Battling ethics in times of the great transition

We are living in such exciting times. Designer babies are a reality. Gene editing can happen within the confines of a laboratory and save mankind from falling prey to diseases even before birth. It is possible to manipulate genes and maybe add a dollop more of intelligence, a shade of colour to the eye and modify skin tones! Just a decade ago, such a thought was unfathomable, blasphemous almost.

Self-driven or autonomous cars will be common too. Such a radical shift in driving will open up a whole new market segment that was unthinkable a few years ago. The likes of BMW, Lexus and Mercedes are getting together and working on their prototypes. Tesla already offers an enhanced autopilot system on its cars.

Amazon, the largest internet retailer in the world, has created a record of sorts with the opening of its cashier-less store in Seattle. The store, Amazon Go, has cameras and sensors installed throughout its aisles, and customers can simply pick up what they need and put it in their shopping bag. It gets billed to their credit cards automatically. Customers almost feel like shoplifters, because all that they do is pick what they want and throw it into their shopping bags.

With science and technology, mankind has come far. In certain cases, it has changed the power equation as well. It orders, and we humans duly comply. Google was a search engine, but today, we trust it to tell us about the best restaurant in the vicinity, the top university ratings, directions and what not! Look around, a majority of heads are buried in smartphones, and they remain oblivious to the world. Who controls whom? I wonder.

I recently came across an article in New York Times that stated that ours is a mediocre generation that has unfortunately not witnessed any great war or the great depression. The author claimed that this generation is being raised by television and has given birth to a brigade of instant stars who taste success and fame overnight because of heavy social media presence and is only unnecessarily chasing fancy cars and designer clothes. I do agree to some extent. However, I believe that this generation too has its share of battles. It is fighting a spiritual war.

We are making so much progress on so many fronts. This generation is certainly witnessing history of a different kind. With achievements like autonomous vehicles, gene editing and artificial intelligence, comes the huge responsibility of drawing lines. Do we fully understand the repercussions of being able to modify our own evolution? Will a driverless car be able to detect a distracted pedestrian on the street? Will artificial intelligence encroach upon our privacy ofthought in solitary moments? Will we have to forgo the luxury to think and fantasise without the fear of being found out?

More likely than not, we are witnessing the great transition. Maybe, our great war will be a spiritual war, wherein we will have to fight a battle of ethics. How much can nature be altered? In our quest of creating perfect babies or perfect automobiles or perfectly humanlike robots, are we fully realising what perfect really should be?

This generation is certainly not mediocre. A bright future laden with endless opportunities awaits. Future certainly seems inspiring, and dreams may actually come true.

WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, MANKIND HAS COME FAR. IN CERTAIN CASES, IT HAS CHANGED THE POWER EQUATION