Medical benefits
Lives can be saved from the immediacy microchips provide
Microchips can be a useful tool, especially when it comes to emergency situations where instant access to the right medical information can mean the difference between life and death. Needless to say, this is a sophisticated way of surveillance and has its role in various non-medical fields, may it be within the corporate world, or control of electronic devices, financial world and automation. When it comes to the medical field, it can be used to quickly gain access to your medical history and increase the probability of saving lives of people with various conditions like cardiac problems, diabetes, severe drug and food allergies amongst other things. These implants are particularly useful for people suffering from cognitive impairments like dementia.
However, one needs to consider serious implications like health related risks of implanting microchips, ethical issues related to patients’ information confidentiality. It is important to weigh up benefits and risks of using this technology in such patients, the advantages should ideally far outweigh the risks of not using such technology as part of the overall management plan of the patient. Family, care givers and professionals involved in managing such clients should consider inclusion of such practices along with other clinical and welfare matters in the provisions of advance directives by the client.
Overall, I believe that microchipping does help to make a society open, transparent and advanced. However, in some cases it may risk human rights. On the other side it has its advantages and disadvantages in the field of health if done in the best interest of an individual patient.
From Dr Shankar Srinivas Kuchibatla
Consultant psychiatrist based in Dubai
Walking identity cards
It will mean people giving up their privacy
I personally feel that in the midst of the evolutionary technology development, the fine line of ethics and privacy are being overlooked. As it is, algorithms integrated in the applications we use have an input on our ‘moods’ and our interests to then display content relevant to us without us knowing.
We’ve given technology access to all our information but we have learnt to live with it, as giving up our information seems easier than not using a phone. However, microchipping has taken a lead on invasion of privacy. Although, the benefits seems to incorporate the better good for the health and lifestyle of the person, the idea of being a walking identity card and always being monitored almost seems indecorous. The real question is: ‘Who does microchipping really benefit?’ Large co-operations can widely benefit and consume our data as it is deemed to be highly valuable.
The main uses people consider using a chip for are healthcare and child safety. However, if the information that is innocently used, finds its way in the wrong hands, a lot can go astray. By giving access to our whereabouts, personal information, private talks, contacts, pictures and much more, we lose the freedom of speech as everything is being monitored. In conclusion, between our privacy and security being taken away, microchipping is definitely a curse. There are ways to integrate this with patients in the healthcare industry but otherwise, it is definitely taking a negative edge on development.
From Ms Emaan Asad
Web developer based in dubai
Business opportunity
A possible industry waiting to be tapped into
Microchipping people sounds absurd to me. It is mainly being done to pets in order to track them. That’s fine in my opinion. However, people are not the same as animals. They should not be tracked and traced this way – especially because it might be done for unauthorised and illegal purposes. When the security of our information and personal details is concerned, such technologies subject us to great threats.
From a business perspective, I would say there’s high potential to have a booming industry in the future that deals with microchipping people but the main concern is that the chances of information getting leaked and misused is very high. Who would guarantee that a business providing microchips would be ethical? We need to learn from past instances like the recent social media platform scandals. It can quickly turn into a complete invasion of privacy and misuse of information.
From Mr Hassan Ahmad
Business consultant based in Sharjah
Future possibilities
As the technology is perfected, the possibilities can be endless
I wouldn’t call microchipping a curse, apart from what is shown in science fiction movies. I believe that microchipping will be the way of the future and most likely inevitable, judging from where things are going. As humans, we will need to keep up with artificial intelligence and that will either mean us combining it into our lives or choosing to be left aside. Already our smartphones are an extension of our bodies whether we like it or not.
According to me, the benefits of inserting a microchip into people outweigh the risks. It can help humans live longer by being a breakthrough in the medical field. Also, as we refine the technology it can help increase productivity and effectiveness just by possibly downloading skills. However, in reality how far are we from achieving this? My answer is: We are very far. We don’t yet understand the fundamentals of neuroscience enough and advancements are very slow. So, realistically the use of microchips in humans has quite a limited scope right now.
I believe, when talking about future technologies - the greater danger lies in unregulated artificial intelligence and that has a much riskier outcomes than microchips that are currently underdeveloped and need much more time to reach a stage sophisticated enough to trigger real threats. If that level is ever reached, governments need to step in and regulate the technology to protect consumers and more importantly, ensure our safety.
From Mr Anthony Reymond
Machine learning engineer based in Dubai
Poll results
Do you think microchipping can be the way to the future?
Yes, it will be effective in a fast paced society we are moving towards: 20%
I only approve it for its benefits in the health and medical field: 15%
No, it can backfire in many ways: 65%
Have Your Say
Is microchipping the way to having a truly open and transparent society?
Is it just a sophisticated way of surveillance?
Is it revolutionary in the field of healthcare?
Is invasion of privacy people’s main concern with microchipping?
