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The Technological Future

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Cyber-Humans

Abstract

Let me start the book with a controversial and bold statement—our future is to merge with artificially intelligent machines! How I reached that conclusion is the subject of this book. I don’t mean to imply that in the coming decades we humans will look and act like robots on an assembly line, rather, that we will be equipped with so much technology, including computing devices implanted within the brain itself, that we will have been transformed from a biological being into a technology-based being, evolving under laws of technology, more so than under the laws of biological evolution .

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Of course, while seminal robot experts and artificial intelligence pioneers such as Hans Moravec hold the view that our future is to merge with machines, many experts disagree, and others argue that humanity should stop this outcome from occurring.

  2. 2.

    Dwight Holland, Dawn J. Roberson, and Woodrow Barfield, 2001, Computing Under the Skin, in Woodrow Barfield and Thomas Caudell (eds), Fundamentals of Wearable Computers and Augmented Reality, CRC Press.

  3. 3.

    Woodrow Barfield and Thomas Caudell, id.; Woodrow Barfield and Thomas Furness (eds.), 1995, Virtual Environments and Advanced Interface Design, Oxford University Press.

  4. 4.

    Perhaps Ray Kurzweil is most recognized for his ideas about the Law of Accelerating Returns discussed in his seminal book, Ray Kurzweil, 2006, The Singularity is Near, When Humans Transcend Biology, Penguin Books.

  5. 5.

    William Gibson, 2003, Burning Chrome, Harper Voyager Press. Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” in the 1980s.

  6. 6.

    Sidney Perkowitz, 2004, Digital People: From Bionic Humans to Androids, Joseph Henry Press.

  7. 7.

    See Human enhancement, at: http://www.fidis.net/resources/identity-use-cases-scenarios/human-enhancement-robots-and-the-fight-for-human-rights/.

  8. 8.

    Patrick Lin and Keith Adney, 2014, Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics, MIT Press.

  9. 9.

    Rory Cellan, Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind, BBC News, at http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540; Ellie Zolfaghariford and Victoria Woollastan, 2–15, Could robots turn people into PETS? Elon Musk claims artificial intelligence will treat humans like ‘labradors’, at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3011302/Could-robots-turn-people-PETS-Elon-Musk-claims-artificial-intelligence-treat-humans-like-Labradors.html.

  10. 10.

    Human enhancement, robots, and the fight for human rights, at: http://www.fidis.net/resources/identity-use-cases-scenarios/human-enhancement-robots-and-the-fight-for-human-rights/.

  11. 11.

    M. E. Clynes and N. S. Kline, 1960, Cyborgs and Space, Astronautics, 26–27, 74–75.

  12. 12.

    Posthuman, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posthuman.

  13. 13.

    Id.

  14. 14.

    Kate Hartman, 2014, Make: Wearable Electronics: Design, Prototype, and Wear Your Own Interactive Garments, Maker Medic Inc. Publisher.

  15. 15.

    Theodore Berger, Artificial Hippocampus, in Memory Implants, MIT Technology Review, at: http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants/.

  16. 16.

    Theodore W. Berger, Dong Song, Rosa H. M. Chan, Vasilas Z. Marmarelis, Jeff LaCoss, Jack Wills, Robert E. Hampson, Sam A. Deadwyler, and John J. Granacki, A Hippocampal Cognitive Prosthesis: Multi-Input, Multi-Output Nonlinear Modeling and VLSI Implementation, IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2012 Mar; 20(2): 198–211, doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2012.2189133.

  17. 17.

    Human Enhancement Technologies—Edging towards the Cyborg? at: http://www.scl.org/site.aspx?i=ed31780.

  18. 18.

    UK Equity Act of 2010.

  19. 19.

    Neil Harbisson, BBC News, The Man Who Hears Color, at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29992577.

  20. 20.

    Gowri Ramachandran, Against the Right to Bodily Integrity: Of Cyborgs and Human Rights, 2009, Denver Law Review, Vol. 187, 1–57.

  21. 21.

    Bill Hathaway, 2014, Yale Researchers Reconstruct Facial Images Locked in a Viewer’s Mind, http://news.yale.edu/2014/03/25/yale-researchers-reconstruct-facial-images-locked-viewer-s-mind; also in Neuroimage. 2014 Jul 1;94:12–22. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.03.018.

  22. 22.

    Bill Hathaway, Yale researchers reconstruct facial images locked in a viewer’s mind, at: http://news.yale.edu/2014/03/25/yale-researchers-reconstruct-facial-images-locked-viewer-s-mind.

  23. 23.

    Yasmin Anwar, 2011, Scientists Use Brain Imaging to Reveal the Movies in Our Mind, at: http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/09/22/brain-movies/.

  24. 24.

    Karen Weintraub, 2014, Scientists explore possibilities of mind reading, at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/04/22/mind-reading-brain-scans/7747831/.

  25. 25.

    Id.

  26. 26.

    Miguel Nicolelis, 2012, Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines-and How It Will Change Our Lives, St. Martin’s Griffin Press.

  27. 27.

