Microchipping people: Associate Professor Katina Michael at TEDxUWollongong
[Applause] ladies and gentlemen welcome to my presentation this evening I'm going to take you on a whirlwind Tour on the future prospects of microchipping people I'm going to challenge you with the notion that every single piece of ID that you own will be replaced with a tiny microchip implant about the size of a grain of rice but first let's go back in time to this the first automated computer the ANC developed by the the mo School of electrical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania this first computer weighed over 30 tons was over 100 ft long and had 18,000 vacuum tubes if anything went wrong with one of those vacuum tubes each one had to be individually checked it was used initially in secret during World War II to calculate ballistic equations and trajectories a computation that will take usually about 12 hours only took 30 seconds with the aid of the the aniac Americans in 1946 on a Sunday morning awoke to headlines that read new Wonder brain Army robot brain mechanical whiz kid better than Einstein thinking with electrons and my two favorite slogans or headlines throw away the books kids the aniac will end math and because I'm a mother it won't look after after your baby but little else stops the aniac what always makes me go wow when I look at this image this famous image are the men and women of the aniac who are seen here and depicted inside the computer interacting with it getting information from it programming it it is as if they are in the heart of the computer and they are surrounded by its vital organs shortly after the aniac vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors and transistors by microchips let's fast forward now 50 years after the aniac to a performance artpiece by bio artist Eduardo Katz in Brazil in time capture cats acquires an animal injector kit and implants an implant in his left leg in front of a live audience which was broadcast to the internet and on television transcending space and time he then proceeds to register himself on a pet database online what did this mean on reflection cat says it is as if the body has become an extension of the computer and not the other way around he calls this less traumatic embodiment but does point to the dramatic conflict that a microchip implant will cause Humanity for me personally Time Capture symbolize the dehumanization of individuals the fact that we have all become numbers and codes the following year Professor Kevin Warick engages in cyborg 1.0 he receives an implant in his left arm injected by his family doctor george bullos and he's able to walk the corridors in his office building and the doors miraculously open in front of him because the walls and corridors have been rigged up with radio frequency identification readers he walks into to his office the lights turn on his computer turns on to his favorite web page however it is in cybor 2.0 that the greatest learnings are to be given and made in cyborg 2.0 wari receives a procedure headed by two neurosurgeons where a 100 micro electrode array was injected and fired up to the medium nerve fibers in his left arm he's able to communicate with his wife Irena depicted here over what they describe over a network over what they describe as Morse code ladies and gentlemen this was an Alexander grey and bill moment in consequence that the world missed in cbor 2.0 war was also able to control remotely objects over the Internet just by opening and closing his hand he was also able through the neural interface to operate a wheelchair imagine now this large W to ceiling computer the eniac fired into the body up to the median nerve in the arm I will now perform three scenarios for you but before I do I want to tell you that post cyborg experiments we had real real real Innovations deployed we had over 200 individuals implanted for Club patronage for Access Control electronic payments at the Baja Beach Club chain there was a VI there were numerous VIPs implanted for example the Mexico attorney general for Access Control and security and some of his staff there were hobbyist implantes implanted by their own valtion so that they did not need keys and open the door and opened their their front door and car door the papor legislative Council even considered in 2008 to implant HIV AIDS carriers who were still sexually active there are many many states in the US and I can give you many more examples that have anti- chipping Laws states like Florida Oklahoma Ohio California North Dakota Missouri Georgia anti- chipping laws this is not conspiracy and fundamentalist paranoia so the scenarios I will perform point to the social implications they have come from interviewing real people and they do not necessarily show you my beliefs or those of my fellow collaborators but they have been taken through observation and key informance before I continue with the actual scenarios I just want to mention some of you may find these extreme however when you compare them to the projections of credible futurists and of Laboratories around the world they are quite conservative Act One hey my mates guess what I got for my birthday a Next Generation I plan oh I can hardly believe it mom said look I really trust you this is a sign of my trust and you know you're entering the matriculation years into adulthood and this is for you son I said thanks Mom look what I can do everyone look think iTunes category heavy Rock download ACDC and that's it it's all on the cloud and now all I have to do is get my personal network devices and tap into it oh the convenience the rewards I'm going to save so much cash