Playing god

[5.56NATO]

Braving a funding ban put in place by America’s top health agency, some U.S. research centers are moving ahead with attempts to grow human tissue inside pigs and sheep with the goal of creating hearts, livers, or other organs needed for transplants.

The effort to incubate organs in farm animals is ethically charged because it involves adding human cells to animal embryos in ways that could blur the line between species.

Last September, in a reversal of earlier policy, the National Institutes of Health announced it would not support studies involving such “human-animal chimeras” until it had reviewed the scientific and social implications more closely.

“The specter of an intelligent mouse stuck in a laboratory somewhere screaming ‘I want to get out’ would be very troubling to people.”
http://www.technologyreview.com/news...esearch-farms/

[l921428x]

Add AI to this mix and 10-15 years from now...........

[Altarboy]

This kind of stuff scares me. In addition to AI, add in bad intentions.

[l921428x]

Bad intentions? I was always told the way to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Just look at the welfare system as a prime example.

[Krupski]

Add AI to this mix and 10-15 years from now...........

Several years ago I had the idea that it might be possible to genetically engineer a virus to specifically kill cancer cells.

If someone had cancer, the doctor would take a small biopsy and send it to the lab, they would engineer a virus lethal to THAT genetic code only, then send back a small vial of clear liquid.

The cancer patient would get an injection of the liquid, run a slight fever for a few days and every single cancer call would be dead. If it tried to metastasise (spread), the virus would kill those cells too. It would give a life-long immunity.

Now, they are actually working on a system where a virus is used to deliver cancer killing drugs specifically to the tumor. Not exactly my idea, but similar.

What scares me is that if MY idea worked, it would be the ultimate weapon.

Engineer a virus that kills only people with blue eyes... or only Asian people... or anything you can define genetically. It's a terrifying thought.

[Schuetzenman]

I wonder if the Liberal gene can be targeted, then there is the Muslim gene as well. Hummm... one can dream right?

[alismith]

I wonder if the Liberal gene can be targeted, then there is the Muslim gene as well. Hummm... one can dream right?

Well, both are forms of mental illness, so that's one reason to try and target them.

[5.56NATO]

This kind of stuff scares me. In addition to AI, add in bad intentions.

And in a similar light to ai;
"A ‘mind-reading’ device that can decipher words from brainwaves without them being spoken has been developed by Japanese scientists, raising the prospect of ‘telepathic’ communication.

Researchers have found the electrical activity in the brain is the same when words are spoken and when they are left unsaid.

By looking for the distinct wave forms produced before speaking, the team was able to identify words such as ‘goo’, ‘scissors’ and ‘par’ when spoken in Japanese.

The scientists behind the technology said they can identify brain waves associated with syllables or letters of the Japanese alphabet, meaning it may be possible to decode entire words and sentences without the need for any of them being physically spoken.

To ‘listen’ to the unspoken words, the researchers used a method called electroencephalogram, or EEG. "
http://www.technocracy.news/index.ph...ey-are-spoken/

I wonder if any of the trillions spent by the fedz have gone into mind reading electronics?
Also, this could advance ai by allowing emulation of the way people think and understand.

[shorthair]

Now when you search, your engine will help you find your way?

It's a slippery slope.

Unintended consequences?