How will the supremacy of the human race be ensured in the age of smart robots?
by Yuval Dror *
Robots that demand political rights and the connection of a human brain to a global knowledge network are two of the predictions detailed in a report recently published by the National Science Association in the USA - a collection of scientific studies examining the expected developments in the fields of nanotechnology, biology, computers and psychology in 2020.
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It is difficult to find the appropriate image to describe the next century, but the 21st century may be the century in which humanity will turn into a single, sublime nervous system, connected to one 'brain'" - this is what the Ab Kers report recently published by the National Science Association in the USA states. Dozens of pages in the report are devoted to the connection between biology, nanotechnology and the world of computers. This connection, the authors of the report claim, will result in the creation of dozens of new products that will have a profound effect on human consciousness, including robots that demand political rights, people who connect through their brains to a global knowledge network, and buildings and planes that change their color and shape to adapt to the weather. According to the authors, if the recommendations detailed in the report are adopted, this vision will become a reality by 2020.
The National Science Association was established in 50 by the American government by virtue of a law passed by Congress. The purpose of the association, as defined in the law, is "to act for the development of science, for the advancement of the health and relief system, for the security of the nation and more". Between December 3 and 4, 2001, the association convened scientists, intellectuals, and experts from the private, public, and government markets, and they submitted about 50 articles and studies that analyzed the trends that will affect humanity in the next two decades.
During the conference, the participants discussed six key issues: the potential of the convergence of technologies, the expansion of human cognition and communication, the improvement of human health and physical abilities, the promotion of social abilities, the nation's security, and the advancement of science and education. The report published by the association is the result of the conference, and it includes more than 400 pages that present an overall forecast of the expected developments in the fields of nanotechnology, biology, computers and psychology and the way in which these fields will come together in an integrated solution known as NIBC (Nano-Info-Bio-Cogno) .
"The gains inherent in the convergent technology (Convergent Technology) will be expressed in the improvement of the work efficiency, the learning and the cognitive abilities of the people", wrote the editors of the report. "In addition, we anticipate an improvement in the fields of health, creativity and communication between human minds, an improvement in the field of communication between man and machine and treatment of the deterioration of the human brain as it ages. If we make the right decisions today, our predictions will come true in the next 20 years and will move humans towards a golden age that will mark a turning point in human history."
According to the report's editors, throughout history, with the exception of a few moments of genius, humans have not exhausted their full potential. Their physical abilities are limited and deteriorate with age, and they are vulnerable to diseases and accidents. In addition, humans fail to reach a proper level of communication among themselves. However, the authors wrote, "in the coming decades, new tools will appear that will increase our understanding and improve communication between individuals and between groups."
The authors of the report often use the phrase "brain-to-brain communication", and present no less than 20 ways in which the new tools can affect humanity. For example, a fast interface between the human brain and machines will change the way people work and reveal new skills. Computers that will be embedded in clothes will help people monitor their health, monitor the environment, detect risks and more.
The authors of the report also foresee new and efficient robots, which will operate according to human principles and will be aimed at helping humans achieve their goals. Members of different cultures who speak different languages will be able to communicate instantly and overcome language, distance and culture difficulties. Products and buildings, from residences to airplanes, will be built from materials capable of changing according to environmental conditions. Transportation will be cheap, efficient, safe and fast thanks to a uniform system of information and innovative design of vehicles that will achieve maximum efficiency. The potential of outer space will also be revealed through new shuttles and permanent bases in space, and so on.
The authors of the report also deal with the ethical problems that will arise as a result of technological developments. How will society treat a person who recently underwent a brain transplant? What will happen if robots with consciousness similar to human consciousness ask for political rights? Will we get a kosher robot in the government? How will we treat death in an age where people can save and upload parts of their personality to the Internet? How will we ensure the supremacy of the human race in an era where robots will become smarter?
At the end of the conference, the participants called to act for the advancement of science in the fields of the NIBC: scientists and engineers were asked to specialize in at least one of the fields of the NIBC, and the academy was required to reform its education system so that fields of research that had been studied separately until now would be unified. The private sector is called to discover the business potential inherent in these areas, and the government is called to support the establishment of research institutes and more. Only real government support could drive the processes, argued the authors of the study, and noted the decision of the American government from two and a half years ago, to invest more than 600 million dollars in the field of nanotechnology - an investment that placed the US at the forefront of research in this field in the world.
Techno-utopia
Despite the optimistic predictions, not all scientists believe that the utopian technology presented in the report may solve humanity's problems, and the publication of the report sparked heated debates in the scientific community. For example, Jeremy Rifkin, author of a book dealing with biotechnology and globalization, claims that humanity is not built to live up to the vision that scientists put before it. "Human physiology is not designed to deal with a world moving at the speed of light," he said in an interview with CNet.
Rifkin encourages the call for unified research, but argues that society needs to carefully examine which technologies it encourages, given the problems each technology creates. "Some of the damage may be irreversible, especially with regard to biotechnology," he said. According to him, there is a real danger in developing technologies that will create an "artificial womb" in which it will be possible to grow embryos.
Others use their arguments in science fiction films, which they claim reveal some of these dangers. For example, in one of the "Star Trek" movies, the spaceship Enterprise encounters the Borg, a group of cybernetic aliens whose goal is to swallow all life in the galaxy and assimilate them into one collective consciousness. This consciousness controls the consciousness of all the creatures that take part in it, and adapts itself to the environment in which it operates in a way that prevents the possibility of eliminating it.
In conclusion, the opponents of the report claim that before humanity is freed to deal with the issue of the civil rights of robots, the international political system is required to deal with more immediate issues, such as hunger, poverty and oppression in many countries.
* The knowledge website was until the end of 2002 part of the IOL portal from the Haaretz group
