Unpopular opinion: brain implants won't fix memory loss if you can't use a smartphone today

I was talking to my aunt last week in Cleveland and she kept saying she'd love a brain chip to help her remember things. But she still asks me to print out her emails because she can't figure out a phone app. I mean, adding tech to your brain doesn't magically teach you how to navigate a user interface. Shouldn't we focus on basic digital literacy before we jump to installing computers in people's heads? Has anyone else seen this disconnect in older relatives?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily971mo agoMost Upvoted

Flip it around - what if the brain chip actually makes her worse at using tech? Like, imagine her brain processing power gets a boost but she still can't work the phone because the problem is the phone design, not her brain. These companies are betting on hardware fixes for what's basically a software and training gap. It's like giving someone a faster car but they still can't read road signs.

the_joel27d ago

Man, that's exactly what I was thinking the other day when my grandma got a new smartphone. She's been using the same flip phone for like 15 years and suddenly everyone's telling her she needs this fancy touchscreen thing. She got so frustrated trying to swipe notifications that she just set it down and went back to reading her newspaper. It's like all that processing power in the phone means nothing if the interface might as well be written in ancient Greek to her.