in fact I don't even need cash anymore I've got the I plant I feel one with technology I feel wiress man the network I just walk into a network and it fills my presence ambiently I did say to Dad Dad I know you got concerns Dad I know but just chill out dad I don't don't worry about my privacy dad everyone talks privacy but they've all got loyalty scheme cards I'm not a terrorist Dad I've got nothing to hide and Dad I know you and your mates go on about Uber veillance but Dad I looked on Wikipedia and it's not there anymore I reckon they've solved all the problems health insurance car insurance premiums life insurance in the future they're all going to be a lot cheaper you know why because they can have all my vital statistics I got nothing to hide I do my laps I eat well I go to Footy training one day I'm going to play for the rabos and they're going to know my commitment and I'm not going to go against the curfews no way no C I'm going to get in the car when I'm supposed to and I said to Mom look me up on the grid don't expect any phone calls from me anyway look the single sign on is the best thing that's happened ever in this world I don't have to remember any passwords I don't carry batter I don't need keys I don't need cables and wires which I always confuse and leave behind so I've got to go home look the look at the video that they gave me and then just just do it is my advice act two the entrepreneur who wishes to deploy an eye plant for commercial reasons I've called this uh standup meeting it's a product development meeting just for about 10 minutes um people we re received the last quarter results and I just want to say we are still number two the Alzheimer's Market is beyond a doubt the one that is g gaining the most traction the carers love this product the Alzheimer's patients cannot wander they cannot go outside their homes the facilities take them and they are controlled they are safe I know some of you had concerns that some of the Alzheimer's patients would be chipped against their will but no the carers are their Guardians and I have to say the the resources are being saved on mass in our second Market we have the correctional services we are still still trailing the number one opponent but what will happen here is wonderful the prisons have come on board with great numbers we have about 25% of the market share just in Australia no more GPS anklets no more tampering no more possibility of getting those Parolees lost and the Parolees love it you know why because it's invisible the implant's invisible and they say that's much better chance sense of Rehabilitation and they're not stigmatized anymore okay I want you to dream Innovations our next product is about the consumer Market we're not worrying about our simers now we're doing well we're not worrying about Correctional Services but the consumer Market I want you to think big big people I want you to think medical bionics fusion with entertainment services human enhancement amplification if they want to be Superman we'll give them Superman just dream the the future is in your hands scenario 3 the mentally ill patient I can't I can't take this anymore all these spy drones all these surveillance cameras I'm losing my mind I know what Mom said when I get anxious to call her but this implant in my head is messing with me I just just don't know if she's going to believe me this time okay get get a hold of yourself dial Mom Mom hi yeah it's me mom mom can you please tell the doctor that I don't want the implant in my head anymore I I know I need the one in my arm to exist but the one in my head's not working what do you mean technology Can't Fail mom I've course it can fail I'm feeling it I was okay at the beginning but the last 3 months I can't sleep I feel like people are micro analyzing every move I make Mom what do you mean they're going to stop my social security disability payments if I take the implant in my head out don't you understand Mom I'm not an animal I've got dignity you know I go into the shops they know there goes the crazy one I go into the airport I fly on the plane They're laughing at me Mom I can't even get a job without them scanning my iplant yeah mom no Mom don't hang up she's hung up I know what they're going to do now they're going to release drugs into my body and then I'm going to lose myself for another three days I can't do it again I told him I had no say I just woke up one morning and found the IPL he was controlling everything I can feel the stimulations no denial of service attack reassemble me ladies and gentlemen this hypothetical scenarios are vital they have profound implications for our Humanity especially because technology has been explicitly linked to teleology yes indeed the deaf will hear and have heard the blind will see the mute will speak the lame will skip biomedical engineering is Testament to this and we Embrace these wondrous Works they are Miracles however we must be mindful ful these same technologies will be misused by individuals and those agents in Authority potentially and we will lose our ability to make decisions for ourselves these are just some of the moral and ethical dilemmas we are sleepwalking into a world that has become over reliant on technique soon we will not just be talking about the social implications of Technology but about how Society has become technology we who created the computer will invite it into our body to govern us and the Machine itself will rule over us ladies and gentlemen I leave you with one final question who will control this emerging new smart surveillance infrastructure and what will be the rights of the controlled thank you [Applause]