this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2026
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Technology

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[–] CybranM@feddit.nu 5 points 1 hour ago

So many cynical comments about him being able to work and capitalism. If I was in his position I would be super happy to be able to contribute to the household income instead of feeling like a burden. Sure being able to work isn't the only thing to be happy for but carrying your own weight must feel great

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 17 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Great, now you can suffer AND work!

I gettit, it's impressive, it will greatly increase their happiness with the little they have, but why conflate this awesome thing with "now get to work, you serf!"?

[–] espurr@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 hour ago

Work could also mean things like... being able to work on your own stories or books

But hopefully we won't force them to work for survival though just because they have one of these devices

[–] PikasGameStudio@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

It's great technology that helps people in need, but I'm worried that one day, they'll even dig us out of our graves and put us to work.🥶

[–] Infinite@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

How else can the Adeptus Mechanicus enable us to serve the Imperium of Man for all eternity?

[–] PikasGameStudio@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I Googled Adeptus Mechanicus and now I’m both impressed and terrified. Just hoping the 'eternal service' part stays fictional. 😂

[–] joelfromaus@aussie.zone 17 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

So we’re making servitors now?

[–] hagelslager@feddit.nl 1 points 2 hours ago

Was the patient lobotomised at one point?

[–] jasoman@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

I mean he did twitch...

[–] Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 28 points 7 hours ago

So now you can't even be paralyzed in peace

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

I choose death

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

8% is the difference between a cool coworker and an asshole

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 8 points 7 hours ago

I mean he's a pretty cool guy, he does organizing and strategy work for campaigns of people who fight climate change and he's a climate activist. He's obviously been afflicted with a terrible illness, but he's also got some things going for him, despite his families insistence they don't have generational wealth he did go to Duke so there's still a good deal of privilege in this claim.

From all accounts it seems he's fighting the good fight. So it's a pretty cool thing that's happened but it's definitely gonna eventually open the door to awful things because capitalism is evil.

[–] Hootz@lemmy.ca 38 points 10 hours ago

Starts strong but dam, capitalism just sneaks up and slaps the happy right out of ya.

[–] db2@lemmy.world 59 points 11 hours ago

Because that's the only way you can be worth something. 🫩

[–] lemmy_get_my_coat@lemmy.world 11 points 8 hours ago

Jesus Christ, the focus on working a job in that title 😞

[–] reluctant_squidd@lemmy.ca 256 points 14 hours ago (4 children)

To me this title reads more like a capitalistic celebration of potential labor from an otherwise un-exploitable workforce, instead of a celebration of a major breakthrough in giving some semblance of dignity and autonomy to a person who was robbed of it by this terrible affliction.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 45 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Agreed! A better title would be:

AI and brain-computer interface allow speechless ALS patient to speak with 92% accuracy in daily use

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 36 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Or like the other comment mentioned, could now for the first communicate with His daughter and family.

[–] quill7513@anarchist.nexus 13 points 12 hours ago

for real! this should be about how we are on the precipice of letting people with debilitating conditions enjoy their lives and spend time with people they care about instead of immediately saying "just think of the implications for shareholder value!"

[–] Auth@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

So brainrotten, is not an efficient use of acquiring new labour. Work can give people a sense of purpose, this guys job is climate activism so im sure he feels very happy to be able to go back to work.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 53 points 14 hours ago

Yeah, the presentation is a tad dystopian.

Still an eminently cool breakthrough, though I've read that BCI's are hackable and that notion sounds pretty scary.

[–] Captainautism@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, this is fucked up but also neat? I mean, now social security can deny someone with something as debilitating as ALS and tell him to get an implant and go to work??? 😳

[–] sorter_plainview@lemmy.today 95 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

The lab has built its own software platform for operating BCI devices known as Brain-computer interface for Rapidly Adaptive Neural Decoding (BRAND, which Brandman told us was coincidentally named), which UCD postdoctoral fellow Nick Card built machine learning algorithms for.

Aah.. So not LLMs. Makes sense.

Also to the reporter who decided to focus on 'full time job' in the title. You focused on 5 hours of work instead of the fact that the patient can now interact with his daughter, who never heard him speak, and also he is able to have conversations with his friends and family. Please be more human.

Editor, not reporter. There's a total disconnect between the content of the article and the title.

[–] Twig@sopuli.xyz 33 points 11 hours ago

/c/aboringdystopia

[–] crandlecan@mander.xyz 96 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Peak capitalism. The Matrix would be proud

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 31 points 14 hours ago

"We told people with a debilitating speech condition to get off the government dole and work a fucking job"

[–] Flower@sh.itjust.works 13 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

They're just looking forward to employees that physically can't leave.

[–] crandlecan@mander.xyz 3 points 13 hours ago

Too soon, bro, TOO. SOON!

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 32 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I'm sure that patient is happy to find something to do that adds to the general pool of "things we do".

I also hope that they also say "fuck this", retire, and do art full time if its their jam.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 5 points 13 hours ago

Yes, screw the working part, but anything else they get from it that they want to pursue I'm all for it. And sure, if they want to do some sort of work, that's fine, but they shouldn't have to.

[–] Eternal192@anarchist.nexus 27 points 14 hours ago

New slave market discovered.

[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 11 hours ago

And suddenly all investors will spend billions to promote this tech.

[–] DevDave@piefed.social 9 points 12 hours ago

Yes there are a lot of dark sides to this but I am still somewhat hopeful for people whose body have betrayed them.

Unfortunately the unmentioned horror of this technology as it currently stands is similar to "Flowers for algernon". The brain is extremely territorial and doesn't like weird metallic stuff stuck in it. In response, I believe the astrocytes build encapsulating scar tissue around the probes that eventually deafen them. I have been following this tech since the early stages in the late 90's and no one seems to have solved that. Truly bitter experience for epilepsy and near terminally depressed patients who have been given some semblance of normallacy only to have it slip away.

A currently insanely expensive probe design has something like a magnet on a mems platform so a less reactive and normally insulating material can be used to "sense" electrical impulses. Sadly it has something brutal like a sub 5% production yield and can be damaged almost anywhere along the journey from a fabrication laboratory to a operating room.

[–] Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 14 hours ago

If you cant work, we will invent solutions!

Work must continue

[–] maxalmonte14@lemmy.world 12 points 13 hours ago

[CAPITALISM INTENSIFIES]

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 12 points 13 hours ago

r/orphancrushingmachine -I'm not sure there's a parallel lemmy community.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 14 hours ago

Proprietary tech with no existing laws telling the companies they have to keep supporting it, all so I can make a rich person richer? Where do I sign up?

[–] justlemmyin@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago
[–] Cryxtalix@programming.dev 9 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Hell yeah. Next, they can get a cut of every dollar made! Or a subscription service with strict usage limits and add-ons to re-enable disabled functionality. It's one or the other.

[–] mech@feddit.org 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I wonder if he can use slurs.

[–] EvergreenGuru@lemmy.world 0 points 14 hours ago

They can only use slurs that refer to people with their condition, like cr**ple.

[–] lemmyng@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

Damn, we really got to Pantheon's "Uploaded Intelligence" concept before GTA 6.

[–] Sims@lemmy.ml 0 points 12 hours ago

So AI helps disadvantaged people get in to the wage-slave-queue to fight for their lives against everyone else.. How sweet. Too bad AI/Capitalism takes away the potential jobs needed for that..

Imbecile coping from an archaic failing ideology, and the focus should be on their cognitive well-being - not their potential contribution to this Fascist regime we are living in..