Is man to man a cyborg?
The US National Intelligence published the report "World trends 2030 of the year: alternative worlds", according to which in the foreseeable future people will have a whole set of superpowers. If Americans are to be believed, then already during the life of the current generations, the “superpowers” will easily be implanted into the human body - night vision, mega memory and the ability to develop incredible speeds will become quite common. Cyborg will live next to ordinary people in megacities, and anyone with the availability of funds will be able to redesign themselves into superman with the help of plastic surgery.
Questions immediately appear a lot. Is it dangerous to excessively introduce artificial elements into the human body? Where is the line that will distinguish a person from a cyborg? Will it be possible to cybernize the brain or even replace it with another? And extend life with all these improvements? Will cyborgs take root?
As it turned out, it is not necessary to turn to experts from abroad for the answers - the problem of technical re-equipment of a person is closely involved in Russia. Moreover, domestic researchers and enthusiasts have advanced in this, perhaps even further than the Americans.
In any case, based on the developments of our scientists, it is already possible to draw far-reaching futuristic conclusions. Some of them were presented to Rosbalt by one of the ideologists of the universal human cyberization, Dmitry Itskov, a Russian billionaire, a "transhumanist" and the founder of the Russia 2045 public movement, whose members are leading experts in the field of interfaces, robotics and artificial organs, including , the project of creating an artificial human body (avatar).
“The functions of any organ - vision, hearing, touch, thinking and motor activity - can be improved using cybernetic technologies,” Itskov explains. “When will this happen? Judging by today's pace of development of robotics and neuroprosthetics, very soon. Cybernetic technologies are already being used for the production of auditory implants, bionic prostheses of the extremities, as well as internal organs, up to the prosthetic heart. For the best ten years, artificial limb prostheses can be expected, which, both externally and in terms of the number of degrees of freedom, will not be inferior to anything human. It will take about the same amount of time to improve the visual prostheses to such an extent that they will exceed biological human vision. The first neuroprostheses will appear in medical practice already after 5 years. Very soon we will see people who use these technologies for medical reasons. And by the year 2030, it will be possible to observe a real boom in their use. "
“Of the latest achievements, we can mention Argus 2, a retinal prosthesis recently introduced into clinical practice, which allows seeing absolutely blind people around the world. Or DEKA Arm System, which can be called a breakthrough in the creation of artificial limbs, because it allows such complex manipulations like turning the key in the lock and fastening the zipper.In addition, in the United States, with the support of the Advanced Research Agency at the Ministry of Defense, Darpa began to develop neuroprostheses capable of restoring to promote brain activity in people with disabilities with damaged parts of the brain, "notes Dmitry Itskov.
In this regard, he gives two examples. A resident of Austria after an electric shock, lost both hands. Subsequently, he was installed bioelectric prostheses that can bend and pick up objects, while they are controlled by brain impulses with the help of supersensitive sensors. And in one of the laboratories in the United States created neurochip, which enabled a woman, paralyzed after a stroke, to bring a glass of water to her mouth - sending a mental order to the artificial hand. In addition, as expected, retinal implants will allow people to see in the dark, and the latest neural interfaces will help manage the most sophisticated technology, instantly memorize gigabytes of data and do astronomical calculations. "You ask how it will affect the rehabilitation of people with disabilities? In the most wonderful way," Itskov convinces. ".
“In theory, any human organ can be replaced by another, artificial,” says another member of the Russia-2045 project, Alexander Kaplan, psychophysiologist, doctor of biological sciences, professor, head. the laboratory of neurophysiology and neurointerfaces at the biological faculty of Moscow State University. As a physiologist, he does not see any particular problems in creating artificial human organs, including such important ones as the liver and the heart. However, in his opinion, the situation with the artificial brain is much more complicated. “Some functions of the brain can be reproduced and even improved,” Kaplan argues. “For example, those related to solving computational tasks, memory, perception. But there is a function that cannot be reproduced by technical devices — the creation of a working model of the external world, our internal the world of mental images ... "
Nevertheless, on the portal of the Russia-2045 project, Alexander Kaplan outlines rather optimistic scenarios for human cybernization: “Using the interface, you can give the brain peripheral devices, manipulators, sensors, and a movement system. "faulty" organs and stop only at creating a mobile Robot with a neural interface for control from the human brain, then if funds are available, this project can be implemented in the next five years. By the time it becomes possible to maintain the life of the brain in an artificial environment, biotechnological robots will have reached the perfection of form and will look like a decent human body.
All the prerequisites for such a development situation. Already today there are neural interfaces that directly connect an artificial mechanical limb with the human central nervous system - and this is the first step to create a cyborg.
What organs of the human body is the easiest to make? According to the head of the Laboratory of Mathematical Neurobiology at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Frolov, these are the kidneys, the heart, and the lungs. And worst of all, liver prosthetics are amenable to it. However, it comes to her. The time will come when everyone will be offered a difficult choice: to remain human or transform into a cyborg.
