Popular Press
"Cyber-Humans: Our Future with Machines" - An Interview with Prof. Woodrow Barfield
Tech and Law Center
(2016)
Abstract
That’s an interesting question for several reasons- and there is disagreement as to what the definition should be. Generally, I think we are transitioning from human as user of technology, to the human becoming the technology- of course this transition raises many ethical issues and stresses the law in many ways. At any rate, the definition of a cyborg used by many is a person whose physiological and mental functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device. Similarly, Joel Garreau, author of Radical Evolution, states that a cyborg consists of a human body that has been “altered and augmented” with machine technology. But given that prosthetics and other cyborg technologies are becoming part of the human body and can be modeled with control theory, I extend the definition of a cyborg to include the concept of:(1) closed-loop feedback,and(2) that the technology being integrated into the human body has computational ability. Further, I think that in the twenty-first century the use of devices worn on the body or implanted within the body, will provide people functionality which will enhance or go beyond current human abilities. I’m somewhat of a “Kurzweilian,” thus I think that under the law of accelerating returns, “cyborg” technology will continue to improve exponentially and eventually be implanted into the human brain allowing us to connect to the internet and control technology by thought alone. Here I should point out the groundbreaking work of Miguel Nichoelis at Duke University on brain-computer interfaces, Theodore Berger on the design of an artificial hippocampus at the University of Southern California, Steve Mann’s work at the University of Toronto, and Kevin Warwick’s early proof-of-concept study to implant a sensor into his body.
Keywords
- Cyborg,
- Robot Ethics,
- Robot Law,
- Human-Robot Interaction
Disciplines
Publication Date
March 21, 2016
Citation Information
Yueh-Hsuan Weng and Woodrow Barfield. ""Cyber-Humans: Our Future with Machines" - An Interview with Prof. Woodrow Barfield" Tech and Law Center (2016) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/weng_yueh_hsuan/73/