The last of my salvaged articles that are still relevant to this site's direction, this article provides a brief look at cybernetics in fiction vs real life, using the movie Ghost in the Shell as the fictional background. This article was actually inspired by a conference in Toronto I went to a little over a year ago, EDITx. Toronto is generally a great place for the various tech conferences that operate there, but EDITx in 2017 really blew me away!
Casting controversy and issues with adapting from the source material aside, Ghost in the Shell delivered incredibly well on two things: mind-blowing visuals and depiction of the future. While I’m sure another article will talk about the Geisha Robot, this week’s focus is on synthetic organs.
Fact:
BUILDING LIMBS:The practice of constructing artificial limbs is one as old as time. From Egypt to England, pirates to knights, for as long as man was able to lose limbs, so too have there been attempts to get them back. More modernly, we have prosthetics: artificial limbs to restore varying degrees of functionality to a lost body part. Prosthetics have seen major leaps forward with new technology, most notably 3D printing and robotics. With 3D printers and a CAD software, designing and building prosthetics has never been easier or as inexpensive. Take for example Jordan Reeves, a 10-year-old girl who used 3D printing to create a prosthetic arm that shoots glitter.
Then we have advanced prosthetics, otherwise known as robotic limbs. While still in a mostly prototype phase, these devices are incredible to see in action. As their development continues, they become more and more similar to human limbs, even going so far as providing a sense of touch. Combined with the 3D printing technology that makes prosthetics more accessible, a future of providing amputees with robotic limbs doesn’t seem too far off.
Growing Organs:
The term ‘stem cells’ has become almost a buzz word of the early 21st Century. They’re unspecialized cells that can turn into any other type, then divide to produce more. This allows them to effectively regenerate depleted or damaged cells in an area, like the heart or bones. The problem is they are somewhat difficult to acquire. Their two most abundant sources are in bone marrow and umbilical cords. The latter fact makes research in stem cells controversial as mixing infants with lab experiments often is. In all fairness, of course, the stem cells are harvested from the umbilical cord after birth. Regardless, to some this feels like a moral grey area best avoided. As biology is generally not my strong suit, I’ll link to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service’s explanation on stem cells for more information.
Printing Organs:
What happens when you mix the massive field of medical technology with 3D printing? Functional artificial organs! Through what is known as 3D bioprinting, functional organs are created from human cells and bio-ink. The bio-ink serves as a structure for the cells to grow around, which results in an organ taking shape. The ink is then dissolved, leaving you with one transplant-ready organ. While still early in development, having only seen one transplant of a tibia in late 2017, with more time and study, 3D bioprinting could replace organ donations. How well they might compare, however, isn’t quite clear yet.
The natural next step for synthetic organs, once they can perfectly match human organs, is to improve upon them. Enter cybernetics, a term coined as early as 1948. Cybernetic enhancements would be able to go beyond matching human organs by being better than them. This is where Ghost in the Shell begins.
Fiction:
“The line between human and machine is disappearing. Advancements in technology allow humans to enhance themselves with cybernetic parts.” – Opening line of Ghost in the Shell
How Much is Too Much?:
Ghost in the Shell depicts a future in which, alongside massive advancements in robotics, humans have begun replacing body parts with cybernetic enhancements. The cybernetics are seen in several characters; from Ishikawa whose augmented liver better handles alcohol, to Batou whose eyes are replaced after being blinded by an explosion. Then there’s Major. Major is a fully augmented human, with nothing left but her original brain. The rest of her body is cybernetic, including her skin which has active camouflage. Major represents the farthest stage a person can be enhanced while still technically being human. For all intensive purposes, anyone with something as small as a bionic finger to as large as a fully synthetic body classifies as having cybernetic enhancements.
Still Human:
Furthermore, Major has no recollection of her life before her transformation into a “ghost in a shell.” This is similar to Blade Runner’s take on memories, only reversed. Having no memories, Major isn’t far different from Blade Runner’s replicants. The important distinction is she still has a human brain and is therefore not an AI. This means she’s still capable of genuine human personality and emotion, as opposed to an artificial one. While Blade Runner plays with the idea of giving an android false memory to make it seem more human, Ghost in the Shell strips a human mind of its memory to see if it seems less human. Both come to a similar conclusion: memories, real or fake, help influence who we are but don’t necessarily make us human. Therefore, despite being what is basically a brain in a robotic body, Major still retains her humanity.
Trapped In the Shell:
The film presents advantages and disadvantages of becoming enhanced. While most characters only benefit from their enhancement, there are two we see victimized by the involuntary enhancements they receive: Major and Kuze. Neither one wanted their enhancements but received them anyways during experiments to create fully synthetic humans. Being fully synthetic, both characters are subject to control by others. For example, Major gets shut down without consent, as well as remotely hacked. Despite being made physically enhanced, they’re also restrained and imprisoned by their cybernetics. This raises all kinds of new questions about security, safety, and even human rights. As cybernetic technology develops, they must also ensure the safety of their users.
Future:
The Future of Cybernetic Enhancement:
Once synthetic organs can successfully replace human organs, cybernetic enhancements will improve upon them. It’s at this point that the future described by Ghost in the Shell becomes a reality. Faulty or aging organs will be replaced with appreciably stronger ones, and functional organs can be replaced with more high-tech ones. While this wouldn’t quite result in completely escaping aging and death, it would drastically prolong it. Of course, it also creates a clearly dystopic power dynamic: the wealthier you are, the longer you live. Anyone with the money to pay for frequent cybernetic enhancements and upgrades would certainly do so, while the impoverished would be unlikely to ever afford one.
Cybernetics & Law:
Then we arrive at the legal ramifications of cybernetic enhancements. Would there be illegal enhancements? Restrictions on weapons-related augmentations? How does a government keep people safe when members of the population can become living weapons? From a legal perspective, cybernetic enhancements would be a nightmare to try to regulate, even before considering underground modding that often appears in science fiction. Enhancements intended for specialized personnel, like military and police, might end up illegally distributed and put in the hands of anybody with the money to pay for it. Then, of course, comes the human rights issues of removing enhancements. Is it possible to justify taking away an elderly man’s cybernetic leg for using it on an annoying sales rep? Before cybernetics will ever become available to the public, how they safely integrate into society needs exploration.
Ethics:
The big discussion point of cybernetic enhancement isn’t so much how we can do it, but if we should at all. Many a science fiction novel is written about man playing God; messing with nature to better themselves. Many fear that a time will come where these enhancements are no longer optional, but mandatory. Brought about by government, companies, or even societal pressure, a day may come where even those against becoming enhanced will have no choice but to do so. After all, in a labor-intensive job, why hire someone without enhancements when you could have someone with cybernetically-aided super-strength? Sadly, there is no real answer to the ethical dilemmas of cybernetic enhancement, or even some of the growing concerns of synthetic organs. All that can be done now is to proceed with caution and prepare for whatever the future of cybernetics has in store.
My Thoughts:
Despite the many, many problems it poses, I’m actually quite excited for cybernetic enhancements. I think if it’s managed carefully, it could be one of the most important developments of the 21st Century. Such progress would not only allow for an overall improved quality of life but even a new avenue for expression. Customized cybernetic limbs say a lot about their user, as well as the choice to not have any at all. There would exist an even more diversified world, equally unified over our differences. Or perhaps I’m just really excited by the notion of getting a robotic hand like Luke Skywalker’s.
Comments