Since we are talking about technology and global health this week, this article popped up just at the right time:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6425927.stm
It basically says that a robots ethical code is being drawn up in South Korea and will be instated later this year. This is to prevent abuse between humans and robots and robots and humans.
Being the huge Star Wars dork that I am, when I think robots, I think the two droids C-3PO and R2D2. Their versatility is boundless. They can speak and translate millions of languages and fix almost every sort of machinery. To think that this technology is at the cusp of emerging is truly exciting. When I think about robots from a health perspective I think of the medic droids used in Star Wars. Everything from Luke getting a new bionic hand to helping Padme give birth was done with medic droids. The BBC article said that "a recent government report forecast that robots would routinely carry out surgery by 2018." In 11 years I could be getting knee surgery by a robot. My doctor wouldn't run the risk of being contaminated with my blood, people could be delegated to other tasks to make a hospital run more efficiently, and the programmed function of the robot would make the surgury accurate. This report also noted the aging population of South Korea. Imagine the benefit for aging populations worldwide if they could receive adequate medical care from the comfort of their own homes. The risk of catching an additional infection while at the hospital would substantially decrease, there would be more beds available for emergency situations, and there would be no need to transport the elderly (especially those that would be particularly feeble) and run the risk of them falling while being transported from place to place.
The concept of robots being prevalent in society really does sound like something straight out of a sci-fi film, but when used ethically, there's so many benefits to be asertained. In this day when technology rapidly progresses, I think it is a good thing that ethical matters are brought at the forefront now, rather than later. As many of us in the public health sector believe, prevention is key to ensuring a healthy future.
2 comments:
hey jen, great post. i love how you use star wars as your starting-off point to make some really profound statements about biotech and global health!! i actually agree with you--as dr. shahi mentioned in class, the genomic revolution would never have happened if it weren't for the IT revolution. that means computers can do some things better than we can, and we can use them to get that stuff done!
Thanks for the Star Wars shout out. Its crazy to think about a world where robots assist with our daily lives. Robotic surgeries definitely have the feel of a classic sci-fi film. Yet the visions of the future are rapidly becoming the realities of today.
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