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162 Modern Robotics

SOCIAL IMPACT: “ENHANCED” VS. “NORMAL”

There is little controversy about cyborg technology that gives
disabled people fuller capabilities. For example, in a decade or
two, implanted electronic devices may be able to route nerve
signals around a damaged portion of the spinal cord, enabling a
person to walk again. Deaf and visually handicapped people are
also likely to be helped considerably by the new digital neural
interface technology.
Suppose, though, that after another few decades direct neural
implants enable people to tap into computer networks directly.
Whether an image is generated via the optic nerve or the information
is transferred directly into the brain, the result is that the person has
virtually instant access to everything on the World Wide Web—and
by then, the Web will probably be millions of times larger than it is
today. Such a person could also tap into cameras around the world,
extending his or her senses wherever the network can reach. Instant,
silent communication would also be available, either through sub-
vocalization or through direct transfer of mental images—electronic
telepathy.
This is the world of Cyberpunk, a type of science fiction first
popularized by William Gibson in his 1984 novel, Neuromancer. As
he and other writers depicted it, though, human enhancement is at
best a mixed blessing. The biggest hitch is that the technology may
be expensive and available to relatively few people, just as personal
computers in the 1980s were mainly found in middle- and upper-
class homes.
In a world where some people are enhanced and others have
only their natural mental abilities and senses, class distinctions may
widen radically. In recent years, social critics have warned that a
digital divide is separating people who have access to the Internet
and other technology (and the knowledge of how to use it) and
those who do not—disproportionately the poor and minorities.
Could enhanced and normal humans coexist without exploitation
or social conflict? Would the problem eventually be solved by the
technology becoming affordable by all? Perhaps, though as with
ordinary computers, effective use requires not only access but also
training, and education systems must also deal with inequalities
based on socioeconomic background.