The Google Implant

Ever wondered what the future of online search would be, say, ten years from now? The following is an excerpt from an informal conversation between Nate Silver of the FiveThirtyEight fame and Google’s Chief Economist, Hal Varian, where they discuss the concept of a “Google Implant”- a user interface that would allow a person to browse the Web simply by thinking. While this doesn’t suggest that Google or any other organization is actually working on such a technology, it could be something that a lot of people desire, to be able to have such a ‘thing’ inside you that will make you into a cyborg who is plugged to the web at all times.

From The Atlantic:

Nate: What will Google look like in 2020?
Hal: Now you Google things on your computer — of course. And you Google things on your phone. That’s the next stage. And I believe — people may laugh — but I think there will be an implant. So you’ll have it there, and I won’t say it’s necessarily Google, I’ll say the Web, it will access the Web of information.
[...]
Hal: Yeah! Right, see? There are a lot of people that say that. I think you will be continuously connected to the Web in 2020. You’ll be able to pull information in, information out, you’ll be able to record information.
Nate: Sure. But you think that soon, by 2020?
Hal: 2020! That’s away 10 years! Look at where we are and look at where we were 10 years ago. Google’s only 10 years old. So uh, yeah, I think so. We’ll certainly have some kind of implant interface by then, in my opinion.

The Atlantic: “I Am a Cyborg and I Want My Google Implant Already”