Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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. Kevin Warwick 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.
A Cyborg is a Cybernetic Organism, part human part machine. In this we will go through
Kevin Warwick‘s amazing steps towards becoming a Cyborg. The story is one of
scientific endeavor and devotion, splitting apart the personal lives of himself and those
around him. This astounding and unique story takes in top scientists from around the
globe and seriously questions human morals, values and ethics.
Now question is, Will the thought of Cyborg is in favor of Human in the future? What
will happen when man is merged with a computer? There are many questions, but a
proper and good approach towards Cyborg will be beneficial for Humans. Because it is
individual choice for any human that whether he wants extra capabilities by implant
technology and become Cyborg or whether he just want to be mere a man only. Because
electronic tagging can be regarded as a more permanent form of identification than a
smart card. An implant could carry huge amounts of data on an individual, such as
National Insurance number and blood type, blood pressure etc. allowing information to
be communicated to on- line doctors over the internet. Thus Depending on how the
technology is used, there are good and bad effects. So much of this smacks of the Big
Brother. With an implant, a machine will know where an individual is, in a building, ......
at all times. You might not even be able to pay a visit to the toilet without a machine
knowing about it.
2. CYBERNETICS 1
20. CONCLUSION 31
21. REFRENCES 32
WHAT IS CYBORG?
A CYBORG is a Cybernetic Organism, part human part machine. This concept is
bit tricky but let see an example of a CYBORG, You may have seen the movie
TERMINATOR. In that ARNOLD was a CYBORG. He was part man part machine.
Well defination exactly says this, CYBORG can be made by technology known as
CYBERNETICS. What is CYBERNETICS? To understand CYBORG this is the first
step next we will see this.
WHAT IS CYBERNETICS?
Cybernetics is a word coined by group of scientists led by Norbert Wiener and
made popular by Wiener's book of 1948, Cybernetics or Control and Communication in
the Animal and the Machine. Based on the Greek "kybernetes," meaning steersman or
governor, cybernetics is the science or study of control or regulation mechanisms in
human and machine systems, including computers.
Kevin has published over 300 research papers and his latest paperback In the Mind of the
Machines gives a warning of a future in which machines are more intelligent than
humans. He has been awarded higher doctorates both by Imperial College and the Czech
Academy of Sciences, Prague and has been described (by Gillian Anderson of the X-
Files) as Britain‘s leading prophet of the robot age. He appears in the 1999 Guinness
Book of Records for an Internet robot learning experiment and in the 2002 edition for his
Cyborg research..
Brian Andrews
Professor Andrews was trained in Cybernetics, Control Systems and Bioengineering at
the Universities of Reading, Sheffield and Strathclyde. He has held academic and clinical
appointments in the UK, USA and Canada. He is presently Director and Professor of
Biomedical Engineering at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville
Hospital and the University of Reading. He has published more than 300 research articles
on the application of neural prostheses, bioengineering and cybernetics in spinal injury.
Peter Teddy
Peter Teddy MA DPhil FRCS Consultant Neurosurgeon and Clinical Director, Dept
Neurological Surgery, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford Consultant Neurosurgeon, Nat.
Spinal Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Consultant Neurosurgeon, Pain Relief Unit,
Amjad Shad
Mark Gasson
Mark Gasson is a design engineer and has been with the University of Reading for six
years. Having previously specialised in robotics, he joined the Implant project in 2000
as the lead technical engineer and project co-ordinator. Mark received a degree in
Cybernetics and Control Engineering from Reading in 1998, and is currently working
towards his PhD. In addition to the implant research, he keeps active within the
department by teaching bionics and robotics, as well as participating in public
lectures all around the world.
Brian Gardner
Brian Gardner MA (Oxon), BM BCh, FRCP, (Lon &Edin) FRCS Consultant Surgeon
in Spinal Injuries since 1985 and Lead Clinician since 1998 at the National Spinal
Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Hopsital, Aylesbury Bucks.
