IEEE - FUTURE DIRECTION COMMITTEE

SYMBIOTIC AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS INITIATIVE

Transhumanism

Roberto Saracco

IEEE - Future Direction Committee

Symbiotic

Autonomous

Systems:

Transhumanism

This short ebook contains a number of posts I wrote

in the last four years on Transhumanism, a topic

that has emerged in the Symbiotic Autonomous

Systems Initiative as we have been discussing the

augmentation of humans and their progressive

symbioses with (augmented) machines.

The posts have been revised and extended to take

into account the evolution in this area.

It is a thin line, and we don’t know where to draw it ...

JUNE 17, 2014

Last week many newspapers reported the news that the University of Reading has

announced that a computer program has passed the Turing test for the first time.

1. Has the Turing test been passed?

June 8th, 2014, was to become a milestone in Human Computer evolution.

2. Do we have a “Standard Human”?

I decided not to publish any commentary on this success, because it was being

3. Transhumans or Humans?

commented in so many places and because I had some doubts on the claim.

My doubts were not on the trustfulness of the University of Reading, I took their

statement at face value, but on the meaning of "passing the Turing test".

In the last few days several doubts have percolated on the fact that indeed the test

was passed. Someone observed that there were de facto restriction imposed on

the test like the fact that the computer pretending to be a person stated to be a

boy 13 years old, that he was not a native English speaking person… all factors

that limited (or provided an excuse for) the actual interaction.

My doubts, however, are at a more fundamental level. How can I say that I am

interacting with a human? Think about people suffering from some disabilities,

think about people talking a language that is completely out of reach for you, think

about people having a radically different culture, like some indigenous population

Image credit: Botsociety Blog

in Papua New Guinea or in the deep Amazonas forest. Even if you have the

possibility of getting a translation from their language to one you would

understand you may not understand their ideas and if such a conversation was a

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to take place with a screen separating the two of you you might

human being….) and as technology evolves we are making this

doubt on who is on the other side, a man or a machine?

definition even more difficult. Bioengineering is confusing our

definitions even further. Is an augmented human still a human

So I was pleased to read a commentary from Ray Kurzweil that in

(extra processing power, extra sensorial capabilities…)?

a way resonates with my doubts.

The new philosophical area (that is strongly technology based) of

Ray made a prediction some time ago that a computer would

transhumanism is mudding the water even more. Probably Turing

pass the Turing Test by the end of the next decade. Hence,

will be surprised to see today what kind of challenges have to be

having a computer passing it 15 years before that time would

overcome and how its test is getting more and more difficult to

have been a surprise. Also notice that there is a bet standing

put in practice.

between Kurzweil and others claiming that the Turing test will not

be passed in this timeframe.

You might say that Ray has a vested interest in seeing the Turing

Pitfalls of the Turing Test (purple intersection) as a test of

test passed but he was one of the first to say that this time it has

intel igence. Humans can display unintel igent behavior (red

not been passed.

circle), and humans

c a n n o t p o s s i b l y

Reading his response I found a sentence that intrigued me and

display all forms of

that I agree to: it will take quite a long time to reach the point

intelligent behavior

where everybody will agree that the test has been passed and by

(blue circle) — such

that time the test will have been passed by several years. So

as ultra-fast complex

there will not be any single date on which the test "is passed" but

m a t h e m a t i c a l

a fading area where computers and humans will be difficult to tell

calculations. Credit:

apart followed by one where computers will be definitely smarter

S I T N - H a r v a r d

then Humans, so smart that they could pretend to be humans and

University

get away with it.

It is quite difficult to define what a human essence is (clearly you

would not say that a person who is incapable to speak is not a

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Symbiotic Machines

JANUARY 27, 2016

Machines have been around for millennia as tools to expand human capabilities.

The advent of powered machines in the XVIII century has ignited the industrial

1. From powered machines to robots

revolution. The embedding of processing power in the last century has

2. Artificial Intelligence embedded in

progressively created more flexible machines, igniting the digital revolution, and

machines

eventually robots that can be programmed to serve a variety of purposes and now

3. Symbioses between humans and machines

can start to take decisions on their own.

leading to transhumanism

We are on the edge of a new revolution where machines are no longer

“extensions” of human capabilities but are becoming companions working and

acting in symbioses with people and with the environment.

