The age of cyborgs may be closer than we think. The rapid improvement in medical robots, wearable devices and implants means that many people are already half machine, and this trend will only gain momentum. Most notably in the field of medical prosthetics, highly efficient titanium and carbon fiber prostheses are gaining popularity. The use of "blades" by Paralympians has even raised the question of whether they offer advantages over biological limbs.
For decades, myoelectric prosthetics - where artificial limbs read muscle signals, allowing a person to operate the device - has provided patients with mechanical replacement for lost limbs.
Now advances in robotics are leading to hand prostheses that come close to the original in terms of dexterity. The Michelangelo Prosthetic Arm is fully movable and precise enough for tasks such as cooking and ironing.
Scientists have even demonstrated robotic hands that can touch and be controlled by the power of thought. And just last month, another group of scientists showed that installing a standard myoelectric prosthesis with a camera and computer vision system allowed him to "see" and capture objects without having to move a muscle.
Medical exoskeletons are already commercially available, such as the ReWalk and Ekso Bionics devices, designed to help people with spinal cord injuries who cannot stand and walk. In addition, such technologies are used to rehabilitate people after strokes or other injuries, providing them with movement.
Currently, these technologies only serve those who have lost the ability to move partially or completely, but this will not always be so. The pace of development of robotics and artificial intelligence is accelerating, and it is time to start a discussion about the direct application of such technologies in the near future.
Future assistive technologies will not only compensate for the disability of people, but will also improve human potential, take it beyond our natural level. The associated transformational impact will lead to broader social, political and economic issues.
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All this can already be observed in the development of military exoskeletons designed to increase the endurance of soldiers. Oddly enough, Japanese scientists recently came up with the idea of adding them to our limbs, rather than replacing them. The MetaLimbs project provides people with two additional limbs that can be controlled by sensors on their feet.
Last week, Science Robotics published research showing that a soft robotic exosuit was more effective at relieving the load on a runner when not following a person's natural movement patterns, but instead using computer simulations to make decisions about force application.
This suggests that machines can not only significantly increase muscle strength, but also optimize the biomechanics of our movements. And, as the authors of the work note, biomechanics is just one area of research that is carried out to reproduce and, finally, improve our abilities.
Devices like cochlear implants have been used to restore hearing for many years, and there are now a number of experimental attempts to create bionic eyes that will restore vision to the blind. In recent months, there has been a lot of discussion about initiatives to improve our intelligence through neural implants.
Obviously, it will be a long time before people start demanding the amputation of their hand in order to get a new one, shiny and robotic. And it's likely that companies that are actively promoting consumer-grade neurocomputer interfaces are overestimating the number of people willing to undergo voluntary brain surgery.
However, we have already taken the first steps towards integrating our biological selves with machines.
It can be argued that smartphones have already become prostheses designed to enhance memory and communication. And other, even more frank cybernetic additions may appear in our lives.
What does this mean for humanity? Natural evolution has long relied on mutations to provide short-lived but significant benefits to a population. If new prosthetic technologies begin to bring these benefits overnight, the effects can be very heterogeneous.
The main concern is that the latest additions will only be available to the few who can afford them, and in just a few generations, you could be in an elite that will not only surpass the rest of humanity financially, but also physically and cognitively.
At the same time, these technologies persistently promise to restore a decent standard of living for countless people affected by injury or illness. And if they are applied fairly, they will help us solve many of the problems facing society.
The important thing is that the conversation about how to lead us through this stage of our evolution should start now. Since, until now, these devices were created mainly to restore lost functions, we are missing the fact that they can not only restore them, but also create new ones.
ILYA KHEL