This research team is made up of 20 scientists, including two who work directly with
Dr. Kevin Warwick: Professor Brian Andrews, a neural-prosthesis specialist who
recently joined this project from the University of Alberta in Canada, and professor
William Harwin, a cybernetics expert and former codirector of the Rehabilitation
Robotics Laboratory at the University of Delaware in the US. The others are a mixture
of faculty and researchers, divided into three teams charged with developing
intelligent networks, robotics and sensors, and biomedical signal processing - i.e.,
creating software to read the signals the implant receives from Kevin‘s nervous system
and to condition that data for retransmission.
They are in discussions with Dr. Ali Jamous, a neurosurgeon at Stoke Mandeville
Hospital in nearby Aylesbury, to insert next implant, although they are stil l sorting
out the final details. Ordinarily, there might be a problem getting a doctor to consider
this type of surgery, but Warwick‘s department has a long-standing research link with
The chip implant technology has the capability to impact our lives in ways that have
been previously thought possible in only sci- fi movies. The implant could carry all
sorts of information about a person, from Access and Visa details to your National
Insurance number, blood type, medical records etc., with the data being updated where
necessary.
My first implant was inserted by Dr. George Boulos at Tilehurst Surgery in Reading
into the upper inside of my left arm, beneath the inner layer of skin and on top of the
muscle. The next device will be connected to the nerve fibers in my left arm,
positioned about halfway between my elbow and shoulder. (It doesn't matter which
arm carries the implant; I chose my left because I'm right- handed, and I hope I will
suffer less manual impairment if any problems arise during the experiment.) Most of
the nerves in this part of the body are co nnected to the hand, and send and receive
the electronic impulses that control dexterity, feeling, even emotions. A lot of these
signals are traveling here at any given time: This nerve center carries more
information than any other part of the anatomy, aside from the spine and the head
(in the optic and auditory nerves), and so is large and quite strong. Moreover, very
few of the nerves branch off to muscles and other parts of the upper arm - it's like a
freeway with only a few on- and off- ramps, providing a cleaner pathway to the
nervous system.
While we ultimately may need to place implants nearer to the brain - into the spinal
cord or onto the optic nerve, where there is a more powerful setup for transmitting
and receiving specific complex sensory signals - the arm is an ideal halfway point.
The second phase of the experiment Project Cyborg 2.0 got underway in March
2002. This phase will look at how a new implant could send signals back and forth
between Warwick's nervous system and a computer. If this phase succeeds with no
complications, a similar chip will be implanted in his wife, Irena. This will allow the
investigation of how movement, thought or emotion signals could be transmitted
from one person to the other, possibly via the Internet. The question is how much
can the brain process and adapt to unfamiliar information coming in through the
In the years ahead we will witness machines with an 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.
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. Kevin Warwick 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.
A Cyborg is a Cybernetic Organism, part human part machine. In this book Kevin
gives a very personal account of his amazing steps towards becoming a Cyborg. The
story is one of scientific endeavour and devotion, splitting apart the personal lives of
himself and those around him. This astounding and unique story takes in top
scientists from around the globe and seriously questions human morals, values and
ethics.
Those of you who are reasonably well educated (a basic requirement is to have read
my book, In the Mind of the Machine), will be aware that the near future will conjure
up machines that can out-think us and which have the potential to control our human
destiny. Unless progress is halted now, which is extremely unlikely, then before long
it will be intelligent machines running the show and not humans.
One realistic alternative to the hand of evolution patting humans on the back in an
"it's been nice knowing you" way, is for humans to themselves link up much more
closely with the circuitry being created. We can enhance our abilities by linking the
workings of the human body directly with technology. We humans can e volve into
cyborgs - part human, part machine. "Surely," I hear you say, "this is all science
fiction." Well, think again.
In late August 1998, I had a silicon chip transponder surgically implanted into my left
arm. With this in place, when I moved around the cybernetics building at Reading
university, doors opened and lights came on automatically. The building's computer
even said hello to me when I arrived in the morning.
