Robot-Human Merger May Be Coming Soon
We can rebuild you. Make you stronger. Faster. And then maybe make you obsolete? Yes, that's the word from futurists and transhumanists, which are fancy words for the types of people who study the effects of technology on human life and physiology.
One noted futurist, Dr. Ray Kurzweil, has predicted something called the Singularity, which will be the "culmination of the merger of our biological thinking and existence with our technology, resulting in a world that is still human but that transcends our biological roots."
In short, we will be assimilated, and the future may be quite a bit different from 'The Six Million Dollar Man.'
Kurzweil's ideas may sound a little far-fetched, but his predictions have turned out to be right before. In the 1980s he predicted a handheld device that would allow blind people to read printed text. Wouldn't you know it, that device was introduced to the public this year. He also had a few things to say about the explosive growth of the Internet during the last decade. Something tells us he's got his finger on the pulse of future tech.
So, where does that leave us now and in the years to come? By the 2030s, Kurzweil says, we will become more machine than human, with the ability even to upload our minds to the Internet, spending our time in virtual worlds. Think of it as Second Life on steroids.
What are more advances that Kurzweil and other scientists say are likely to come?
Already in development is something called a respirocyte, a robotic red blood cell replacement that could allow you to hold your breath for 15 minutes. Specialized nanoparticles may soon be able to locate tumors and possibly destroy them.
But as with all advances, the merger between humans and machines poses risks. Some futurists warn that advanced artificial minds could make humans obsolete or subservient, something we'd like to avoid. (We like our Roombas just as capable as they are, thank you.)
As Kurzweil notes, "Technology has always been a double-edged sword." [Source: CNN.]
Filed under: Computers
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zip @ Jul 19th 2008 9:14PM
I LIKE the idea of artificial homoglobin. That would be awesome! The #1 killer of accident victims, especially car victims, is bleeding to death or blunt trauma that inteferes with blood flow, or the heart damaged and it stops (dead). Bruising can be bodily repaired, and so can bones...but bleed out deprives the body of life giving oxygen until help arrives. If we could replace bio homglobin with something far surperior in millions of folks...that can dispense O2 for over 15-30 minutes without a heartbeat, for instance...many who are given up for dead would miraculously survive traditional "death." If "comatose" patients could be put on heart-lung machines at the ER, there is no telling HOW MANY heartattack and stroke victims could be saved. We'd all live to be 120, or beyond, once tissues can be kept alive longer. This should be a research priority.
Zip @ Jul 19th 2008 9:28PM
Just some more "research" suggestions. (I'm sort of like an idea man.)
On the respirocyte, a robotic red blood cell replacement:
The nanoparticles could have a "sense" that blood flow has been severely dimished. (Weak heatbeat detected or rising CO2.) It doesn't matter if it's through accident or stroke. The nanites would start "collecting" O2 from fatty tissue or other non-brain tissue (nerve) in its location, and freeing the oxygen, or stripping it from CO2 directly, so the brain or other oxygen deprived tissues in its location can survive longer during accidents. Such a dramatic breakthru would make 21st century participants almost seem immortal. This would be an EXCELLENT injectable feature to give our soldiers just before combat to increase survival. The CPU/Human merger is also quite intriguing, btw.
marie @ Jul 20th 2008 5:50AM
Ever see "Bladerunner?"
Dagney @ Jul 20th 2008 11:42AM
Just imagine what this technology could mean when it comes to harvesting, preserving, and transplanting organs!
Naturalman @ Jul 20th 2008 5:05PM
Sounds like the Matrix to me who is destined to be a slave!
Naturalman
ural @ Jul 21st 2008 12:18AM
Being physically sick without a cure requires more than hope. Hope is good but mechanics are a better bet. Lost your leg, a limb, your eye or your kidney. How about a bad set of lung or lost your heart. From your toes to your hearing, there is not one thing that modern engineering cannot improve. Why live without?
Re: Slaves; not even
Alex @ Jul 21st 2008 12:47AM
Does this mean I can be a cyborg someday? Cool!
A. Magnus @ Jul 21st 2008 3:56PM
The problem with all this religious-like devotion to technology is that it does NOTHING to solve our innate flaws as humans. Being able to run faster, breathe underwater or live without sleep won't necessarily make you any less of a jerk when it comes to dealing with your fellow human beings. It all looks like a giant way to avoid dealing with our own personal issues by keeping us occupied with new toys.
In other words, do you want sociopaths to be able to beat the tar out of you without breaking a sweat? What about bionic pedophiles, how are you going to deal with THAT problem? It's one thing to cure disease or help augment people who lost functionality from accidents or violence. It's another thing entirely to try and recreate the ideals of Hitler's super race (Transhumanism is nothing more than a different name for Eugenics) just because you can do so.
Tom Madison @ Jul 21st 2008 5:18PM
Check out this web site.
www.skynetrobotics.com