Wednesday, July 9

CONCERNS : Humans vs. Robots vs. Cyborgs vs. Humans


My entire point of writing Humans vs. Robots vs. Cyborgs vs. Humans was my concern towards the issue since I was shocked by the possibilities. I quickly updated my thoughts on my blog, but then I asked myself this whole issue must be a within many people's mind. I tried searching the net and I was guilty that there are many people who had better views to offer than mine. I was not the first one to get this 'shock'.

Tom Woods in a news group writes ...

"I'm not totally up on the fine distinctions of the terminology, but it is my understanding that a "cyborg" is a human that has been enhanced by non-organic parts. Metallic skeletons, computer enhanced brains, that sort of thing. So a cyborg would still be subject to the same motives that any human might experience, they would just be able to act upon those motives with greater ability. And therein lies the story...."

The original discussion was started by AliasMoze with the subject "Stephen Hawking protects us from robots". Alias has posted in reponse to Stephen Hawkings recommendations & views in OBSERVER artcicle Alter our DNA or robots will take over, warns Hawking: Nick Paton Walsh. The Gaurdian also maintain a page on issue related to genes; the devlopment and the ethical issues.

From the same discussion thread I also obtained a link to Wired Article Why the future doesn't need us through the same discussion. The article is written by Bill Joy, cofounder and Chief Scientist of Sun Microsystems, was cochair of the presidential commission on the future of IT research, and is coauthor ofThe Java Language Specification.

The Concern :

"Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make humans an endangered species" - Bill Joy

Bill in his article quotes Ray Kurzweil author of The Spiritual Machines

"If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we can't make any conjectures as to the results, because it is impossible to guess how such machines might behave. We only point out that the fate of the human race would be at the mercy of the machines." AND

"Of course, life will be so purposeless that people will have to be biologically or psychologically engineered either to remove their need for the power process or make them "sublimate" their drive for power into some harmless hobby. These engineered human beings may be happy in such a society, but they will most certainly not be free. They will have been reduced to the status of domestic animals"

The original author of these thoughts is Theodore Kaczynski - the Unabomber. His bombs killed three people during a 17-year terror campaign and wounded many others. Download his manifesto

Bill Joy again quotes George Dyson from Darwin Among the Machines,

"In the game of life and evolution there are three players at the table: human beings, nature, and machines. I am firmly on the side of nature. But nature, I suspect, is on the side of the machines."

There are many such examples, quotes and concerns in the brilliantly written Wired article. Bill Joy has written an excellent piece of work. I now remember that he had also appeared in the documentary on Discovery Channel by which I was shocked. Please have a serious look at the article cos the CYBORG IS IN THE MAKING