disinformation | kevin warwick: cyborg professor

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kevin warwick: cyborg professor
by Nick Mamatas (nillo@agoron.com) - July 28, 2002

Kevin Warwick is a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and is one of the leading experts in machine intelligence. He is also an author, a proponent of machine intelligence and a cyborg, a human being with computer parts. On 20 April 1998, Professor Warwick had a glass capsule about 23 millimeters long and 3 millimeters wide containing an electromagnetic coil and a silicon chip inserted in his arm. The chip, in conjunction with computer equipment in his house, turns lights on and off when he enters and exits room, and gives him a spoken, running tally of the mail in his email box. The chip merely sends out an identifying signal, and isn't tied into Warwick's nervous system, but is still a step forward since his body has not rejected the foreign matter.

Warwick is effusive about the (often scarily fascistic) possibilities and has suggested that gun owners could get implanted to keep them from entering schools or other areas where heavily armed people may be unwelcome (he stops short of advocating this though). Future chips could even be tied directly into the nervous system of the host organism, in order to eliminate computer keyboards and facilitate direct communication with a CPU. Such possibilities are interesting, but are also fraught with typical concerns about dehumanization, loss of personal privacy and "cyber-chasm" between the always on-line chipheads and the great unwashed and unwired. And of course, the crazed religious paranoia of religious cults who insist that the 'Mark Of The Beast 666' will take the form of microchips planted on the forehead and right hand of the unbelievers may just have a point after all.

The views expressed above represent the writer and not necessarily those of The Disinformation Company Ltd.

Robots Taking Over The World?
Warning: People denying the reality of the robot threat may be robots themselves. A brief review of March Of The Machines, Warwick's book on the possibilities of computer technology. Like most mechanists, he claims that "Strong AI" (human level and style intelligence) is possible, given the probable future increases in computer processing power.

The Institute Of Nanotechnology
Kevin Warwick is on the board of this institute, which seeks "to foster, develop and promote all aspects of nanotechnology in those domains where dimensions and tolerances in the range 0.1nm to 100 nm play a critical role." Now that's small. Nanotechnology potentially has the power to eliminate scarcity and commodity production by creating raw materials and products by taking any mass and restructuring the molecules. If the Institute had this technology, the world would be a very different place, but right now they just have a web page, like everyone else.

The Mark Of The New World Order: I.D. Biochip In Your Right Hand
Terry L. Cook's combination of NWO anti-Clintonism, Revelations and bad science, all in one article. Strange how people who are given their information directly from Jesus still aren't aware of the 7 year-old failure of the Clinton health plan and the national ID card.

He, She or It: The Cyborg De-Constructs Gender in Post Modern Science Fiction
PoMo theorist Barbara Summerhawk takes on science fiction, feminism and divided subjectivities. Not for the timid or for men who get all upset and offended when women actually point out that most science fiction is made of up tedious stories written by and for men who get all upset and offended when women actually point out anything.

Digital Planet
The site of BBC 2's series on the future of cybertechnology, including transcriptions of each show and interviews with Kevin Warwick.

Infobeat News - Cybernetics professor claims to receive first chip implant
Infobeat News/Reuters story about the Warwick implant.

Professor Kevin Warwick
Personal information on Kevin Warwick, including his office phone number, email address and academic information. Please don't call and harass him.

Companies Want Biochip Implants To Control And Monitor Employee Performance
When pinhole cameras, piss tests, "teamwork" exercises, club-wielding Pinkertons and just plain old firing people doesn't do it anymore, why not tag employees like a herd of endangered caribou? Steve Bevan of the Sunday Times in London reports that several companies contacted Warwick to determine the feasibility of planting chips in their own employees, to make sure the coffee break goes 15 minutes, and not a second longer. Article reprint by the journalistic sharks at Sightings.

Front Wheel Drive: Kevin Warwick Interview
Front Wheel Drive's Christopher Usery offers a revealing snap-shot of Britain's leading robotics scientist, who explores provocative computer/human interface territory. Make sure you check out other FWD material as well!

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