Films from the Future
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86 Emily Yoshida (2017) “A Beginner’s Guide to the Ghost in the Shell Universe” http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/a-beginners-guide-to-the-ghost-in-the-shell-series.html
87 This emphasis in Ghost on death of the individual as an essential part of the growth across generations is especially intriguing, as it’s contrary to a lot of Western-style thinking that celebrates the ability of technology to prolong individual lives, possibly at the expense of future generations and social well-being.
88 Although the physical manifestation of 2501 in the movie has sex-associated attributes, 2501 has no clear gender.
89 You can read more about the details of this incident on Steve Mann’s blog. Steve Mann (2012) “Physical assault by McDonald’s for wearing Digital Eye Glass” Eyetap, posted July 16, 2012. http://eyetap.blogspot.com/2012/07/physical-assault-by-mcdonalds-for.html
90 You can read more about Zoltan Istvan’s aspirations and vision on his personal website: http://www.zoltanistvan.com/
91 Aimee Mullins (1998) “Changing my legs—and my mindset.” TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_on_running
92 Aimee Mullins (2009) “My 12 pairs of legs.” TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics
93 The ruling by the IAAF, “IAAF Council introduces rule regarding ‘technical aids’” can be found on The Internet Archive, at https://web.archive.org/web/20080617001525/http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind%3D512/newsId%3D38127.html
94 Daniel Engber provides a compelling account of Kennedy’s work in a 2016 Wired article titled “The Neurologist who Hacked His Brain, and Almost Lost His Mind.” Wired, January 26, 2016. https://www.wired.com/2016/01/phil-kennedy-mind-control-computer/
95 Alpha O. Royal (2012) “2051.” Available at Amazon.com.
96 For more on neural dust sensors, see “Considering ethics now before radically new brain technologies get away from us.” Published on The Conversation, September 14 2016. https://theconversation.com/considering-ethics-now-before-radically-new-brain-technologies-get-away-from-us-65215
97 Hugo Campos (2015) “The Heart of the Matter,” published in Slate, March 24 2015. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/03/patients_should_be_allowed_to_access_data_generated_by_implanted_devices.html
98 England, R., et al. (2007). “The ethical and legal implications of deactivating an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in a patient with terminal cancer.” Journal of Medical Ethics 33(9): 538. http://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2006.017657
99 Muddy Waters Research report on St. Jude Medical, Inc. August 25, 2016. http://d.muddywatersresearch.com/research/stj/mw-is-short-stj/
100 FDA, August 29, 2017. “Firmware Update to Address Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Identified in Abbott’s (formerly St. Jude Medical’s) Implantable Cardiac Pacemakers: FDA Safety Communication.” https://www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/safety/alertsandnotices/ucm573669.htm
101 The Terminator sadly didn’t make the cut for this book. It is, nevertheless, one of the classics of the dystopian AI-gone-rogue science fiction movie genre.
102 This is from Benjamin Jowett’s 1894 translation of Plato’s The Republic.
103 Musk’s Falcon 9 wasn’t the first rocket to successfully return to Earth by landing vertically—that award goes to Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket. But it was the first to combine both reaching a serious altitude (124 miles) and a safe return-landing.
104 For more on Musk and his Luddite award, see “If Elon Musk is a Luddite, count me in!,” published December 23, 2015, in The Conversation https://theconversation.com/if-elon-musk-is-a-luddite-count-me-in-52630
105 Thierer’s blueprint can be downloaded from the website permissionlessinnovation.org: http://permissionlessinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/PI_Blueprint_040716_final.pdf
106 In 2013, entrepreneur, educator, and author Steve Blank published the best-seller “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” (published by K&S Ranch). It’s been credited with starting the lean-startup movement which, among other things, embraces the idea of failing fast and failing forward.
107 See “Dear Elon Musk: Your dazzling Mars plan overlooks some big nontechnical hurdles.” Published in The Conversation, October 1 2017. https://theconversation.com/dear-elon-musk-your-dazzling-mars-plan-overlooks-some-big-nontechnical-hurdles-84948
108 As if to epitomize this, on February 6, 2018, Elon Musk launched his personal cherry-red Tesla roadster into heliocentric orbit on the first test flight of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket—just because he could.
109 To be clear, while it was often easier to bury local problems caused by technology gone wrong in the past, the impacts on individuals and local commuters were still devastating in many cases. It’s simply that they were more containable.
