Hey everyone!
I've been reading up on technology lately, and how it will affect us in the future. Some scientists say that humans and machines will eventually become the same - that machines will develop intelligence like ours so it will be hard to tell who's a human and who's a machine, and that us humans will import so many artificial augmentations (like importing neurons into our brains to make us smarter) that we will essentially be like robots. In fact, some scientists right now that are reverse-engineering the brain (finding out how it works) are saying that one day we could even upload our memories, thoughts, and even entire personalities onto a computer.
A lot of people argue that both of these scenarios are impossible - humans are special and unique, and posses something else that is impossible to reproduce in a machine, and that augmenting our bodies artificially is naturally and morally wrong.
What I want to ask you is: with the amount of technology we depend on today (think of how addicted people can get to blackberries, or cell phones, or msn, or even this forum!), do you think this scenario is such a long shot? What do you think about machines and humans becoming the same? Scared? Excited?
I've been reading up on technology lately, and how it will affect us in the future. Some scientists say that humans and machines will eventually become the same - that machines will develop intelligence like ours so it will be hard to tell who's a human and who's a machine, and that us humans will import so many artificial augmentations (like importing neurons into our brains to make us smarter) that we will essentially be like robots. In fact, some scientists right now that are reverse-engineering the brain (finding out how it works) are saying that one day we could even upload our memories, thoughts, and even entire personalities onto a computer.
A lot of people argue that both of these scenarios are impossible - humans are special and unique, and posses something else that is impossible to reproduce in a machine, and that augmenting our bodies artificially is naturally and morally wrong.
What I want to ask you is: with the amount of technology we depend on today (think of how addicted people can get to blackberries, or cell phones, or msn, or even this forum!), do you think this scenario is such a long shot? What do you think about machines and humans becoming the same? Scared? Excited?