Companies are already developing technologies that will go beyond the already familiar wearable gadgets; for example, a digital tattoo that can be embedded on the skin and that can monitor body functions.
It’s certainly easy to imagine that, in a few years, there will be dramatic advances in what this type of technology can do. And since various types of body enhancement—bionic limbs, pacemakers, and cosmetic surgery—are already commonplace, it stands to reason that many people will have few, if any, qualms about implants and other biohacking technologies.
On the other hand, the idea of a central authority having the advantage of connections and direct access to the individual’s physical body with the potential to monitor GPS location, heart rate, even brain waves, is frightening to contemplate.
Most of us have embraced the revolutionary technological advances of recent decades. We’re more connected than ever before, and while we don’t all agree that this is necessarily a good thing, very few of us would willingly give up our smartphones at this point.
But perhaps we should be extremely cautious about making the leap to cyborghood. Is it really an inevitable and potentially useful technological advancement, or is it going a bit too far?
Now is the time to debate this, because the technology has already entered the mainstream. And as with most technological revolutions, once it arrives there is little hope of going back.