In the late summer of 2001 it is planned for me to have a further implant. In this case
the nervous system in my arm will be short-circuited, via a radio signal, with the
nervous system of the computer. We will investigate how my movements can be
remotely controlled and how much my emotions can be directed by the computer. We
will feed in ultrasonic information and try to bring about extra (human) sensory
perception.
In the future, I believe, we will be able to send signals to and from human and
machine brains. We will be able to directly harness the memory and mathematical
capabilities of machines. We will be able to communicate across the internet by
means of thought signals alone. Human speech and language, as we know it, will
become obsolete. Ultimately, humans will become a lower form of life, unable to
compete with either intelligent machines or cyborgs.
If there is one thing I would like said of myself, it is that at least I had a go, at least I
tried to change things, at least I did some science.
I love my job. I would not trade it for anything. Being in a position to investigate
aspects of science about which we presently know little or nothing is fantastic. In the
next few years I will be scratching the surface of telepa thy, electronic medicine,
extrasensory perception and thought control. Who are you when your intelligence is
based partly on your original, restricted human brain and partly on an expandable,
powerful computer brain? Will your values and ethics still be human?
We presently have a very limited knowledge about the world around us, how the
human body works and what is physically possible. Just as a century ago Lord Kelvin
told us that heavier-than-air flying machines were not possible, so today we hear
equally irrelevant rubbish such as that machines will always be subservient to us. One
of my principles is to listen to what the message is and not who is sending it. Often a
young child will make a statement both profound and relevant, while respected senior
academics will show themselves to be complete idiots.
We should not claim things to be impossible in the future simply because we do not
like the thought of them being possible. If a mathematical equation shows something
to be impossible this does not mean it actually is not possible. The future is out there;
I am eager to see what it holds. I want to do something with my life: I want to be a
cyborg.
By means of a computer, it is able to recognise the unique code and, in the case of
an implant, the individual human in question. On picking up the unique, identifying
signal, a computer can operate devices, such as doors, lights, heaters or even other
computers. Which devices are operated and which are not depends on the
requirements for the individual transmitting the signal.
The silicon chip transponder had not, prior to this experiment, been surgically
inserted into a human. It was not known what effects it would have, how well it
would operate and, importantly, how robust it would be. There was the very real
possibility that the transponder might leak or shatter while in the body with
catastrophic consequences! The implant in Kevin Warwick's forearm was
successfully tested for nine days before being removed.
The research team involved with the project is co- led by Professor Brian Andrews,
who assisted in the operation, and includes Mr Mark Gasson. Brian, Kevin and
Mark are all based at the Department of Cybernetics, University of Reading, UK.
The operation, which lasted just over 2 ¼ hours, went very well and has been
declared a success. This is the world‘s first operation of this type.
The array, which has been positioned in the wrist, contains 100 spikes with sensitive
tips – each of these making direct connections with nerve fibres. Wires linked to the
array have been tunneled up Kevin‘s Arm, where they appear through a skin
puncture, 15cm away from the array. These wires are to be linked to a novel radio
They have transpoder in the glass tube so while sterilizing it they had put it into the
hot water and because of the thin glass it was blast as it had became very hot.
They have to think how they can link that chip with the computer as it was
implanted in the forearm of Pr. Warwick.
They have implanted chip in left arm of Pr. Warwick as they were afraid that if
operation failed than he can work on with his right arm as he was righty.
The main thing was to put a chip in the main nerve of arm in such a manner that the
nerve should not be broken as by happing so they may loose Pr. Warwick.
The silicon chip transponder had not, prior to this experiment, been surgically
inserted into a human. It was not known what effects it would have, how well it
would operate and, importantly, how robust it would be.
There was the very real possibility that the transponder might leak or shatter while
in the body with catastrophic consequences! The implant in Kevin Warwick's
forearm was successfully tested for nine days before being removed.
The US Professor and visionary, Norbert Weiner founded the field of Cybernetics in
the 1940‘s. He envisaged that one day electronic systems he called ―Nervous
Prostheses‖ would be developed that would allow those with spinal injuries to control
their paralysed limbs using signals detected in their brain.