This results from increasing the understanding of goals, available resources and

surrounding ambient by a machine, by the leveraging on cooperation principles,

applying both to other machines as well as humans, and it brings to the fore new

issues, including ethical ones.

Robots are a reality in manufacturing, making production chains ever more flexible.

The drive towards autonomous vehicles is basically a transformation of vehicles

into robots.

More and more complex issues arise by this increased flexibility of machines and

Examples of symbioses between machines and bio

their need to take advantage, or at least take notice, of their environment to adapt

have been created, like this autonomous

their behavior. Artificial Intelligence is de facto permeating the control of machine

photosynthetic bio-machine. Credit: Ivan Henriques

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actions and a collective intelligence is born out of an ambient

creating a new form of “symbiotic divide”, beyond the “digital

where several machines are active, even though they may not

divide”. This is sometimes addressed as “transhumanism” that is

interact directly.

partly a philosophical debate and partly rooted in evolution of

genetics, cyber-implants, nanotech and guided natural selection

An increased pressure to ensure safety and security in a world

(with heavy ethical issues).

that gets more and more vulnerable is pushing researchers to

increase awareness in machine and this in turns increases their

At ambient level we are going to see a seamless evolution of our

capability to act as autonomous systems, raising the stakes of

human interaction with machines (Baxter is a first example of a

security to protect from hacking in a never ending story.

robot designed to work with humans as a member of a team). It

will happen in elderly care, in every day transportation, at the

We are going to see a symbioses among machines and between

work level (with machines taking over “intellectual” jobs including

machines and people. This symbioses will occur at micro and

writing newspaper articles).

macro level.

At micro level we are seeing micro bots being developed to

Gallery 1.1 Robots as co-workers

detect and fix health issues by circulating in our blood stream.

Researchers are even working on nano-bots that can act at

cellular and intra-cellular level. However, in these cases there is

very little intelligence involved, everything is programmed at

physical and chemical level (as in DNA). Still it is an interesting

area of symbiotic relation that scales up at the macro level.

At human dimension we are seeing smart prosthetics that interact

more and more with the person “thoughts” and “intentions”, like

an artificial arm that can be used to pick up a glass of water and

drink it.

Baxter has been designed to operate in human teams as a co-

worker. It can learn by looking at its co-workers and can even teach

them new improved ways to cooperate. Image credit: Rethinking

These prosthetics will go beyond restoring a human functionality,

Robotics

they will start augmenting it raising ethical issues and potentially

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According to Gartner:

A challenging “near” future, indeed!

• by 2018 20% of all biz content will be authored

Gallery 1.2 Impact of automation on jobs

by machines,

• by 2018 more than 3 million workers will be

supervised by robo-boss,

• by 2018 50% of the fastest growing companies

will have fewer employees than instances of

smart machines…),

• by 2020 autonomous software agents outside

the human control will participate in 5% of all

economic transactions.

Notice that, as in the previous revolution, the

overall way of life changes. Agriculture was

progressively demoted from the centerstage by

the industrial revolution, and knowledge workers

progressively took the center stage in the digital

revolution. Along with that our lives and our

ambient got reshaped. From having place to hold

The 2018 OECD study finds that 14% of jobs across 32 countries are highly vulnerable,

wheat we shifted to need place to hold

defined as having at least a 70% chance of automation. A further 32% were slightly less

"bits" (and this space is no longer constrained by

imperiled, with a probability between 50% and 70%. At current employment rates, that puts

210m jobs at risk across the 32 countries in the study. Notice that on average the lower wage

the environment)… just to give an example.

jobs are -so far- most affected by automation.

Source OECD

The symbioses among people and machines has

all the ingredients to be as overwhelming and

disrupting as the afore mentioned revolution (my

bet).