    Ben Goertzel, 2014, Between Ape and Artilect: Conversations with Pioneers of Artificial General Intelligence and Other Transformative Technologies, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

  28. 28.

    See generally, Gene Therapy, 2008, at: http://www.marymeetsdolly.com/index.pl?%7C%7Cac=marymeetsdolly&%7C%7Ccm=2c&%7C%7Ccv=1&%7C%7Cpp=20&%7C%7Crp=1&%7C%7Crv=titledescription&%7C%7Csi=00ZKNPHS3VX33PA0I3Z5&%7C%7Csrt=t&%7C%7Csrtin=a&%7C%7Ctr=OIP8JNM0ME&%7C%7Cudid=15&go=50.

  29. 29.

    Francis Fukuyama, 2003. Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution, Picador Press.

  30. 30.

    Maxwell Mehlman, 2012, Transhumanist Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares: The Promise and Peril of Genetic Engineering, John Hopkins University Press.

  31. 31.

    Maxwell J. Mehlman, Tapping Talent in a Global Economy: Biomedical Enhancements: Entering a New Era, Issues in Science and Technology, Volume XXV Issue 3, Spring 2009, at: http://issues.org/25-3/mehlman/.

  32. 32.

    See generally Matthew Liao, et al. 2015, Designer Biology: The Ethics of Intensively Engineering Biological and Ecological Systems, Lexington Books.

  33. 33.

    Ronald Bailey, 2005, Liberation Biology: The Scientific and Moral Case for the Biotech Revolution, Prometheus Books.

  34. 34.

    Francis Fukuyama, id., note 29.

  35. 35.

    Francis Fukuyama, id., note 29.

  36. 36.

    Francis Fukuyama, id., note 29.

  37. 37.

    Illya Somin, 2013, The Case for Designer Babies, The Volokh Conspiracy, at: http://volokh.com/2013/10/21/case-designer-babies/.

  38. 38.

    Id.

  39. 39.

    Lucas Mearian, 2012, Wearable Technology Market to Exceed $6B by 2016, Computerworld, at: http://search.aol.com/aol/search?s_it=topsearchbox.search&s_chn=prt_aol20&v_t=comsearch&q=Lucas+Mearian%2C+Wearable+Technology+Market+to+exceed+%24B+by+2016.

  40. 40.

    Paray Khanna and Ayesha Khanna, Time to Pay Attention to the Virtual Economy, at: http://bigthink.com/hybrid-reality/time-to-pay-attention-to-the-virtual-economy.

  41. 41.

    Nathaniel Popper, 2016, Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money, Harper Press.

  42. 42.

    Emily Foxhall, 2013, O.C. Lamborghini dealership sells car for 91.4 bitcoins, at: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/12/local/la-me-ln-lamborghini-bitcoin-20131212.

  43. 43.

    Issie Lapowski, 4 Big Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence, at: http://www.inc.com/issie-lapowsky/4-big-opportunities-artificial-intelligence.html.

  44. 44.

    Artificial Intelligence is Changing the World and Humankind Must Adopt, Wired, at: http://www.wired.com/2014/07/artificial-intelligence-changing-world-humankindmust-adapt/.

  45. 45.

    Issie Lapowski, id., note 43.

  46. 46.

    Id.

  47. 47.

    Id.

  48. 48.

    Id.

  49. 49.

    Woodrow Barfield, Intellectual Property Rights in Virtual Environments: Considering the Rights of Owners, Programmers and Virtual Avatars, 39 Akron L. Rev., 649 (2006).

  50. 50.

    Transhumansm; Post-Human and Trans-Human, at: http://www.miqel.com/transhumanism_nano/transhuman-posthuman-uberman.html.

  51. 51.

    Kevin Warwick, The Next Step Towards True Cyborgs? at: http://www.kevinwarwick.com/cyborg2.htm.

  52. 52.

    Kevin Warwick, Wikipedia, at: https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Kevin_Warwick.

  53. 53.

    Ray Kurzweil, 2005, Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever, Plume Publisher.

  54. 54.

    Dick Cheney had the wireless function disabled on his pacemaker to avoid the risk of terrorist tampering, at: http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/21/4863872/dick-cheney-pacemaker-wireless-disabled-2007.

  55. 55.

    Steve Mann, Cyborg, 2007, at: http://blog.codinghorror.com/steve-mann-cyborg/.

  56. 56.

    Airport Security vs. Steve Mann, 2002, at: http://it.slashdot.org/story/02/03/14/2051228/airport-security-vs-cyborg-steve-mann.

  57. 57.

    Kyle Russell, 2014, I Was Assaulted For Wearing Google Glass In The Wrong Part Of San Francisco, Business Insider, at: http://www.businessinsider.com/i-was-assaulted-for-wearing-google-glass-2014-4.

  58. 58.

    Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581, 587 (1999).

  59. 59.

    Laura Zuckerman, 2014, Wyoming among states eyeing laws to ban Google Glass while driving, at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/29/us-usa-wyoming-google-idUSBREA0S25A20140129.

  60. 60.

