Hi-Tech Crime CRIM30375

Super-intelligence and eternal life: transhumanism's faithful follow it blindly into a future for the elite Distant Earth. Alexander Thomas , University of East London The rapid development of so-called NBIC technologies – nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science – are giving rise to possibilities that have long been the domain of science fiction. Disease, ageing and even death are all human realities that these technologies seek to end. They may enable us to enjoy greater “morphological freedom” – we could take on new forms through prosthetics or genetic engineering. Or advance our cognitive capacities. We could use brain-computer interfaces to link us to advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Nanobots could roam our bloodstream to monitor our health and enhance our emotional propensities for joy, love or other emotions. Advances in one area often raise new possibilities in others, and this “co

Child sex dolls and robots: exploring the legal challenges Martan/Shutterstock Bela Bonita Chatterjee , Lancaster University Sex robots appear to be the next big thing for the adult entertainment industry. Unroboticised sex dolls are not new – but combined with state-of-the-art fabrication techniques, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and programming applications, such dolls may soon reach new levels of sophistication. As sex dolls become increasingly realistic – and their roboticisation looms on the horizon – a key question to ask is how the law should respond when such objects are made for, and used by, those with a sexual interest in children? Dolls for this market, manufactured overseas, are now starting to appear on the legal radar from attempts to import them into the country. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned that child-like sex dolls are being sold on the internet and campaigners have urged the government to outlaw the t