Human's sudden interest in biotechnology and gene editing seem to gear towards dictating our evolution, thereby producing a new kind of human.
A brain implant allowed quadriplegic Bill Kochevar, who is paralyzed from the neck down to control his arm, almost like the way he used to. We have deaf children with cochlear implants so that they can hear and robotic limbs to replace those that have been amputated or severed.
Elon Musk and Neuralink
Just recently, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk announced putting up a new biotech company called Neuralink, which aims to integrate human brains to computers. He fears that AI would one day take over the world and that our only hope to fight back is to merge the human brain with machines.
Hertz Foundation Fellow Edward Boyden
Edward Boyden, a professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, also a Hertz Foundation Fellow and a recipient of the Hertz Foundation Grant for graduate study in the applications of the physical, biological and engineering sciences, is a proponent of developing a "brain co-processor."
Brain co-processor
The brain co-processor Boyden envisions would interact intimately with the biological brain that would be capable of uploading and downloading information to and from it. As added features, the device would augment human capabilities in areas of memory storage, decision-making and cognition. The first hurdle is to fully understand the brain at a much deeper level.
Boyden's vision is not far off from what Musk is proposing; Boyden believes humanity is in its infancy in having man merge with machines. Without question, brain activity involves electrical impulses that pass through the body's nervous system to and from the brain. These can be translated and processed by devices we have now, though not at a level that is commonly featured in science fiction movies.
The predictions of Ray Kurzweil
With current advancement in technology, Google's director of engineering, Ray Kurzweil, stated back in 2015, that man is on the verge of linking our brains with AI. The futurist predicts that it might come in the 2030s. Kurzweil says the human brain would soon merge with computer networks to form a hybrid artificial intelligence.
With a batting average of 78-percent, many of Kurzweil's predictions have already come true. He correctly predicted the rise of portable computing, wearable computing, wireless technology, eyeglass displays and the digital form for books, music, and movies. With Musk and Boyden at work, it would probably not take that long before his prediction would come to fruition.
