CNN Future Summit forum

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ATLANTA (CNN) -- New technology may be on the verge of providing us with the ability to store and file details of our lives far beyond our natural capacity to remember, creating the possibility of personal "Black Box"-style recorders capable of chronicling entire lives. (Full story)

What are the social implications of a society in which large amounts of personal information can be stored in online artificial memories?

Apart from a fear for unknown, there seem to exist two beneficial points in adopting that idea. One is to save us a lot of troubles of complex procedures such as judicial proceedings. The other, though it sounds a little optimistic, is for us to improve our understanding of other culture. Since our thinking process relies much on the facts, it follows that at least we can focus on the interpretation of them, not blending with rumors or biases.
Higashino, Osaka (Sept 12)

Socially speaking this technology would be a benefit to those who have cognitive difficulties, as well as for those who are forgetful. However, it might breed laziness, dependency, and the furthering of identity theft.
Franco, Mineola, NY (Sept 8)

I don't think we need an artificial memory as our own works well as a filter to block out things that a person would find emotially overwelming.
Lisa, Australia (Sep. 4)

I think this is a great development and I believe that it will lead us to a better utilization of our brains. This way we are making our lives more computerized and in the end we shall end up boosting our brains' capacity.
Herman, Tanzania (Sep. 3)

Send us your comments and we'll publish the best below.

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