Titled ‘Energy Addicts’ this concept juxtaposes completely with our scenario building, however I wanted to focus on comparing the differences and from that drawing out similarities that are shared between ‘Energy Addicts’ and our scenario. Like OS: Life, this concept revolves around human interaction with a device that is connected to our body, while we have a system that is connected via earpieces, ‘Energy Addicts’ provide jewellery pieces that are pierced into your bloodstream, in which work in reverse OS: Life as these jewellery pieces harvest energy from our body and emit it to our environment, while we use this system to enhance ourselves and gain new experiences in advanced technology. Naomi Kizhner utilises these objects to comment on pre-existing scenario ”there are groups today that willingly plant magnets under their flesh in the hope of accelerating their transformation to full-on cyborg” (Naomi Kizhner), and takes that scenario to an extreme level much like how my group and I approached our scenario development where we used the quadrant to determine a pre-existing scenario inspiring us to develop an enhanced version of ‘Siri’.
Scholar, Nick Brostom mentioned in ‘History of Transhumanist Thought’ (2005), a statement from statistician I. J. Good (1985):
”Let an ultra intelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all
the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of
machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultra intelligent machine could
design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an
‘intelligence explosion,’ and the intelligence of man would be left far behind.
Thus the first ultra intelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever
make”.
This deemed to be particularly relevant to both our scenario building and Naomi Kizhers’ work as it overall predicts the future of technologies’ involvement in our lives and how it would eventually replace manual labour or the existence and purpose of mankind. This aforementioned statement provides a logical insight on how machines have become more and more like humans, and even extending the limitations that we humans have. And ultimately has become the foundational influence and inspiration for future scenarios that are imagined in the future, whether it be humans transitioning into cyborgs or trans-humans or the evolution of artificial intelligence that blurs the lines between man-made and God’s own creation. While both our scenario on an enhanced version of Siri and Naomi Kizhners’ work are two ends of the spectrum, they are still fuelled by the same belief that our relationship with technology, to an extent; has controlled and manipulated our lifestyle systems which is supported I.J Good’s statement, that advanced technology have become so intelligent that even we humans are oblivious to the fact that we have become more dependent on it than ever before.
References:
Bostrom, N, 2005, A History of Transhumanist Thought, Vol. 14, Journal of Evolution & Technology, Oxford University
Kizhner, N, 2014, Energy Addicts, Accessed: 23.10.14, <https://vimeo.com/100335206>
Clark. L, 2014, Intricate Jewellery pieces harvest energy from wearers, Accessed: 23.10.14, <http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-08/07/energy-addicts>
Hamilton, K, 2014, Jewellery that harvests energy from your veins, Accessed: 23.10.14, <http://www.iflscience.com/technology/jewelry-harvests-energy-wearers>
perceptive words 