Earlier this year Noland Arbaugh became the first patient to receive a brain-computer chip implanted by Elon Musk’s startup Neuralink after a diving accident left him paralyzed. Aside from being able to move a cursor with his mind now, he recently told podcaster Joe Rogan that the implant has also given him near superhuman reflexes in a handful of video games. The advantage is so extreme, that he suggested in the future “they’ll probably have different leagues for people like me because it’s just not fair.”
This is the sort of story we will see more of in the coming months because it perfectly brings together the intersection of many different stories about the future. A technology is developed to help someone with a disability. That technology shows promise to give them some sort of superhuman ability beyond what most of us are generally capable of. And the discussion starts about whether these “enhancements” should be allowed, and whether people without disabilities should be able to voluntarily request them
