Page 177 - Modern Robotics Building Versatile Macines

CYBORG ODYSSEY 157

that allows some deaf people to hear is integrally connected to the
ear. A prosthetic limb that responds directly to muscular movement
or even neural signals could also be considered a step toward becom-
ing a cyborg. There have also been crude but promising experiments
where light sensors have been directly connected to the optic nerve,
enabling blind people to see low-resolution pictures of objects in
their environment.
An ultimate cyborg is likely to have many such devices, intended
not only to correct disabilities but also to enhance normal human
capabilities greatly or add new abilities entirely. A cyborg potentially
combines the best features of humans and robots.
Kevin Warwick has given several reasons why he has undertaken
rather risky procedures in order to create the first cybernetic links
between the human nervous system and machines. For one thing,
Warwick shares with robotics pundits such as Hans Moravec and
Rodney Brooks the belief that robots will inevitably surpass humans
in intelligence, perhaps in the lifetime of today’s high school stu-
dents.
Warwick suggested in his 2000 letter to the British newspaper the
Guardian that

One realistic alternative to the hand of evolution patting humans on
the back in an “it’s been nice knowing you” way is for humans to
themselves link up much more closely with the circuitry being created.
We humans can evolve into cyborgs—part human, part machine.

This attempt to meet the challenge of a machine-dominated future
was not the only reason Warwick wanted to pursue his cyborg quest.
Being able to link the human nervous system directly to machines
could make great inroads into understanding in detail exactly which
nerve signals control which movements, as well as the relationship
between thoughts and emotions and nervous activity.
Direct nerve links between persons might finally answer
some age-old philosophical questions. As Warwick wrote to the
Guardian, these include: “When you feel pain is it more or less
than my pain? When I think of the color red, is it the same as when
you think of it?”