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==========

• The forecast of 50% of fastest growing companies having fewer

employees than instances of smart machines is difficult to

Regarding the Gartner forecast mentioned in the post, made in

check, particularly with the recent adoption of digital twins that

2015, as of October 2018:

can skyrocket the number of “instances”. In general the number

• there is an increased variety of content that can be created by

of robots is rising everywhere, with South Korea leading the

machines, including music, poetry and literature. Artificial

pack with 631 units per 10,000 workers at the end of 2017.

intelligence is used to find relevant content and

create summaries. Additionally, computers are

routinely used to process data and create meta-data.

Gallery 1.3 Job automation impact in the next decade

In general, however, machines and AI are used as

tools by humans to help creating content. The 20%

content authored by machines forecast does not

seem to be correct.

• Robo-bosses are still a matter of discussion on

newspaper. If you think of a robot sitting at a desk

replacing a human boss, well, we are not there yet

(and we might never have to face such a situation).

However RPA, Robotic Process Automation, is now a reality with several companies providing solution

for a full (or partial) automation of complex

processes that in the past required a “boss”. In this

latter sense the forecast of Gartner of 3 million

workers supervised by robots is correct (and

The next phase of automation, based on machine learning, artificial intelligence and

probably exceeded by reality). Notice, however, that

advances in robotics, will affect 80% of workers through wage suppression and job loss.

the robotization is not replacing the boss, it is just

Source: Bain&Company

making him/her redundant.

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Powering your brain….

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Transhumanism advocates that sooner or later the human race will "upgrade" itself

by creating a new species with the help of technology. Someone sees in the gene

1. Exploiting genetic engineering

manipulation a way to create a new species, others consider this as result of a

2. Exploiting advanced implants

symbioses between humans and computers (in one form or another).

3. Bio compatible power generator

They are both fraught with huge ethical issues, and both are "around the corner". It

is no longer a purely academic discussion on souls and minds but a scientific

discussion on "how", not a matter of “if” but “when”.

The first path, gene modification, has in technologies like CRISPR/Cas9 an

enabler. The main problem (one of many of course) is that we know how to change

the genotype (the genes) but we don’t know how these changes would affect the

phenotype (what will be the result: e.g. we know that by changing a gene we can

produce humans/animals with a different number of fingers/toes, but that single

modification is also affecting reproduction capabilities, and probably much more).

Fabricated wireless power transmission device

The second path seems to be more manageable, like a brain implant that can

with a flexible antenna and a CMOS rectifier chip

create a new sense in an animal (or human), e.g. detection of electromagnetic

(97% of the flexible device area is composed of a

fields. Of course, also in this area, there are many technological problems, one of

flexible film of thickness 10 μm). Image credit:

them being the powering of the implant.

Toyohashi University

This is were this news, coming from Toyohashi University of Technology comes in.

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Researchers have developed a thin film that

can be implanted on the brain, capable of

converting a radio signal into a DC power. It is

nothing really new, RFID tags have an antenna

that when exposed to a specific radio

frequency generate sufficient power to activate

the tag. The principle here is the same, what is

new is the construction of this radio to power

converter in a material that is biocompatible

and that can be implanted on a brain.

In the article the researchers point to several

possible applications, none explicitly

mentioning transhumanism, but each of them

is actually extending human capabilities to a

Proposed architecture of the implantable device

certain extent. Clearly, it is likely that this invention will be used in

composed of flexible antenna and CMOS circuits for

health care procedures first. No-one, so far, is really looking

wireless-powered neural interface systems. Image credit:

forward to have something implanted in his brain unless it is

Toyohashi University

absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder on

the future of human beings in the second half of this century. I still

remember an article I read few years ago, discussing threats in

security titled: If it’s possible, someone will try, f it’s profitable

many will try

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Can I fool you?

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

Just a week ago I published a post challenging you to spot paintings painted by a computer among paintings painted by humans. I do not know how good you were

1. What is real, what is fake?

in distinguishing one from the other.

2. New ethical issues surfacing

Now there is a new challenge, that in a way should be easier, but it is not (at least

3. Human Machines Symbioses

it was not for me).

If there is something we are good at is recognizing human beings and particularly

their faces. On the left hand side, you see photographs of people’s faces and

some of them are fake. They have been generated by a computer. Can you tell one from the other? (I tell you: the ones in the top row have been generated by a

computer)

The fact that it is so difficult to do that, at least it is for me, is a testimony of the

sophistication that computers are capable of today.

