Matt James offers some thoughts and reflections on a new TV series which promises to introduce us to new developments in science and technology and get us thinking about the future. [Photo credit: Channel 4]
Billed as a “glimpse of the future”, a new Channel 4 series on Monday evenings is aiming to showcase the latest in science, technology and innovation.
Brave New World with Stephen Hawking started last Monday on C4 at 8pm. For those of you who may remember the BBC1 programme Tomorrow’s World, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a resurrected version of the popular technology show for the similarities are strong.
Machines
Having watching the first episode (which you can still view on 4OD), I am certainly interested in tuning again tonight and seeing what the rest of the series has to offer. Entitled ‘Machines’, the programme focused on breakthroughs and developments in the field of science and engineering. Divided roughly into four sections, the programme showcases four areas. First up, Kathy Sykes travelled to San Francisco and looks at a robot–controlled car offering the very real possibility of driverless cars in the future. Although seemingly sceptical at first, Sykes soon appears to be won over by the technology and by the end of the segment is waxing lyrical about how safe the car seems to be and how it handles driving far more effectively than she would be able to – both on the test circuit as well as on the streets.
Power of thought
Continuing along this theme of intelligent machines, Mark Evans investigates brain machine interfaces (or BMIs) in Switzerland, using brain power to power a wheelchair. What is particularly interesting about this segment is that more than just explaining how the machine works and interviews with the team involved, Evans is one of only a handful of people (so we are led to believe) who is given the chance to actually train and ‘fuse’ his brain with the computer in order to control the wheelchair. The complexity of having to focus and train the brain to think in specific ways in order to help ‘sync’ with the machine is apparent and brings into sharp focus the initial obstacles which need to be overcome before this kind of technology is readily adopted and made available for the mass market. Nevertheless, it is quite amazing to eventually see Evans take the chair for a test drive and see it respond in the way that he is telling it to do….simply by him thinking about this feet and turning them in a certain direction.
iCub and exoskeletons
Maintaining the interconnectedness of the previous two segments, how a machine can learn certain behaviours is the focus taken up by Jim Alei–Khalili who travels to Italy and meets iCub, the robot who learns and interacts like a child through interaction with its external environment. The emergence of artificial exoskeletons have begun to hit the headlines more in recent months and is the focus of Joy Reidenberg’s segment which tracks the stories of two paraplegics whose lives have been transformed by using these exoskeletons to restore their ability to walk again. Linked into this reference is also made of the military applications of exoskeletons offering one man the strength of three in combat situations and manoeuvres. Those who already have an interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will be all too aware of the significant interest that is being paid to these kinds of technologies in the battlefield context and the investment the US military are pouring into military robotics. Therefore it was also good to have this referred to as a very real and pertinent application.
The final section focused on the wider cosmos with Maggie Aderin–Pocock and her visit to one of the world’s biggest telescopes in the Canary Islands. Aside from some amazing images of space, Aderin–Pocock’s report focused on the search for new planets similar to our own and which we could one day live on and colonise. Whilst still interesting, this for me was the least engaging section of the programme probably because it did not fall within my immediate field of interest but also because in contrast to the other features it did not seem as ‘new’. I felt as if I had heard about the kind of thing already and so did not engender the same level of response as the rest of the programme.
Commendable
There is much to commend in this first episode of Brave New World (BNW) and it promises to be a very interesting series of programmes. With Stephen Hawking at the helm it is given a certain level of kudos and credibility which automatically makes you sit up and take it seriously. Likewise the co presenters are scientists engaged in various areas of science and technology and perhaps have not been picked simply because they boast universal popularity or recognition. Consequently it was refreshing to hear from people who are working in the field of science and at the same time had a new and engaging presence about them.
On the radar
It is true that is you are looking for a high brow, science based programme then BNW is probably not what you are looking for. I can already hear the critics and those working in the field decrying it as ‘light weight’ and offering ‘nothing new’. However, surely we need these introductory level programmes alongside the more in–depth which can offer the lay person the necessary insight into new developments?
In my view BNW offers a good introduction to new developments and advances in science and technology, helping to bring them onto our radar of understanding and comprehension. The tendency is for these kinds of future focused programmes to air on the side of proposing such outrageous ideas that the viewer can dismiss them as being science fiction or nonsense. BNW seems to have got off to a good start by showcasing the realistic side and applications of these advances, even though to the learned viewer some of the developments may well not appear as ground breaking as they are to the novice.
Critical engagement
One particular weakness of the first programme is that constructive criticism of these new technologies was absent. Whether or not it was decided to pursue this approach preferring to introduce the viewer to the technology and leave them to come to their own conclusions, I would have liked to have seen more time given to the consideration of the implications of these technologies, highlighting the range of possible applications alongside discussing the relative benefits of each one. Even having some more sceptical experts from the field offering their contrasting perspectives would have also added to the conversation.
A Human Future?
As it is, there are two saving graces. First, there are some subtle comments offered by the presenters which to the attentive viewer will trigger thoughts and questions to chew over as a result of watching the programme.
Secondly, by helping to frame these technologies in terms of how they can help improve human ability and functioning, a sense of the relationship between humanity and technology is established. After all the whole idea of technology from the most primitive to the most sophisticated is the story of humans making things that allow us to do more than we could without them. Humans interacting with technology is therefore not such a new, futuristic idea. This was particularly seen in the case Evans and BMIs. I was listening intently expecting the see the segment on the possible applications for such developments being realised in us powering everyday machines through our thoughts or helping us to reach the ultimate climax: Man becoming one with Machine. However, this was not the case. The concluding comments came from Prof Jose Millan who in responding to Evans’s question of the potential of where this technology could take us and whether we could feasibly consider in years to come being able to sit in our homes and ‘think’ the dishwasher on or switch off the lights, responded without hesitation with a refreshing statement. Realistically, Millan agreed that there could be the very real possibility of being able to do such things as thinking lights off, but he hoped that for humans like him or Evans and other able bodied humans, they would not be pursuing such activities. Why? Because they would still have a body which would need to be entertained. There is seemingly still something to be said for having a body in the future!
Similarly, in the segment on exoskeletons the viewer could see the immense joy, satisfaction and determination shown by Agnes, a paraplegic, as she regained the ability to walk again and pushed the exoskeleton to its maximum speed! By establishing the human connection BNW helped to bring what can so easily be ‘pie in the sky’ science back to the human context: how can this really help us in our human experience without necessary taking us beyond it?
If nothing else Brave New World with Stephen Hawking helps to get us thinking about the future, the kind of future world we want to live in and the kind of experience we want to enjoy in that world.
––––
The second episode of Brave New World airs tonight – Monday 24th October – at 8pm, Channel 4 and focuses on the topic of health.
As the series progresses Matt is intending to write a short comment and set of reflections on each of the programmes which will be available online on BioCentre’s website and mailing list.
