Bioinformatics (83)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 7 min
- Slate
- 2019
Discussion of Facebook’s massive collection of human faces and their potential impact on society.
- Slate
- 2019
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- 7 min
- Slate
- 2019
Facebook’s Face-ID Database Could Be the Biggest in the World. Yes, It Should Worry Us.
Discussion of Facebook’s massive collection of human faces and their potential impact on society.
Is Facebook’s facial recognition database benign, or a slow-bubbling volcano?
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- 16 min
- Kinolab
- 2004
Joel Barish recently broke up with Clementine, his girlfriend of two years, in a brutal argument. After discovering that she has used a procedure known as Lacuna to erase him from her memories, Joel decides to undergo the same procedure to forget that he ever knew Clementine. The procedure uses a brain-computer interface to map the areas of Joel’s brain that are active whenever he has a memory of Clementine, first when he is awake and using associated objects to perform active recall and then when he is asleep and subconsciously remembering her. Despite Joel’s eventual regrets and desperate attempts to remember Clementine, the procedure is successful, and he forgets her. However, Joel and Clementine reunite in the real world after their respective procedures, and as they have a fresh start, they end up listening to Clementine’s tape from before the procedure where she dissects all of the flaws of Joel and their relationship.
- Kinolab
- 2004
Digital Memory Erasure and Brain Mapping
Joel Barish recently broke up with Clementine, his girlfriend of two years, in a brutal argument. After discovering that she has used a procedure known as Lacuna to erase him from her memories, Joel decides to undergo the same procedure to forget that he ever knew Clementine. The procedure uses a brain-computer interface to map the areas of Joel’s brain that are active whenever he has a memory of Clementine, first when he is awake and using associated objects to perform active recall and then when he is asleep and subconsciously remembering her. Despite Joel’s eventual regrets and desperate attempts to remember Clementine, the procedure is successful, and he forgets her. However, Joel and Clementine reunite in the real world after their respective procedures, and as they have a fresh start, they end up listening to Clementine’s tape from before the procedure where she dissects all of the flaws of Joel and their relationship.
Is it possible to completely forget and event or a person in the digital age, or is there always the possibility that traces will remain? Do digital technologies hold memories well enough, or is there something more abstract about these memories that they cannot capture? How could the technology displayed here be abused? Does pervasive digital memory of people and events ever allow us to feel completely neutral about another person, and is the a departure from the pre-digital age? Do humans have an over-reliance on digital memory? How have relationships changed with the advent of digital memory?
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- 12 min
- Kinolab
- 1973
Simulacron is a virtual reality full of 10,000 simulated humans who believe themselves to be sentient, but are actually nothing more than programs. The identity units in Simulacron do not know or understand that they are artificial beings, and they behave under the idea that they are real humans. “Real” humans can enter this virtual reality through a brain-computer interface, and control the virtual identity units. Christopher Nobody, a suspect whom Fred is trying to track down, had the revelation that he was an identity unit, and that realization led to a mental breakdown. In following this case, Fred meets Einstein, a virtual unit who desires to join the real world. As Einstein enacts the final stages of this plan, Fred discovers a shocking secret about his own identity. For a similar concept, see the narrative “Online Dating Algorithms” on the Hang the DJ episode of Black Mirror.
- Kinolab
- 1973
Simulated Humans and Virtual Realities
Simulacron is a virtual reality full of 10,000 simulated humans who believe themselves to be sentient, but are actually nothing more than programs. The identity units in Simulacron do not know or understand that they are artificial beings, and they behave under the idea that they are real humans. “Real” humans can enter this virtual reality through a brain-computer interface, and control the virtual identity units. Christopher Nobody, a suspect whom Fred is trying to track down, had the revelation that he was an identity unit, and that realization led to a mental breakdown. In following this case, Fred meets Einstein, a virtual unit who desires to join the real world. As Einstein enacts the final stages of this plan, Fred discovers a shocking secret about his own identity. For a similar concept, see the narrative “Online Dating Algorithms” on the Hang the DJ episode of Black Mirror.
What purposes can virtual reality “laboratories” full of simulated humans serve in terms of research in fields such as sociology? Is it justifiable to make programs which believe themselves to be sentient humans, yet deny them access to the “real world”? How can AI mental health be reassured, especially when it comes to existential crises like the one Fred has?
