Who will Evolve first – Man or Machine?
To put it different way, Will man evolve into a machine or will machines evolve into man? The race is on and both are closer than ever before to transcending to the next level.
It’s a question we should pose now, because at some point in time, we will blur the line between the two and will never have known when it first happened. When you take into consideration the rate at which we are developing new technologies that enable computers to act more human, like using artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and the ability to navigate, maneuver, and negotiate obstacles, it’s easy to speculate that one day, every human trait or capability will be duplicated by intellegent machines.
On the flip side of that, we have technologies that are allowing humans to become more machine like. Starting with modest devices like the humble hearing aids, and ending up with futuristic outfits like the “Luke Arm”. Most poeple have seen the Luke arm by now, a mind controlled prosthetic arm that can be controlled with precision to restore mobility for amputees, allowing them to lift and drink glass of water, shave, or even pick up and hold a kitten. We are now seeing a future that asks us to shed the biological body completely, save for maybe our brains , which we will have learned to interface with computers, robots, and just about anything else that has a circuit board.
Other than the brain itself, most every part of the human body can be exchanged for a synthetic replacement. When you can shop for the perfect body, laser sculpted to your exact specifications and proportions, free from biological decay or aging, free of disease, with the strength of a tank, and made from near unbreakable metal alloy, why settle for this bag of meat our ancestors have been confined to for the last 200,000 years.
As it becomes more common place to transplant your brain into a new body, we will surely see people who want to “pimp their ride” with extreme body modification and will step away from the more traditional human shape, and start developing and inhabiting bodies of many styles, types and shapes. Just like people like to mod their computer cases, we may see body mods with the likes of R2D2, a Cylon Raider, Wall-E , or whatever creative and seemingly crazy ideas people decide to implement. We could also see, for example, someone who has tribal patterns etched into their exoskeleton like tattoos. But instead of using ink, they simply cut away the “skin” to leave a metal pattern behind. Others may still choose a humanoid shape, but choose not to have any skin and go with an all metal body. New skins will require only a touch of a button to load up a predesigned color or pattern so that you could change the way you look in an instant. It will give a whole new meaning to downloading the latests skins.
So now you have a human mind with the body of a machine. Great, let’s looks at what’s happening with robots now. Artificial intelligence is now in full development, and in our future scenario, it has been all but perfected. With Super AI surpassing human intelligence with the ease of a calculator, machines are being upgraded to be more like their human counterparts. Because we have been perfecting stem cell technologies and cloning, we can now grow human brains from little cells and then interface those machines, we will be able to actually grow humans with built in artificial intelligence.
So here we stand at the crossroads where the two interconnect. Standing facing each other are two perfect twins. One is a human body grown from cells in a lab, with artificial intelligence built into it. Facing him is a machine replica, duplicated in every way to look exactly like the human clone, only this machine has a human brain at its core.
The two play chess and the clone with the AI brain beats the human brain all day long, using sophisticated software to calculate billions of possibilities, outcomes, and percentages. They compete at sporting events and the human brain with the machine body wins relentlessly at every event, with superior strength and dexterity, the result of powerful nano motors and synthesized muscles. Both excel at winning debates against human opponents on a regular basis. Both are capable of mimicking emotions, real or not. Both can appear to understand and show empathy for one another.
As we study the two facing each other, the question is posed: Which is more human? Which is more machine? Is the man a machine, or is the machine a man, or are they both the same thing?
If one killed another, would they be held accountable for murder? Does one have more rights than another? Is one superior to the other? Even corporations get protection under law, being considered a “legal person” for all practical purposes. Will we extend these rights to androids?
Of course questions like these will always lead us back to the question of what makes us human and may even delve into why we exist. Let us agree that no one can really agree entirely on what makes us human, but I think fundamentally speaking, humanity is at its very core is the ability to be self aware and to dream of new ideas and the ability to express them. Unfortunately apes can supposedly do the same thing so where does that lead us, other than into a whole new Darwinian Theory debate.
So what really makes us human? At the physical level, you could break us down, bottle us and label us to get to the root of it. What you are left with is DNA. If we are an animal, and we have DNA that designates us as human animals, then once we can duplicate human DNA but control it with software, can it be considered a human? Or even more relevant, is this a person?
Fast forward hundreds of years into the future and we may find that there is nothing left on the planet that rembles traditional humanity. Once we make the “Final Stride” man and machine will be one and the same – the only question is, who will make the clear and concrete step across the lines of evolution first?
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.
