Big oligopolistic companies conduct research and development to produce technologies that benefit them—which typically means technologies In which capital substitutes for labor and allows them to shed jobs from their value chain. Enhancing societal well-being, however, requires the development of technologies that do not substitute for but that complement human capabilities. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the private sector cannot get this balance right: Tim O'Reilly: Gradually, Then Suddenly: "Neural interfaces: One of my biggest 'Wow!' moments of 2018 took place in the offices of neural interface company CTRL-labs. The company's demo involves someone playing the old Asteroids computer game without touching a keyboard, using machine learning to interpret the nerve signals.... But that’s just the first stage. Essentially, users of this technology 'grow' another virtual hand, which they can move independently of their physical hands.... Humanity is already going cyborg.... Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that AI will replace humans when it can be used even more powerfully to augment them...
#noted