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. The Puppet Master, a notorious villain in this world, is revealed not to be a human hacker, but a computer program which has gained sentience and gone on to hack the captured shell. It challenges the law enforcement officials of Section 6 and Section 9 saying that it is a life-form and not an AI. It argues that its existence as a self-sustaining program which has achieved singularity is not different from human DNA as a “self-sustaining program.” The Puppet Master specifically references reproduction/offspring, not copying, as a distinguishing feature of living things as opposed to nonliving things. Additionally, it developed emotional connection with Major which led it to select her as a candidate for merging. It references how it can die but live on through the merging and, after Major’s death, in the internet.
- Kinolab
- 1995
Self-Sustaining Programs
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. The Puppet Master, a notorious villain in this world, is revealed not to be a human hacker, but a computer program which has gained sentience and gone on to hack the captured shell. It challenges the law enforcement officials of Section 6 and Section 9 saying that it is a life-form and not an AI. It argues that its existence as a self-sustaining program which has achieved singularity is not different from human DNA as a “self-sustaining program.” The Puppet Master specifically references reproduction/offspring, not copying, as a distinguishing feature of living things as opposed to nonliving things. Additionally, it developed emotional connection with Major which led it to select her as a candidate for merging. It references how it can die but live on through the merging and, after Major’s death, in the internet.
Do you agree with the puppet master’s arguments that self-sustaining programs are conceptually the same as human DNA? Why or why not? Has the externalisation of memory made it far more possible for robots to achieve singularity and exist as human-like figures in the world? Is memory the sole feature that helps humans build their identities? List all the comparisons made in this narrative between self-sustaining programs and human genetics and existence.
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. Major, a security officer, sees how a garbage man is sad to know that his ghost has been hacked and filled with false memories of a family, and dives to set up her own reflections with self-identity developed later in the film, especially as she starts to believe that she may be entirely a cyborg with no knowledge of such an existence. Essentially, because the human body has become so thoroughly and regularly augmented with cybernetic parts and even computer brains, defining a real “human” becomes harder and harder.
- Kinolab
- 1995
Identity Through Memory and Data
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. Major, a security officer, sees how a garbage man is sad to know that his ghost has been hacked and filled with false memories of a family, and dives to set up her own reflections with self-identity developed later in the film, especially as she starts to believe that she may be entirely a cyborg with no knowledge of such an existence. Essentially, because the human body has become so thoroughly and regularly augmented with cybernetic parts and even computer brains, defining a real “human” becomes harder and harder.
If robots develop to the point where they can question their own existence as human, does the line between robot and human truly matter? For what reason? Is questioning human existence a fundamentally human trait? Can fake memories contribute to an identity as much as real ones? Is this a dangerous concept, or might it have positive utility? Do you agree with the assessment that “all data is just fantasy,” or an inaccurate abstraction of real life? What kinds of data, then, make up the human identity?
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- 15 min
- Kinolab
- 1993
Dinosaurs are an extinct species that are revived and brought into the modern day in Jurassic Park. This is accomplished through a cloning process involving extracting dinosaur DNA from mosquitos preserved in amber, and using computational genomics to create replicants with certain properties, such as breeding only female dinosaurs. Three scientists are sent to audit the park, and all three find problems inherent with the use of technology in attempts to control life itself. Eventually, the park’s founder, John Hammond, admits that his idea to create entertainment out of this dangerous technological revival was a failure, which is seen in action during the subsequent dinosaur attack.
- Kinolab
- 1993
Technological Revival of the Past
Dinosaurs are an extinct species that are revived and brought into the modern day in Jurassic Park. This is accomplished through a cloning process involving extracting dinosaur DNA from mosquitos preserved in amber, and using computational genomics to create replicants with certain properties, such as breeding only female dinosaurs. Three scientists are sent to audit the park, and all three find problems inherent with the use of technology in attempts to control life itself. Eventually, the park’s founder, John Hammond, admits that his idea to create entertainment out of this dangerous technological revival was a failure, which is seen in action during the subsequent dinosaur attack.
Is using computational genomics to alter the course of nature and natural selection itself inherently wrong? Are there contexts where this may be helpful or necessary? How should technology be used to tell the story of the past, and what limits should exist in this prospect? How can technological idealists like John Hammond be checked before their innovations lead to disaster?