Arthur Caplan, Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania

Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate, Physics, 1997; Chair, Department of Physics, Stanford University; Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Stanford University

Charles Elachi, Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Lee Hartwell, Nobel Laureate, Medicine, 2001; President and Director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle

Danny Hillis, Co-Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Applied Minds, Inc.

Sherry Turkle, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT; Founder and Director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self

Moderator:

Michael Milken, Chairman, Milken Institute; Chairman, FasterCures / The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions; co-Founder, Milken Family Foundation

Summary:

Technological advances may change human culture and perception as much as our culture has affected technological change according to Monday evening′s distinguished panel.

Mike Milken, moderator, opened with a look at the distant and recent past—a time of rapidly accelerating, almost violent, scientific and technological advance. We as a culture seem constantly on the verge of another breakthrough, an additional discovery, the next Eureka, but accompanying such rapid developments come serious and very real philosophical questions—are we, as a race, ready for such advances? How will society both react to and treat machines that possess what we now consider uniquely human characteristics, while we extend and expand our lives with increased incorporation of technologies into our lives?

While science fiction often raises questions of technological possibilities, Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggested that it does not deal with how their existence influences how we define ourselves.

The panel discussed how technological development seems to be converging humanity and machines. As processing power increases and tasks that were once thought to be uniquely human are accomplished by technology, and as technologies (e.g. genetic medicines, advanced artificial limbs, biological software, etc.) are increasingly used to shore up the perceived weaknesses of humanity, basic ethical and philosophical questions regarding the nature of humanity arise.

Lee Hartwell challenged us to imagine that we could visit the future. What points in time would we visit and how long would we stay? He suggested moving into the future over short time increments and staying just long enough to understand the changes. This would enable us to adjust to new technologies.

Along those lines, Danny Hillis suggested a relativity of "authenticity." Arthur Caplan agreed, arguing that if a culture is aware of the incremental steps of technological progress, the technology itself is afforded a higher level of acceptance among society. For instance, our cultures may not have experienced technology shock with the emergence of test-tube babies and cloning, rendering those issues less controversial, had the public been prepared. Caplan also suggested that human nature is malleable such that what is "natural" is the outcome of that to which we choose to adapt.

Areas of expertise within the panel varied considerably and the discussion nicely highlighted these strengths. There was some disagreement as to the benefits and consequences of rapidly accelerating rates of discovery, but there was general consensus that an oft-overlooked and important question in addition to what technologies do for us is what emerging technologies will do to us.

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