The principal investigators Andrews, Warwick and Teddy, lead a large team of
surgeons and researchers including, Brian Gardner, Ali Jamous, Amjad Shad and
Mark Gasson of the world famous National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC)-Stoke
Mandeville Hospital, the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and the University of Reading,
UK. The team are supported by the David Tolkien Trust, Computer Associates,
Tumbleweed and Fujitsu.
A sophisticated new microelectronic implant has been developed that allows two-way
connection to the nervous system. In one direction, the natural activity of nerves are
detected and in the other, nerves can be activated by applied electrical pulses. It is
envisaged that such neural connections may, in the future, help people with spinal cord
injury or limb amputation. The microelectronic chip implant, shown in figure 1,
comprises an array of fine spikes with sensitive tip electrodes. These spike electrodes
are extremely thin, similar in dimension to a human hair. They can safely penetrate
nerve tissue and allow the activity of axons close to each tip to be recorded or
stimulated i.e. the array chip allows a two-way interface.
The device has been inserted into the median nerve of a healthy volunteer –Professor
Kevin Warwick. In this way the basic safety and function of the devic e can be
established before it is explored further in patients. The median nerve contains a
mixture of many individual sensory and motor axons. The sensory axons conduct
signals generated by skin receptors in response to temperature and pressure changes
applied in the region of the thumb, index and middle fingers and palm as illustrated in
figures 1 & 2. Motor axons that are located within the median nerve conduct signals
from the 6 spinal cord to muscles, such as the thenar muscle group located at the base
of the thumb as shown in figure 1 (c). The array was inserted into the median nerve
such that the sensitive tips of the microelectrodes were distributed within the nerve
trunk. Some electrodes can pick up signals from sensory axons whilst others pick up
mainly motor axon signals. Others pick up a mix of the two. The array is connected to
an external amplifier and signal processing system through fine wires passing through
the skin as shown in figure 4.
A main objective, at this stage, is to demonstrate c linical and technical easibility of
implanting the array safely, with minimal discomfort for a prolonged period without
infection.
The team will now attempt to record nerve signals from individual axons with
sufficient fidelity to allow them to discriminate them from background noise. In a
series of tests, specific sensory stimuli (for example light touch, vibration heat etc.)
will be carefully applied to various points on the skin whilst recording the
Professor Warwick will contract his thenar muscles to generate controlled movement
and force whilst the corresponding activity from the microelectrodes will be
examined to determine if motor and sensory activity can be adequately separated.
Even after spinal injury the nervous tissue below the lesion is usually alive and
operating even though it is disconnected from the brain i.e. signals are still being
naturally generated by sensory receptors and transmitted to the spinal cord but are not
perceived by the brain. Similarly, signals are still being put 7 out by the spinal cord
and causing muscles to contract. However, these contractions are reflexive and not
voluntarily controlled contractions. Tetraplegics cannot voluntarily move or feel their
hands; microelectrode arrays could in principle be inserted into the median and radial
nerves. Muscles that control the hand could be activated using electrical pulses to
microelectrodes close to the axons innervating those muscles. Electrical pulses could
be generated precisely using a microcomputer as part of some future neuroprosthesis.
Receptors in the patient‘s skin and muscle will fire as the hand ope ns, makes contact
and grasps an object. The receptor signals would be detected by the microelectrodes
positioned close to their axons and fed out to the controlling microcomputer which, in
turn, would automatically regulate the degree of activation of musc les, so as not to
grip the object too tightly or loosely. It may also be possible to feed back sensory
signals picked up by microelectronic arrays in the hand and impose them onto sensory
pathways above the level of the lesion using another array. These ar rays may even be
inserted into the motor cortex to provide brain signals for the control system, just as
Weiner had envisaged. Other potential applications in spinal cord injury are envisaged,
including, devices to improved bladder and bowel control and perhaps facilitate
standing and walking in paraplegics. Amputees still have living nerves in their stumps
into which microelectrode arrays could be inserted. These nerve stumps still relay
Neural spike events are detected by comparing the instantaneous electrode signal to
level thresholds set for each data channel. When a supra-threshold event occurs, the
signal window surrounding the event is time stamped and stored for later, offline
analysis. The neural stimulator allows for any of the 25 monitored channels to be
electrically stimulated with a chosen repetition frequency at any one time.