110 The Asilomar AI Principles were subsequently published by the Future of Life Institute, and endorsed by over 3,700 AI/robotics researchers and others. They can be read at https://futureoflife.org/ai-principles/
111 Nick Bostrom (2014). “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers and Strategies.” (Oxford University Press)
112 An Open Letter: RESEARCH PRIORITIES FOR ROBUST AND BENEFICIAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Published by the Future of Life Institute. https://futureoflife.org/ai-open-letter/
113 You can read more about the “Beneficial AI 2017” meeting on the Future of Life Institute website, at https://futureoflife.org/bai-2017
114 Max Tegmark (2017) “Life 3.0: Being human in the age of artificial intelligence.” Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
115 One of the biggest challenges to current computing hardware is how hard it is to build three-dimensional chips that could potentially vastly outperform current processors. That said, if we continue to make strides in 3-D printing, we may one day be able to actually achieve this. For more, see “We Might Be Able to 3-D-Print an Artificial Mind One Day” Published in Slate, December 11 2014. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/12/11/_3d_printing_an_artificial_mind_might_be_possible_one_day.html
116 It’s worth reading“Defining Intelligence: A Conversation With Stuart Russell.” Published in Edge, February 2, 2017. https://www.edge.org/conversation/stuart_russell-defining-intelligence
117 Alan M. Turing (1950) “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” Mind 49: 433–460.
118 In his book “Life 3.0” (see previous footnote), Max Tegmark explores how an AI might use social manipulation to improve society through nudging us toward better decisions. The ethics of this, though, does depend on who’s vision of “better” we’re talking about.
119 Wendell Wallach and Colin Allen (2009) “Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong” Published by Oxford University Press.
120 Ray Kurzweil (2005) “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.” Published by Penguin Books.
121 To accompany the book, “The Singularity is Near,” Kurzweil published a wonderful series of plots showing evidence for exponential growth in different areas of technology innovation. You can explore them all at http://www.singularity.com/charts/page159.html
122 I’ve tried not to be too critical of the science in the movies in this book, but in this case, I can’t help wondering how cyber-Will’s nanobots also managed to retrain the person’s neurological networks to make sense of the new signals coming from his eyes. Or, for that matter, how they managed to sort out the cognitive and psychological trauma the person would face as their eyes were rewired.
123 Working in emerging technologies, it sometimes seems that every new wave of innovation represents a new “industrial revolution” to someone. Yet, even though not everyone agrees with the World Economic Forum’s terminology, there is some merit to thinking that we are in a unique period in our technological growth. As a primer on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, I’d recommend Klaus Schwab’s January 2016 article on the World Economic Forum website: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond.” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-m
eans-and-how-to-respond/. And if you want more, there’s always his 2017 book, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution,” published by Crown Business.
124 Mihail C. Roco and William S. Bainbridge (2003) “Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science.” Published by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/Report/NBIC_report.pdf
125 Drew Endy (2005). “Foundations for engineering biology.” Nature 438. http://doi.org/10.1038/nature04342
126 For a comprehensive history of the emergence of synthetic biology, going back to the 1960s, it’s worth reading Ewen Cameron, Caleb Bashor, and James Collins’ account in the journal Nature Reviews: Cameron, D. E., et al. (2014). “A brief history of synthetic biology.” Nature Reviews Microbiology 12: 381. http://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3239
127 iGEM began in 2003, with the first competition being held in 2004. That first year, there were five teams competing. By 2017, there were 310 teams, with representatives from more than forty countries. You can read more about iGEM and the projects that past teams have worked on at http://igem.org/
128 The articles were published as a collection under the title “Technology innovation and life in the 21st century: Views from Civil Society,” and can be read at 2020 Science. https://2020science.org/2016/01/22/technology-innovation-and-life-in-the-21st-century-views-from-civil-society/
129 Jim Thomas (2009) “21st Century Tech Governance? What would Ned Ludd do?” Published on 2020 Science, December 18, 2009. https://2020science.org/2009/12/18/thomas/
130 See “If Elon Musk is a Luddite, count me in!” The Conversation, published December 23, 2015. https://theconversation.com/if-elon-musk-is-a-luddite-count-me-in-52630
131 “Unabomber” derives from the FBI codename UNABOM, reflecting Kaczynski’s University and Airline BOMbing targets.
132 FBI, February 12, 2002. Testimony of James F. Jarboe, Domestic Terrorism Section Chief, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, before the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, Washington, DC. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/the-threat-of-eco-terrorism
133 Coincidentally, there was an earlier “ELF,” in this case standing for Environmental Life Force, which was formed by John Clark Hanna in 1977 in Santa Cruz, California, as an “eco-guerrilla combat unit.” Hanna was arrested on November 22, 1977 and the original ELF disbanded in 1978.
