11 thoughts on “Transhumanist Parents”

  1. I view the future as a race between robots, drones, cyborgs, genetically engineered super soldiers, and progressives who can’t figure out what’s in their underpants or where milk comes from.

    But speaking of potentially nefarious but lucrative uses of Google glass, I once thought that a company could sell a retail support service where they collect data on local shoplifters and, using facial recognition and the smart glasses, put a virtual warning flag over known or suspected shoplifters so the employees know to keep a closer eye on them, which should greatly help reduce shrinkage depending on the store’s intervention policy.

    The potential revenue stream should top out at the 38% shoplifting component of the current estimate of losses due to shoplifting, employee theft, vendor fraud, etc., or about $16 billion a year. In practice it probably wouldn’t generate that much as shoplifters stop shoplifting so much, and as other stores figure out that just wearing Google glasses without subscribing to the service is a pretty effective deterrent.

    You could also start another company that sues the first company on behalf of people who were wrongly flagged as shoplifters, especially if they’re an ethnic minority.

    1. Besides facial recognition AI that monitors store cameras that can tell when you’ve snuck something underneath your clothing. As you walk out the cashier can say, “do you intend to pay for that Snickers bar in your coat?”

    2. I once thought that a company could sell a retail support service where they collect data on local shoplifters and,

      Oh, they don’t need that system. Regular shoplifters are well known by employees. The mistake you make is in thinking that anyone wants shoplifters caught. Stores don’t want the liability and there isn’t enough prison space. Shoplifting is just another tax that must be paid.

      I think people would be surprised by how dialed in shoplifters are with stores, policies, and laws. They often know where storerooms are and how to access them. They know store policies and how to abuse them. The know the laws and how to avoid anything serious.

      Where I live, shoplifters can only be detained by a store for an hour and if the cops don’t show up, they have to be set free. Often the cops don’t show up.

      Policies that decriminalize certain crimes do lead to lower prison populations but that shouldn’t be confused with a lower crime rate.

  2. I only hope the cyborg kids will be quieter and better behaved in libraries and other public places than the spoiled, noisy brats I encounter all over the place.

  4. “differently abled” and “neurotypical”?

    Gah. I can only stomach so much PC euphemizing before any value the article might have had is overwhelmed by the cost of reading the virtue signaling.

  5. The Pixar animated movie _UP_ showcased a form of augmented intelligence I want very much and would pay highly for: A dog collar that reads a dog’s moods and what passes for thought in a dog’s mind and expresses those readings in synthetic speech.

    Yes, I recognize that about 3/4s of the expressions will relate to food and another 20% to squirrels.

    Still.

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