One end of the glass tube contains the power supply - a copper coil energized by radio
waves to produce an electric current. In the other end, three mini printed circuit boards
will transmit and receive signals. The implant will connect to my body through a band
that wraps around the nerve fibers - it looks like a little vicar's collar - and is linked by
a very thin wire to the glass capsule.
The chips in the implant will receive signals from the collar and send them to a
computer instantaneously. For example, when I move a finger, an electronic signal
travels from my brain to activate the muscles and tendons that operate my hand. The
collar will pick up that signal en route. Nerve impulses will still reach the finger, but
we will tap into them just as though we were liste ning in on a telephone line. The
signal from the implant will be analog, so we'll have to convert it to digital in order to
store it in the computer. But then we will be able to manipulate it and send it back to
my implant.
The test consists of a series of abstract and day-to-day activities and was specifically
developed to test hand function rather than dexterity. Hand function is in fact
considered more important in the clinical assessment of the hand. Each activity is
measured against time and the subject is asked to start and stop the timer to eliminate
possible misjudgements from the assessor. A standard assessment procedure is
followed to ensure objectivity during the test. The SHAP test has been successfully
proved to be a reliable and repeatable test and it is currently used in several hospitals
across the UK. As can be seen below, the tests carried out show no degredation of
hand functionality resulting from the implant procedure or experiments carried out
during Project Cyborg 2.0.
Overall 97 97 97 98 98
Spherical 97 95 96 96 96
Tripod 95 97 96 99 99
Power 96 96 95 96 96
Lateral 96 97 99 98 98
Tip 97 96 95 98 99
Extension 95 97 98 98 98
ADVANTAGES OF IMPLANT
Going a step further, the individual could be implanted with silicon chip circuitry
which gives out a unique code, identifying the individual concerned. The potential of
this technology is enormous. It is quite possible for an implant to replace an Access,
Visa or bankers card. There is very little danger in losing an implant or having it
stolen!
The technology could be extremely useful for car security. For example, unless a car
recognized the unique signal from its owner, it would remain disabled.
Currently in development is a new implant that will directly interface with the
Professor's nervous system. This will allow the implant to record, identify and
simulate motor and sensory signals, as well as allowing interface of new senses to
the body.
This type of device could allow treatment of patients whose central nervous systems
have been damaged or affected by diseases like multiple sclerosis, to achieve
controlled muscle function. Or it could allow more natural control of prosthetic limbs
using remaining nerve fibres, and alternative senses for the blind or deaf.
Ultimately the research may lead to implants being placed nearer to the brain or into
the spinal cord. We may be able to artificially affect emotions, perhaps abandoning
the concept of feeding people chemical treatments and instead achieve the desired
results electronically. Cyberdrugs and cybernarcotics could very well relieve clinical
depression, or perhaps even be programmed as a little pick- me-up on a particularly
bad day.
If initial experiments are successful, then implants would be placed into two people
at the same time, sending movement and emotion signals from one person to the
other, possibly even via the Internet.
Will we evolve into a cyborg community? Linking people via chip implants to each
other and intelligent machines? As scary or liberating as the new technology may be,
'Cyborg' technology is here. It may be only a matter of time before we have to ask
ourselves if we are willing to join this new frontier . . .
On the 14th of March 2002 a one hundred electrode array was surgically implanted
into the median nerve fibres of the left arm of Professor Kevin Warwick. The
operation was carried out at Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, by a medical team headed
by the neurosurgeons Amjad Shad and Peter teddy. The procedure, which took a little
A number of experiments have been carried out using the signals detected by the
array, most notably Professor Warwick was able to control an electric wheelchair and
an intelligent artificial hand, developed by Dr Peter Kyberd, using this neural
interface. In addition to being able to measure the nerve signals transmitted down
Professor Wariwck‘s left arm, the implant was also able to create artificial sensation
by stimluating individual electrodes within the array. This was demonstrated with the
aid of Kevin‘s wife Irena and a second, less complex implantconnecting to her
nervous system.
