Joel SnyderDec 11, 2022
Uma Karmarkar

Nature has an article on the growing number of abandoned people with neural implants from companies that have gone out of business or pivoted.

Reading Flowers for Algernon as a teenager devastated me, and I still get related nightmares. I cannot imagine what this situation must be like to live through.

h/t @pheras for the link

https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-03810-5/index.html

Abandoned: the human cost of neurotechnology failure

When the makers of electronic implants abandon their projects, people who rely on the devices have everything to lose.

Dec 11, 2022 at 6:21pmWeb
Show threadPhiloNeuroSciDec 11, 2022
@uma_karma @pheras Flowers for Algernon was one of my favorite short stores when I was a kid, so sad... It's truly tragic what's happening to these people...
Show threadMerage Ghane, PhDDec 11, 2022
@uma_karma @pheras such a sad reality… another reason why open source/transparent data, models, methods are impt. Perhaps should be required of businesses as they shut down so that others can understand how to operate, build, and repair the tech. I understand the value of proprietary products, especially when a company is active, but potential for harm just seems too great as doors close.
Show threadUma KarmarkarDec 11, 2022
@MerageG @pheras conceptually I could agree, but if one could get such legislation to pass, it would remove a lot of the corporate incentives, and risk blunting the opportunities for advancement
Show threadDisco SexualDec 12, 2022

@uma_karma @MerageG @pheras even if the legislation were for something like: a written exit strategy in the case that implants are reaching end of life with no intended replacement?

These things are toothless enough as it is. Company pays a fine for violating their contract, but still gets to put a nice shiny "seal of commitment" or whatever on their sales site.

Show threadUma KarmarkarDec 12, 2022
@bezorp @MerageG OH - that's so smart! I hadn't been thinking expansively enough - that approach does seem very useful.
Show threadDaniel BuchmanDec 12, 2022
@uma_karma @pheras I read Flowers for Algernon as a pre-teen and it had a profound impact on me. It remains one of my favourite books, and it still disturbs me till this day. #neuroethics #bioethics #ethics
Show threadEllieDec 12, 2022
@pheras @uma_karma Looking forward (with growing dread) to the inevitable proliferation of networking in the cyberware, for telemetry and reconfiguration. Or ads, to offset cost of the implants. And then the unpatched zero day attacks.
Show threadAnnette C. BoehmDec 12, 2022
@uma_karma @pheras I read about that a while ago, too, and it's all I could think of when people started talking about neural implants again recently. What a nightmare to be stuck with obsolete tech in your CNS!