The Final Stride
There exists a point in time that is closing in on us that I like to refer to as “The Final Stride”. As humanity continues to evolve, mankind is taking steps towards becoming more machine like. At the same time, machines are exhibiting human traits and are evolving them at astonishing speeds. As we each get closer to each other, we will eventually reach the tipping point, or critical mass. That ‘final stride’ is where man and machine step into and occupy the same space, simply becoming one.
You don’t have to look far to see evidence of the growing trend, proving that people are comfortable with artificial accessories. From the cane to the hearing aid, humans have been upgrading with hardware as far back as time can tell. In the 1940’s with the introduction of pacemakers, we began using what can be loosely defined as artificial intelligence to tell our heart when to beat; and androids have been walking the planet since. We have seen the subtle introductions into everyday life, like in our grandfathers hearing aid – nothing that seems too impressive technology wise until you look at the bionic limbs that are being developed right now, allowing amputees to control a very realistic looking and feeling appendage( like an arm) with the power of thought, as most able bodied people can. To this effect, we see humans sporting bodies with more embedded hardware and even smarter software to help control it.
At the other side of the spectrum, development in the robotics field is growing faster than can be reported, as scores of scientists race to develop the smartest AI and the most realistic androids. Using multitudes of small motors, developers are striving to create a machine that moves as fluidly as the human does and can mimic facial expressions across a wide range of emotions. Software engineers are trying to program a software brain that can outthink a human and trick people into believing that they are conversing with another person when they are really chatting with a sophisticated artificial intelligence program. As it is, it is no longer even considered a feat for a computer to beat a human chess champion.
Eventually, you will have a program smart enough to pass itself off as a human. If this was installed in a human body and could control it, people would believe it to be a human. You could also have a real human, but have replaced every human body part with a mechanical stunt double. Having replaced every part except the brain, you still have a human being, but with an artificial body.
So we enter into the Final Stride, the moment where humans and robots become interchangeable. As easily as hot swapping a hard drive or USB stick, people will be able to install smart devices directly into the human body. Imagine a world, where you simply plug a small device into your hand and suddenly you have a full gaming console with images beamed directly to your retina cords, providing the sharpest 3-D High Definition possible straight to your brain.
A phone built in permanently via a nanoscopic chip just under your jaw. You can simply think most of your conversation, and a small computer will convert your thought to words and transmit it to your caller in your own voice. We wont give it too much thought, after all, it will probably be the just another of the latest and greatest iPhone or BlackBerries models. But more and more, we will be connecting ourselves into the grid, attaching more hardware and upgrades. Because we simply must have the best, we will want brain accelerators and memory recall apps to think quicker and improve our memory. We will teach our brains to store data in tables like databases and to recall images or music by query. Still we are humans, differentiated by the ability to exorcise self awareness, to contemplate life, to create art, and to feel. Even as we dispose of our biological shell for our newer upgraded bodies, we cling to our humanity and live with our emotional pain and pleasure.
Also evolving are computers that learn the way a human brain does. They are built to mimic the human mind that scientists have been unlocking the secrets to for years now. As mankind’s understanding of the mind broadens, we figure out how the brain develops, and what areas control the many complicated aspects of our bodies. With this understanding, comes the ability to recreate its processes. The implications are that over time, this technology will be perfected and we will have the ability to design computers that compute with the complexity of the human brain but the speed of tomorrow’s super computers. There is little doubt that emotions can be recreated, considering the amount of memory and computing power likely to be available. It will be commonplace to have computers and robots running sub programs for emotions like ‘love’ , ‘happiness’, and it is quite possible that self teaching AI will learn to program modules for “anger’, ‘jealousy’, or even ‘hate’. When a computer is capable of loving and hating, has it acquired the element of humanity? If it was in a human body? And survived for several years living as a human, developing relationships, forming bonds, contributing to the community. If someone were to come along a “kill” that entity – would that person be guilty of murder?
Here’s a moral dilemma – Inside a barn there are two beings. One is a human, but has many parts replaced by hardware such as arms, feet, lungs, heart, an eye, and his nose. His brain is human and completely organic, except for a few neurological upgrades. Also in the barn, is a human prototype, with mostly organic body parts, grown in a lab. The brain is artificial intelligence, but grown from cells into a predefined brain, indistinguishable from a real brain. Both are functional members of society and work at the same factory doing the same job. Both have emotions and can procreate. The barn is burning and a fireman runs in to save them. He can only save one, but cannot tell which is which. The question is, which life is more valuable?