Another important aspect of the work undertaken as part of this project has been to
monitor the effects of the implant on Professor Warwick‘s hand functions. This was
carried out by Allesio Murgia a research student at the department, using the
Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP) test. By te sting hand functionality
during the course of the project the difference between the performance indicators
before, during and after the implant was present in Kevin‘s arm can be used to give a
measure of the risks associated with this and future cyborg experiment.
THE FACTS
It appears to be inevitable that at some stage a sentient robot will appear, its
production having been initiated by humans, and begin to produce other, even more
capable and powerful robots. One thing overlooked by many is that humans do not
reproduce, other than in cloning; rather, humans produce other humans. Robots are
far superior at producing other robots and can spawn robots that are far more
intelligent than themselves.
Once a race of intellectually superior robots has been set into action, major problems
will appear for humans. The morals, ethics, and values of these robots will almost
surely be drastically different from those of humans. How would humans be able to
reason or bargain with such robots? Why indeed should such robots want to take any
notice at all of the silly little noises humans would be making? It would be rather like
humans today obeying the instructions of cows.
So a war of some kind would be inevitable, in the form of a last gasp from humans.
Even having created intelligent, sentient robots in the first place, robots that can out-
think them, the humans‘ last hope would be to find a weak spot in the robot armoury,
a chink in their life-support mechanism. Naturally, their food source would be an
ideal target. For the machines, obtaining energy from the sun—a constant source—
would let them bypass humans, excluding them from the loop. But as we know,
humans have already had much success in polluting the atmosphere and wrecking the
ozone layer, so blocking out the sun‘s rays – scorching the sky, in effect – would
seem to be a perfectly natural line of attack in an attempt to deprive mac hines of
energy.
In my own book, In the Mind of the Machine2 , I had put forth the idea that the
machines would, perhaps in retaliation, use humans as slave labourers, to supply
robots with their necessary energy. Indeed, we must consider this as one possible
scenario. However, actually using humans as a source of energy—batteries, if you
like—is a much sweeter solution, and more complete. Humans could be made to lie in
individual pod- like wombs, acting rather like a collection of battery cells, to feed the
machine- led world with power.
Yet it is in human dreams that the Matrix machines have brought about a happy
balance. Simply treating humans as slaves would always bring about problems of
resistance. But by providing a port directly into each human brain, each individual
can be fed a reality with which he or she is happy, creating for each one a contented
existence in a sort of dream world. Even now we know that scientifically it would be
quite possible to measure, in a variety of ways, the level of contentment experienced
by each person. The only technical problem is how one would go about feeding a
storyline directly into a brain.
So what about the practical realities of the brain port? I myself have, as reported in ‗I,
Cyborg,‘3 had a 100-pin port that allowed for both signal input and output connected
into my central nervous system. In one experiment conducted while I was in New
York City, signals from my brain, transmitted via the Internet, operated a robot hand
in the UK. Meanwhile, signals transmitted onto my nervous system were clearly
recognisable in my brain. A brain port, along the lines of that in the Matrix, is not
only a scientific best guess for the future; I am working on such a port now, and it
will be with us within a decade at most.
HUMAN OR MACHINE
With the port connected into my nervous system, my brain was directly connected to
a computer and thence on to the network. I considered myself to be a Cyborg: part
human, part machine. In The Matrix, the story revolves around the battle between
humans and intelligent robots. Yet Neo, and most of the other humans, each have
their own brain port. When out of the Matrix, they are undoubtedly human; but while
they are in the Matrix, there can be no question that they are no longer human, but
rather are Cyborgs. The real battle then becomes not one of humans versus
intelligent robots but of Cyborgs versus intelligent robots.
