Recent reports tell us that Google is going forward to research and possibly develop brain implants that allow us to connect to the internet (fulfilling the student’s dream of streaming movies during lectures!).We could also have nano bots patrolling our body, monitoring conditions like heart rate, blood pressure and other such biological functions.
While brain implants – superficial and deep nerve – have been used to treat a host of neurological diseases like epilepsy, Parkinson’s , stroke and (recently) Depression,not to mention letting people with paralysis or even amputees gain control of their life through robotic appendages that cater to their every need. Certain brain implants are already being used to improve eyesight and as hearing aids for those who are naturally deprived of these senses.
It would act as the black box of your brain, constantly storing what you see, sense and feel, which would, on the one hand make our lives much easier (you would remember where you kept your car keys or those cherished moments you never want to forget), but it also raises certain serious privacy issues. It can also help in solving crimes, as more evidence will be available for law enforcement officials.
Security will increase as our brain waves have different signatures which could potentially be very strong passwords for “brain”-banking (transferring funds just by a thought – so it will be” the thought that matters”) and other such high security work (government matters).
The side effects of these implants do not paint a pretty picture – hallucinations, paralysis, depression and one botched up surgery away from being brain dead. (brain surgery is a very serious issue and is never recommended if taken under voluntary circumstances)
We must also take into consideration, the ethical ,legal and the social implications of such an implant. Having your brain connected to the internet, as amazing as it may seem will also make it vulnerable to brain-hacking. (Yes, it is a possibility.)
With every thought and action stored and monitored, (possibly collected into surveys (marketing or otherwise) and other statistical reports), certain corporations can misuse this information to their own ends. If possible, even control the addiction centers of our brain! Hence, new laws must be put into place regarding personal information and control in flow of information.
There is also a possibility that the line differentiating reality and virtual-reality will get highly blurred, but that will count as a long term side-effect (probably take us as many generations it took us to realize that McDonalds can cause childhood obesity).
Having the richer part of the society become enhanced, almost to the point of becoming cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) will widen the already seemingly unbridgeable gap between the rich and poor .
Medically, like any other organ transplant and augmentations, the body has chances of rejecting it as our immune system floods antibodies against the antigen that has affected the tissues that surrounds the implant. Though there have been certain developments in neuroscience, where the protein CB487 prevents this reaction to the implant, there are infections caused due to it of which some can be treated with antibiotics and others with surgery . Not to mention, if this brain implants fires one wrong impulse ( a very strong one ) to any unwanted part of the brain, you could become speechless, sightless, lose control over the bodily functions, stop breathing or even become human vegetables .
Looking at the big picture, it could make us vulnerable to any alien invasion, as all it would take to annihilate the entire human race is a magnetic field as strong as an MRI scan and these implants would move inside our brain like a tiny bullet, not to paint a morbid picture!
