I think you've hit upon some interesting examples. Maybe the way to look at this is cost vs "benefit" (in the broadest sense of the word).
This is obviously a better framework to be in.
"If I don't do it someone else will" is really fraught and that's why people reject it.
So one would really need to ask is there a net benefit to having a "mind reading" system out in the world. In fact I find it hard to think of positive use cases that aren't just dwarfed by the possibility of Orwellian/panopticon type hellscapes.
In fact I find it hard to think of positive use cases
Firstly - forcing people to think of positive use-cases up front is a terrible way to think about science. Most discoveries would have failed this test.
Secondly - can you really not? Off the top-of my head:
a) Research tools for psychology and other disciplines
b) Assistive devices for the severely disabled
c) An entirely new form of human-computer interface with many possible areas of application
As I mentioned do any of those outweigh the possibility that some 3 letter agency might start mass scanning US Citizens for what amounts to thought crime? The very fundamental idea of privacy would cease to exist.
That's a very big leap. If we're at the stage where a three letter agency can put you in an fMRI machine, then we're probably also at the stage where they can beat you with a rubber hose until you confess.
My point is that there's already a wide variety of things a future draconian state can do. This doesn't seem to move the dial very much.
Comments
This is obviously a better framework to be in.
"If I don't do it someone else will" is really fraught and that's why people reject it.
So one would really need to ask is there a net benefit to having a "mind reading" system out in the world. In fact I find it hard to think of positive use cases that aren't just dwarfed by the possibility of Orwellian/panopticon type hellscapes.
Firstly - forcing people to think of positive use-cases up front is a terrible way to think about science. Most discoveries would have failed this test.
Secondly - can you really not? Off the top-of my head:
a) Research tools for psychology and other disciplines
b) Assistive devices for the severely disabled
c) An entirely new form of human-computer interface with many possible areas of application
As I mentioned do any of those outweigh the possibility that some 3 letter agency might start mass scanning US Citizens for what amounts to thought crime? The very fundamental idea of privacy would cease to exist.
That's a very big leap. If we're at the stage where a three letter agency can put you in an fMRI machine, then we're probably also at the stage where they can beat you with a rubber hose until you confess.
My point is that there's already a wide variety of things a future draconian state can do. This doesn't seem to move the dial very much.