The status of an individual whilst within the Matrix raises several key issues. For
example, when they are connected are Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity individuals
within the Matrix? Or do they have brains which are part human, part machine? Are
they themselves effectively a node on the Matrix, sharing common brain elements
with others? It must be remembered that ordinarily human brains operate in a stand-
alone mode, whereas computer-brained robots are invariably networked. When
connected into a network, as in the Matrix, and as in my own case as a Cyborg,
individuality takes on a different form. There is a unique, usually human element,
and then a common, networked machine element.
Perhaps a more pertinent approach can be drawn from Berkeley, who denied the
existence of a physical world, and Nietzsche, who scorned the idea of objective truth.
By making the basic assumption that there is no God, my own conclusion is that
there can be no absolute reality, there can be no absolute truth — whether we be
human, Cyborg, or robot. Each individual brain draws its conclusions and makes
assumptions as to the reality it faces at an instant, dependant on the input it receives.
If only limited sensory input is forthcoming, then brain memory banks (or injected
feelings) need to be tapped for a brain to conceive of a storyline. At any instant, a
brain links its state with its common-sense memory banks, often coming to unlikely
conclusions.
As a brain ages, or as a result of an accident, the brain‘s workings can change; this
often appears to the individual to be a change in what is perceived rather than a
change in that which is perceiving. In other words, the individual thinks it must be
the world that has changed, not his or her brain. Where a brain is part of a network,
however, there is a possibility for alternative viewpoints to be proposed by different
nodes on the network. This is not something that individual humans are used to. An
individual brain tends to draw only one conclusion at a time. In some types of
schizophrenia this conclusion can be confused and can change over time; it is more
usually the case, though, that such an individual will draw a conclusion about what is
perceived that is very much at variance with the conclusion of other individuals. For
the most part, what is deemed by society to be ‗reality‘ at any point, far from being
an absolute, is merely a commonly agreed set of values based on the perceptions of a
group of individuals.
But what of the machine network, the Matrix, itself? With an intellect well above
that of collective humanity, surely its creativity, its artistic sense, its value for
aesthetics would be a treat to behold. But the film keeps this aspect from us –
perhaps to be revealed in a sequel. Humans released from the Matrix grip, merely
Of course it is not only the Matrix but even today‘s common Internet that gives us the
answer, and cuts the chuckle short. Even now, how is it practically possible to switch
off the Internet? We‘re not talking theory here, we‘re talking practice. Okay, it is of
course possible to unplug one computer, or even a sma ll subsection intranet, but to
bring down the whole Internet? Of course we can‘t. Too many entities, both humans
and machines, rely on its operation for their everyday existence. It is not a Matrix of
the future that we will not be able to switch off, it is a Matrix of today that we cannot
switch off, over which we can not have ultimate control.
Neo learns that the Matrix is a computer- generated dream world aimed at keeping
humans under control. Humans are happy to act as an energy source for the Matrix as
long as they themselves believe that the reality of their existence is to their liking;
indeed, how are the human nodes in a position to know what is computer-generated
reality and what is reality generated in some other way?
In a sense, The Matrix is nothing more than a modern day "Big Brother," taking o n a
machine form rather than the Orwellian vision of a powerful individual using
machines to assist and bring about an all-powerful status. But 1984, the novel in
which the story of Big Brother was presented, was published in 1948. The Matrix
comes fifty years later. In the meantime, we have witnessed the likes of radar,
television for all, space travel, computers, mobile phones, and the Internet. What
would Orwell‘s Big Brother have been like if he had had those technologies at his
disposal – would Big Brother have been far from the Matrix?
With the first implant I received, in 1998, for which I had no medical reason (merely
scientific curiosity), a computer network was able to monitor my movements. It
knew what time I entered a room and when I left. In re turn it opened doors for me,
switched on lights, and even gave me a welcoming "Hello" as I arrived. I
experienced no negatives at all. In fact, I felt very positive about the whole thing. I
gained something as a result of being monitored and tracked. I was happy with
having Big Brother watching me because, although I gave up some of my individual
humanity, I benefited from the system doing things for me. Would the same not be
true of the Matrix? Why would anyone want to experience the relatively tough and
dangerous life of being an individual human when he or she could be part of the
Matrix?