134 From The Anarchist Library: Communiques of ITS. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/individualists-tending-toward-the-wild-communiques
135 ITS members were not first to take an active dislike to nanotechnologists: In April 2010, three members of ELF were intercepted by Swiss police as they attempted to bomb a nanotechnology lab associated with IBM. To read more about this incident, I’d recommend Chris Toumey’s article in the journal Nature Nanotechnology: Toumey, C. (2013). “Anti-nanotech violence.” Nature Nanotechnology 8(10): 697-698. http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v8/n10/full/nnano.2013.201.html
136 From The Anarchist Library: Communiques of ITS, Communique Eight (March 2014) https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/individualists-tending-toward-the-wild-communiques#toc36
137 Bill Joy (2000) “Why the future doesn’t need us.” Published in Wired, April 1, 2000. https://www.wired.com/2000/04/joy-2/
138 “The Unabomber Trial: The Manifesto.” Published in 1995 in The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm
139 Kurzweil’s plot of the exponential growth of computing power can be accessed here: http://www.singularity.com/charts/page67.html
140 As The Telegraph’s Roger Highfield wrote in June 2003. “Prince asks scientists to look into ‘grey goo’” (The Telegraph, June 5, 2003). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3309198/Prince-asks-scientists-to-look-into-grey-goo.html
141 The resulting study from the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering became one of the most influential reports on nanotechnology risks to be published. It did not take the risk of gray goo seriously, stating “We have concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that mechanical self-replicating nanomachines will be developed in the foreseeable future.” Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering (2004) “Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties.” https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/publications/2004/nanoscience-nanotechnologies/
142 Howard Lovy wrote a great account of the protest in Wired. Howard Lovy (2005) “When nano pants attack.” Published in Wired, June 10, 2005. https://www.wired.com/2005/06/when-nanopants-attack/
143 The rules of effective narrative almost demand that, in many of the movies here, the science and technology that drives the plot is the product of a lone genius, entrepreneur, or visionary. In contrast, while real life is littered by charismatic figures, science and technology are almost always a team activity, with many smart people working together on their development.
144 As a former electron microscopist, it’s gratifying to see The Man in the White Suit using what appears to be a correctly-set-up early transmission electron microscope.
145 The transcript of Feynman’s 1959 lecture is posted in full on the company Zyvex’s website: http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html
146 The prize was won twenty-six years after Feynman set the challenge by physicist Tom Newman, who wrote the first page of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities on a 200-µm square piece of plastic, using electron-beam lithography. For more information, see Katherine Kornei (2016) “The Beginning of Nanotechnology at the 1959 APS Meeting,” APS News, November 2016 https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201611/nanotechnology.cfm
147 On September 28, 1989, IBM physicist Don Eigler used a scanning tunneling microscope to spell out the word “IBM” with 35 xenon atoms. It was the first time anyone had intentionally manipulated and moved individual atoms, and at the time appeared to open the way to achieving some of Feynman’s speculative ideas.
148 The report “Nanotechnology: Shaping the World, Atom by Atom” was published by the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Technology, and the Interagency Working Group on Nanoscience, Engineering and Technology in 1999. http://www.wtec.org/loyola/nano/IWGN.Public.Brochure/IWGN.Nanotechnology.Brochure.pdf
149 In the spirit of full disclosure, I was involved in the early days of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, and was the first co-chair of the interagency committee within the NNI to examine the environmental and health implications of nanotechnology.
150 Early in the evolution of the NNI, Drexler went head to head with Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley as they clashed over the future of nanotechnology. A December 2003 cover story in the magazine Chemical & Engineering News provided a point-counterpoint platform for Drexler and Smalley to duke it out: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8148/8148counterpoint.html
Drexler talks about the subsequent marginalization of his ideas in his 2013 book, “Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization” (published by PublicAffairs).
151 I actually checked on Google Scholar to see how many people had cited the paper since its publication. Surprisingly, twenty-five people had liked it enough to refer to it in their own papers—more than I would have expected. However, at least two of those “fans” were me citing my own work, confirming that we’re all our own greatest cheerleaders when it comes to science. The paper was published in the Journal of Aerosol Science, volume 31 issue 2, pages 151-166 (2000), and can be read here, just in case you’re interested: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-8502(99)00035-X
152 One of those consequences was having to deal with the ill will of fellow classmates who felt cheated, confirming that nothing is ever “just a game.”
153 I’m paraphrasing, but this was the essence of the frustrated outburst.
154 International planetary protection regulations were establishe
d in article IX of the 1966 United Nations Treaty on “Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.” They are currently embodied in the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Planetary Protection Policy.
155 You can read more about Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science & Technology at https://ecastnetwork.org/
156 Bernard Dixon (1971) “In Praise of Prophets.” New Scientist, 16 September 1971, page 606.
157 Sander Herfst and colleagues (2012) “Airborne Transmission of Influenza A/H5N1 Virus Between Ferrets” Science, 336 (6088) pp 1534-1541 http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213362
158 Masaki Imai and colleagues (2012) “Experimental adaptation of an influenza H5 HA confers respiratory droplet transmission to a reassortant H5 HA/H1N1 virus in ferrets” Nature 486, pp 420–428 http://doi.org/10.1038/nature10831
159 Jeffery K. Taubenberger and David M. Morens (2006) “1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics“. Emerging Infectious Diseases volume 12, number 1, pages 15-22 https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1201.050979
160 Jocelyn Kaiser (2014) “Lab incidents lead to safety crackdown at CDC.” Published in Science Magazine, July 11, 2014. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/07/lab-incidents-lead-safety-crackdown-cdc
161 Ed Yong (2012) “The risks and benefits of publishing mutant flu studies.” Nature News, March 2, 2012 http://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2012.10138
162 Cambridge Working Group Consensus Statement on the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens (PPPs). http://www.cambridgeworkinggroup.org/
163 Press Statement on the NSABB Review of H5N1 Research, December 20, 2011. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/press-statement-nsabb-review-h5n1-research