    Dan Levine, 2014, Exclusive: Google sets roadblocks to stop distracted driver legislation, at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-google-glass-lobbying-idUSBREA1O0P920140225.

  61. 61.

    Rodney Brooks, 2003, Flesh and Machines: How Robots will Change Us, Vintage Publisher.

  62. 62.

    Id.

  63. 63.

    Id.

  64. 64.

    Isaac Asimov, Runaround, written in October 1941 and first published in the March 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Runaround is notable for featuring the first explicit appearance of the Three Laws of Robotics, which had previously only been implied in Asimov’s robot stories.

  65. 65.

    Mark Goldfeder, 2014, The Age of Robots is Here, http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/10/opinion/goldfeder-age-of-robots-turing-test/.

  66. 66.

    Id.

  67. 67.

    Id.

  68. 68.

    Rodney Brooks, id., note 61.

  69. 69.

    Cynthia Braezeal, 2004, Designing Sociable Robots, A Bradford Book.

  70. 70.

    Hans Moravec, 2000, Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind, Oxford University Press.

  71. 71.

    Id.

  72. 72.

    Tom Abate, 2005, 2 Way-out views of technology’s role in shaping the future / Inventor predicts the fusion of human and machines; author says let go of technological fixes for humans’ sake, at: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/2-way-out-views-of-technology-s-role-in-shaping-2604873.php.

  73. 73.

    See also, Martine, Rothblatt, 2014, Virtually Human: The Promise—and the Peril—of Digital Immortality, St. Martin’s Press.

  74. 74.

    Perkowitz, id., note 6.

  75. 75.

    Rory Cellan, Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind, id., note 9.

  76. 76.

    Id.

  77. 77.

    China surpassing U.S. with 54.9 petaflop supercomputer, at: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9239710/China_surpassing_U.S._with_54.9_petaflop_supercomputer.

  78. 78.

    Ray Kurzweil, 2003, The Human Machine Merger: Are we Headed for the Matrix? at: http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-human-machine-merger-are-we-headed-for-the-matrix.

  79. 79.

    Ted Driscoll, 2014, Are Humans Equipped for a Big Data World? at: http://recode.net/2014/01/31/are-humans-equipped-for-a-big-data-world/.

  80. 80.

    Steven Jones, Against Technology: From the Luddites to Neo-Luddism, Routledge Press.

  81. 81.

    See generally, Luddites, at: http://www.ascrs.org/sites/default/files/resources/Global%20view%20of%20EMRs.pdf.

  82. 82.

    Id.

  83. 83.

    Ian Steadman, IBM’s Watson is better at diagnosing cancer than human doctors, at: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-02/11/ibm-watson-medical-doctor.

  84. 84.

    Aaron Smith and Janna Anderson, 2014, AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs, at http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/08/06/future-of-jobs/.

  85. 85.

    Martin Ford, 2015, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, Basic Books.

  86. 86.

    Id.

  87. 87.

    Cyborg Luddite Steve Mann on Singularity 1 on 1: Technology That Masters Nature is Not Sustainable, interviewed by “Socrates,” at: https://www.singularityweblog.com/cyborg-steve-mann/.

  88. 88.

    The Industrial Revolution, at: http://www.historydoctor.net/Advanced%20Placement%20World%20History/40.%20The_Industrial_revolution.htm.

  89. 89.

    Liberati G, Dalboni da Rocha JL, van der Heiden L, Raffone A, Birbaumer N, Olivetti Belardinelli M, and Sitaram R. Toward a brain-computer interface for Alzheimer’s disease patients by combining classical conditioning and brain state classification, J. Alzheimers Dis. 2012;31 Suppl 3:S211–20.

  90. 90.

    Ramez Naam, 2010, More than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement, http://Lulu.com.

  91. 91.

    Frank H. Easterbrook, 1996, Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse, University of Chicago Legal Forum, 207.

  92. 92.

    David G. Post, 1998, Cyberspace and the Law of the (Electronic) Horse, or Has Cyberspace Law Come of Age? at: http://www.temple.edu/lawschool/dpost/horse.html.

  93. 93.

    Frank H. Easterbrook, id., note 91.

  94. 94.

    Id.

  95. 95.

    Lawrence Lessig, 1999, The Law of the Horse What Cyberlaw Might Teach, 113 Harv. L. Rev. 501.

  96. 96.

    Jacob Heller and Christine Peterson, Human Enhancement and Nanotechnology, Foresight Institute, at: https://www.foresight.org/policy/brief2.html.

  97. 97.

    Bill Joy, 2000, Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us, Wired Magazine, 8.04.

  98. 98.

    Francis Fukuyama, id., note 29.

  99. 99.

    U.S. v. Jones, 132 S.Ct 945, 565 U.S.__2012.

  100. 100.

    Id.

  101. 101.

    South Korean Robot Ethics Charter, at: https://akikok012um1.wordpress.com/south-korean-robot-ethics-charter-2012/.

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    Woodrow Barfield

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Barfield, W. (2015). The Technological Future. In: Cyber-Humans. Copernicus, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25050-2_1

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