Is a human that is born more valuable than a human form grown in the lab?
Most people would unquestionable pick the human’s life as more valuable, but if you could not tell which is which, then who would you save? Knowing that if you save the wrong one, a human will have died, while something not quite so human lives. What if the humanoid was renowned heart surgeon who has saved many lives, while the human is a serial killer on death row. Again, which life is more valuable?
Once we make the Final Stride, will we even differentiate the two?
Robotic Housekeepers on the Rise
You can’t say we haven’t seen this coming for a while, especially in today’s robot infested world where we are starting to see a new bot for everything. It is still noteworthy however, to acknowledge its arrival on the scene as it represents a whole new generation of smart and capable machines that will be doing more of our menial house labor. This is somewhat of an unfulfilled promise made to us by the Jetsons and other circa 50’s pop culture. Housecleaning robots have always seemed to be just around the corner, but never really here; and to be honest, I think we’re all feeling a little cheated over it. But our redemption may soon be on the horizon, as empty promises are finally coming to fruition. Domestic robots are becoming big business and consumers are already benefiting from housebroken robots already in production.
The first practical robot to find its way into households, only to find itself in a life of servitude was the Roomba. Previous to the Roomba, most household robots were little more than gadgets lending themselves more to flash than to actual utility. But, the Roomba robot vacuum has been universally accepted as a legitimate appliance to use in your home, retiring older manually driven Hoovers.
People used to expect humanoid robots to be our butlers and maids, but most of us have gotten over that. Instead, we are seeing a trend of individual smart appliances doing all the work. Instead of having one robot to do all the chores, you would have many robots, each specializing in one task, and doing one chore a piece. Essentially, a staff of mini mechanical maids.
Delegating more chores to the machines will finally give people more time ponder our existence, watch TV , read, surf the tubes, blog – well, you get the picture. But don’t expect it to be your new best friend though; this particular robot is not your traditional humanoid style bot. It does have an arm and a hand, but that’s about all that looks human about it – the rest of it looks more like some kind of sink attachment. With 18 sensors of 5 different types, it is able to recognize and detect the dishes, carry them without dropping or breaking them, and then turn on the dishwasher. No word on unloading just yet. Developers want to make it smaller and quicker next, to fit in standard kitchens. Made in cooperation with Panasonic, the prototype, dubbed “KAR” is expected to be on the market within 5 yrs.
Once every household gets one of these, there will be no excuse for letting the dishes pile up. Its just too bad it doesn’t come pick it up from us on the couch. But that could be coming up soon too.
This next robot is built to help nurses in hospitals and is good at delivering medication, standing guard at night, keeping you company, speaks eight languages and knows how to use logical reasoning. It can remind you to take your meds, remind you why you have to take your meds, and even try to convince you to take them when your feeling cranky and don’t want to. This could make a great home nurse, and with a few modifications, this can make an excellent house servant, fetching your beers, taking your dirty dishes, carrying in the groceries, and other mindless tasks that were ready to say goodbye to.
Cleaning up after Romi, will be a little house bot that handles what the Roomba doesn’t. Scrubbing hard surface floors. The SCOOBA will clean and scrub your hardwood floors while avoiding obstacles and carpet. Another specialty bot that can dock itself when its job is complete. Like the Roomba, the Scooba can be preprogrammed for a parameter, or it can automatically map out its own route and memorize it.
As we see more of these products coming to market, and life becomes evermore blissful, we will start to take for granted many of today’s dredge work, much the same way we have gotten used to washing machines and indoor plumbing. The next generation will be used to the amenities and conveniences of domestic robots, just as today’s youth are entirely dependent on having cell phones and iPods.
Here at the Human Resistance, we are always on the lookout for anything relating to the future enslavement of mankind at the hands of the machine. While this movement towards domestication does not exactly warrant a code Orange alert, it should just be noted that more households are taking in robots and so the mechanical population is on the rise – not just in laboratories and government funded programs, but now your neighbors and local hospitals are harboring the ancestors of our future overlords. They may be convenient for now, and increasingly so in the future – after all, a nurse’s assistant can certainly lighten the workload in an understaffed hospital – just watch out for when they start building them to replace butchers, or even worse, lawyers.
