Vox, “Technology isn’t just changing society — it’s changing what it means to be human” February 23, 2018
A conversation with historian of science Michael Bess, by Sean Illing.
Dawn or Doom Conference 2017 Keynote “Your Grandchildren Redesigned,” Purdue University (Sept. 26, 2017)
Michael Bess delivered a keynote address at the 2017 Dawn or Doom Conference at Purdue University on September 26, 2017. The conference …
The Daily Mail, “A Powerful Generation of ‘X-Men’ SUPERHUMANS Will Be Here in Less Than 200 Years, Claims Expert” September 16, 2016
A Powerful Generation of ‘X-Men’ SUPERHUMANS Will Be Here in Less Than 200 Years, Claims Expert The Daily Mail | by Abigail …
Financial Times, “Planet of the Apps – Have We Paved the Way for Our Own Extinction?” August 31, 2016
Planet of the apps — have we paved the way for our own extinction? Financial Times | By John Thornhill | August …
London Times, “Make Way for the Superhumans” Review, July 9, 2016
The point of science fiction, the late Ray Bradbury once said, is not just to predict the future. It is to prevent it too. Some writers find this task straightforward. You take an issue in the modern world — automation, the creeping empire of social media, the depletion of the planet’s natural resources — and pursue it all the way to apocalypse. Wisdom dispensed. Job done….
Vanderbilt Stories, “Welcome to the Future,” May 2016
Can the world restrain its thirst for bioenhancement technology until humanity can catch up with its effects?
New York Moves, “Redesigned” May 1, 2016
Over the coming decades – probably a lot sooner than most people realize –the next great wave of technological change will wash over our lives. Its impact will be similar in scope to the advent of computers, cell phones, and the Web; but this time around, it is not our gadgets that will be transformed – it is we ourselves, our bodies, our minds…
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, “Artificial Intelligence, Bioenhancement, and the Singularity,” May 1, 2016
They met for the first time in a hotel bar at Lake Tahoe in 1998, one evening after a technology conference. Bill Joy was an eminent computer-systems designer, chief scientist for Sun Microsystems. Ray Kurzweil was an award-winning inventor and technologist, whose many creations included a reading machine for the blind and an advanced music synthesizer. Their conversation focused on the future relationship between humans and machines….”
Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Review of Michael Bess’, Our Grandchildren Redesigned by John G. Messerly, March 23, 2016
Vanderbilt University’s Michael Bess has written an extraordinarily thoughtful new book: Our Grandchildren Redesigned: Life In The BioEngineered Society Of The Near Future. The first part of the book introduces the reader to the technologies that will enhance the physical, emotional, and intellectual abilities of our children and grandchildren: pharmaceuticals, bioelectronics, genetics, nanotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and virtual reality.
Law 2050: A Forum about the Legal Future Review, “A Legal Futurism Treasure Chest” by J. B. Ruhl, February 4, 2016
As you may have noticed (or if not, now you know), I haven’t posted anything on the site for a while. I have all the typical excuses: busy at work, family stuff, the holidays, etc. But truth be told, not much grabbed me. That changed when I read Our Grandchildren Redesigned, the latest by my Vanderbilt colleague and friend, historian Michael Bess. As a dabbler in legal futurism, Bess’s book is a treasure chest to me. The subtitle says it all: Life in the Bioengineered Society of the Near Future.