So here we come on to the case of Cypher. As he eats his steak he says, "I know that
this steak doesn‘t exist. I know when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my
brain that it is juicy and delicious!" He goes on to conclude that "Ignorance is bliss."
But is it ignorance? His brain is telling him, by whatever means, that he is eating a
nice juicy steak. How many times do we nowadays enter a fast- food burger bar in
order to partake of a burger that, through advertising, our brains have been
conditioned into believing is the tastiest burger imaginable. When we enter we know,
because we‘ve seen the scientific papers, that the burger contains a high percentage
of water, is mainly fat, and is devoid of vitamins. Yet we still buy such burgers by
the billion. When we eat one, our conditioned brain is somehow telling us that it is
juicy and delicious, yet we know it doesn‘t quite exist in the form our brain is
imagining.
Robert Nozick‘s thought experiment puts us all to the test, and serves as an
immediate exhibition of Cypher‘s dilemma. Nozick asks, if our brains can be
connected, by electrodes, to a machine which gives us any experiences we desire,
would we plug into it for life? The question is, what else could matter other than how
we feel our lives are going, from the inside? Nozick himself argued that other things
do matter to us, for example that we value being a certain type of person, we want to
be decent, we actually wish to do certain things rather than just have the experience
of doing them. I disagree completely with Nozick.
In the Matrix, no human fuel cells are killed, not even the unborn—there is no
abortion. Yet, naturally dying humans are allowed to die naturally and are used as
food for the living. Importantly, they are not kept alive by chemicals merely for the
sake of keeping them alive. The Matrix would appear to be more morally responsible
Neo is kidnapped by Luddites, dinosaurs from the past when humans ruled the earth.
It‘s not the future. We are in reality heading towards a world run by machines with
an intelligence far superior to that of an individual human. But by linking into the
network and becoming a Cyborg, life can appear to be even better than it is now. We
really need to clamp down on the party-pooper Neos of this world and get into the
future as soon as we can—a future in which we can be part of a Matrix system,
which is morally far superior to our Neolithic morals of today.
Real-world applications
Though the experiment sounds like an episode of Dr. Who, its real- world
implications are "right around the corner," says Warwick, who foresees enormous
medical applications. Through a system of embedded chips interfacing with an
artificial motor system, Warwick imagines paraplegics walking. And that's just for
starters.
―Simply take measurements off muscles and tendons and feed them into the
transponder," Warwick says. "That means, ultimately, that you wouldn't need a
computer mouse anymore. You wouldn't need a keyboard."
Charles Ostman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Futures and science editor
at Mondo 2000, agrees. "Neuroprosthetics are . . . inevitable," he says. "Biochip
implants may become part of a rote medical procedure. After that, interface with
outside systems is a logical next step."
Our decision about which skills to test is highly subjective, based solely on abilities
valued by certain people, in certain cultures. But why should the ability to identify
different types of snow, or track prey over vast distances, be valued less highly than
knowledge of European history or applied mathematics?
We are entering the new millennium with a system of intelligence testing which we
think can evaluate everyone, regardless of sex, race, creed, age and culture. We apply
our own standards to other cultures, other species, and even to the machines we
create, and we find them wanting.
CONCLUSION
Finally I would like to say that if the future is of intelligent robots than to protect
mankind we will must need some NEOs, TERMINATORs. They all are CYBORGS.
Because by making human CYBORGS we may have following extra ordinary
capabilities…
REFERENCES
www.pcworld.com
www.universityofreading.com
www.cnn.com
www.bbcnews.com
www.miamihearld.com
www.google.com
www.kevinwarwick.com
www.rdg.ac.uk
www.cyber.rdg.ac.uk
www.davidtolkientrust.com
www.tumbleweed.com
www.ca.com
www.fujitsu.co.uk
www.oxfordradcliffe.nhs.uk
www.nhs.uk
www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.02/warwick.html
www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3954989,00.html