“The British man Nigel Ekland because of his bionic prosthesis has long been called a“ cyborg ”and a“ terminator, ”Dmitry Itskov notes.“ Today you can call it any person with a pacemaker or auditory implant. But, in my opinion, you shouldn’t single out a class of people whose life has become more valuable due to technological devices, not an artificial limb or a prosthesis of an internal organ makes a person less human, and the quality of these organs will be so high that their presence in the human body lzya will recognize with the naked eye ... First of all, these technologies can and should be used for medical reasons, but over time they will cease to be inferior in functional biological human organs and will find the perfect compatibility with the body. "
Not so long ago, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin spoke on the same subject. According to him, in 2013 in Russia, a program has been launched to create combat robots that are as “compatible” as possible with humans. Intelligent control system technology, weapons and robots, which will be included in the equipment of the Russian soldier, will have a number of features: for example, a "copying" suit, "sensible" manipulators and 3D-sight. The soldier-operator will be able not only to transfer all his movements precisely to the military android robot, but also to receive from him similar feedback. In fact, the machine operator will be in its "reality". “Nothing like this has yet been created in the world,” Rogozin stressed. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2015 year.
However, is it dangerous to excessively introduce artificial elements into the human body to improve its capabilities? Where is the threshold of artificiality for the body and brain? What criteria should it be expressed in?
“In my opinion, the threshold of artificiality does not exist,” Itskov believes. “Moreover, the task necessary for humanity is to create a completely artificial immortal body for the human self. It will not hurt, grow old, and be able to withstand radiation, high and low pressure , to conquer the depths of the ocean and the Grand Cosmos. Over time, these copies of a person, controlled by thought using neural interfaces, will become an affordable mass product like a car. Avatar will become a cult and fashionable gadget like the iPad today, iPhone or home 3-D cinema. Children will play with avatars as if with toys. In the industry, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the military sphere there will be a “revolution of avatars” - because they, as they say, do not drown in water and do not burn in fire. "
Moreover, according to scientists, a person is able not only to supplement his body with mechanisms, but also to pour into machines. Augmented reality systems, the first prototypes of which have already been created, enable us to use truly gigantic amounts of information that are inaccessible with physical perception. According to Itskov, the logical procedure for the fusion of the human brain with the technological device is the connection of the brain with the full prosthesis of the human body to prolong life.
“An artificial body will not become an exact copy of a biological organism,” he specifies. “It will be a functional copy of a person, allowing us to have the usual five senses, move and, perhaps, feel like a person, but - designed according to different principles. And this, of course Perhaps, moreover, a good telepresence avatar can be created already in 2-3 of the year. According to our calculations, a person’s head can be transplanted to a fully artificial body (full body prosthesis) in 7 in years. so complicated, but the technology can be implemented in the next 10-12 years. And the first such experiment in small animals, is likely to be carried out in a year and a half. "
Is it possible in this case to create a brain prosthesis? "Yes," Itskov assures, "it is absolutely possible. I am convinced of this, because I am aware of the current work on the creation of prostheses in certain parts of the brain that are being carried out now in the US in experiments with animals, about the beginning of work on creating brain prostheses for people. Plus, the scale of European and American projects to create activity maps and models of the human brain is also impressive. Sooner or later, an artificial brain for our "I" will be created. It will not appear immediately, but gradually, by successively replacing individual fragments with electronic chips, as a result, a substantial part of the brain will no longer be biological, that is, the brain can be disassembled, some damaged fragments can be replaced with artificial ones, and then they can be assembled again, like puzzles or Lego".
A separate, and perhaps the main question - how to transfer the consciousness of a person, his soul, into a brain prosthesis. Is it even possible to fully and adequately create and reproduce a brain model on a computer, and then copy and transfer information from the brain to another medium without loss of data and with complete preservation of the personality? What do scientists know about it? Is it possible that consciousness will simply die, become worthless along with the outdated biological brain? This threat, according to many experts, is more than real.
But Dmitry Itskov does not frighten: "Transferring" I "into an artificial body can be done by gradually replacing biological parts of the brain with artificial ones - neuroprostheses, and also by creating artificial networks consisting of the smallest sensors - nanopoly. Modern scientists have the quantum nature of our consciousness. And perhaps, along with the strategy of a gradual transition from the biological to the non-biological brain, quantum teleportation from the biological to the artificial brain will be feasible. to extend the life of a particular person, it is not enough just to copy information into an artificial brain and, accordingly, into an artificial body. It is important to understand what we carry - what is “I”, “consciousness”, “soul.” Research in this area is perhaps the most an important and ambitious task for science for the next 30-50 years. "
Who knows, it is possible that someday you can transfer your consciousness from one avatar to another as easily as you can change a sim card in a mobile phone or tablet today. I took it and copied myself to a new gadget.
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