Cyborgs and Cybernetics

Introduction

In the years ahead we will witness machines with intelligence more powerful than that of humans. This will mean that robots, not humans, make all the important decisions. It will be a robot dominated world with dire consequences for humankind. The question is - Is there an alternative way ahead?

Humans have limited capabilities. Humans sense the world in a restricted way, vision being the best of the senses. Humans understand the world in only 3 dimensions and communicate in a very slow, serial fashion called speech. But can this be improved on? Can we use technology to upgrade humans?

The possibility exists to enhance human capabilities. To harness the ever increasing abilities of machine intelligence, to enable extra sensory input and to communicate in a much richer way, using thought alone. This possibility is made possible in the form of Cyborgs. A Cyborg is a Cybernetic Organism, part human part machine; it thrives on the inputs both from the living senses and from the machine interface, which acts as an enhancement module.

Dr. Kevin Warwick heads the Cybernetics Department at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom and has taken the first steps on this path, using himself as a guinea pig test subject receiving, by surgical operation, technological implants connected to his central nervous system.

In this seminar, I intend to throw some light on, how exactly the cyborgdom is achieved and what are the future aspects and prospects? Are we witnessing a true revolution in human futuristics or is it going to be just a flight of fantasy? That the future will tell. But for now let us understand what Cyborgs are all about?