Simon and Rachel are joined by writer and computer scientist Dr. Kate Devlin and digital artist Eric Drass.

Episode summary

We dive into the latest human enhancement developments before getting into pitches. Rach has news of a potential Alzheimer’s vaccine; Kate found a robotic tail at a conference and Eric warns of ‘rooms full of people’ listening as we chat to Alexa, Siri and Google.

Next: pitches from our guest experts, the studio audience and Mother Nature herself.

Eric wants us to have multiple versions of ourselves online, Kate wants a way to know where North is. The audience want lego organs, an eye on our index finger and ‘pain on purchase’ – a device to prevent us buying too much when we’re drunk. Simon's suggestion from nature is quadruplets for all, borrowed from the nine-banded armadillo.

Which will make it onto Rach’s shortlist?

Mentioned this episode

Eric’s Ian Hislop deep fake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkWvkNAbgfg

Kate's robotic tail: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/japan-robotic-tail-intl-hnk-trnd/index.html

An imminent Alzheimer’s vaccine?: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/alzheimers-vaccine-united-neuroscience

Tech companies listen when we talk to our virtual assistants: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/19/tech/siri-alexa-people-listening/index.html

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