and social interactions?

Technology can negatively impact human relationships by reducing the time people spend interacting with each other in favor of screen time. This can lead to fewer meaningful relationships and a decline in social interaction, which is crucial for brain health and well-being.

What is the potential for AI to help people find romantic partners in the future?

AI could potentially help people find romantic partners by analyzing preferences and matching individuals based on factors like smell and biological compatibility, which humans are often unaware of. This could lead to more successful and meaningful relationships.

What is the biggest ethical question surrounding the use of technology in the brain?

The biggest ethical question is whether we should allow technology to enhance human capabilities, knowing that it could create extreme inequality and potentially be misused for manipulation and control. The decision to use such technology should be carefully considered to avoid negative consequences.

Chapters

Moran Cerf, a neuroscience professor, discusses the possibility of ordering dreams and hacking thoughts. He explains how people justify bad behavior, relating it to the brain's need to maintain a positive self-image. The conversation touches upon the hackability of the self in the modern era.

Possibility of ordering custom dreams
Hacking thoughts
Brain's role in justifying bad behavior
Hackability of the self

Shownotes Transcript

What if we could order up custom dreams? Could our thoughts become hackable? Will neurolink technology make some of us superhuman? And if so, would that create a superior species? Is death really the final step? Or could our brains answer vital questions once our bodies are gone?

These are topics we explore with Moran Cerf, a professor of neuroscience at the Kellogg School of Management. He’s a brain hacker. But really -- he’s a student of humanity. He likes to push the boundaries and challenge us to anticipate what’s coming next -- even the worst-case scenario. Moran goes beyond disinformation and manipulation in this era of tech. He focuses on the brain and your sense of self -- and how that sense of self is increasingly hackable in the modern era. Just talking to him feels like living in an experiment.

Spend enough time with Moran and you begin to question everything. And maybe that’s the point -- to not just question the big tech companies and the lines of code we see in front of us, but to question ourselves and our own thoughts.

In an era where the lines between true and false, and real and fake have blurred, First Contact explores how our own minds are our first line of defense for what’s coming next.

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