This is really making the division between atoms and bits fuzzy and it is getting

fuzzier by the day.

Which of these are photos vs. computer-generated

On the one hand we may be pleased of our achievements, in the end computers

images? Credit: Olivia Holmes et al./ACM

are what we can manage to instruct them. On the other hand this is creating

Transactions on Applied Perception

unexpected problem. We can be fooled by them, more and more. As we are

approaching the point when the Turing test will be passed (there was a claim in

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2014 that one computer did pass the test but it has not been

accepted by everybody, anyhow we are really close) we are facing

the problem of losing control on which is which.

A new branch of science/technology is looking at robots that

work along with people (not for people), more advanced studies

look at symbioses between man and machines and even more

advanced studies look at transhumanism. The boundaries are

getting fuzzier and we will probably transition from one space into

another without even noticing it. At the

same time we will have to confront with

new challenges we are not really

prepared for.

==========

Progress has continued, as shown in

the image on the side where a computer was asked to generate not just faces

but faces that can be mistaken for

celebrities...

The feat was achieved by NVIDIA

researchers using the technology of GAN, Generative Adversarial Networks,

a technology applied in Machine

Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

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Emergent beings

JUNE 25, 2017

Just back from a meeting of the Symbiotic Autonomous Systems Initiative in New

Brunswick, NJ, where we had some interesting discussions on the topic, bordering

1. Advanced tools reshaping who we are

on philosophy.

2. Augmented bodies, augmented minds

Human beings have been characterized, to a certain extent, by the tools they

3. Emergent entities

made and used, to the point that historical epochs are named after the

predominance of a specific tool, starting with the “Stone Age”. Notice that the

idea of a tool is related to an artifact, more or less sophisticated but still

manufactured by a human being to serve a specific purpose. The Stone Age was

an age where our ancestors learnt to shape stones to have them fitting a specific

purpose (cut, drill, hit,…). Subsequent tools shown an increased capability to deal

with materials (and “create” new materials, like bronze) to get more effective tools.

Till the XVIII century tools where an extension of our body, they were powered by

our muscles. Levers could trade displacement for strength but basically the power

was limited by our muscle power (water/wind mills pre-dated steam but their

application was constrained by location).

With the invention of the steam engine, all of a sudden humanity acquired the

capability to use external power in its fabrication. The point became the one of

Transhumanism is getting technical roots

“control”.

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Electricity provided a new, and further source of energy, easier to

In a way, there are some similarities in the juxtaposition of atoms

control and therefore it took the upper hand in manufacturing

and bits with the juxtaposition of body and soul, of brain and

tools.

mind. We are now on a path leading to the manufacturing and

control of meaning.

The technology evolution is towards the availability of a seamless

integration (at different levels) of these computer/digital tools with

us, the user. These tools are becoming seamless extension of our

body and mind, as the hoe was an extension of the farmer arm.

This seamless integration is very important because it implies that

these new tools are fading from our perception, we take them for

granted and they become an integral part of our life.

Think about the (many) times you take your smartphone to

As shown in the image, manufacturing tools, here an exoskeleton,

“google” an information. You are basically extending your brain

are morphing with workers’ bodies to relieve from fatigue (image

memory, your knowledge, without giving it a second thoughts.

from a Ford Assembly line, credit: Ford).

We are slowly entering into human 2.0 or, as somebody calls this,

In the second part of the last century the invention of computers

transhumanism and we are doing this through a symbiotic relation

made available a new “quality” of tools. They are improving the

with our “tools” that having become complex entities are

effectiveness of “control” and more recently they are becoming

probably better referred to as “systems”.

tools for improving our reasoning and thinking capabilities.

The proposed change of name, from “tools” to “systems” I made

We are in the Computer Age, because a lot of our tools are –

is the consequence of a new qualitative dimensions of modern,

directly or indirectly- tied to computers. However, we are starting

computerized tools.

to see the emergence of a Digital Age, an age where the material

Yes, today’s computerized tools are way more complex than what

to be manipulated and to be used for “construction” is no longer

we used just 100 years ago, but that is not the reason. Today’s

(just) atoms but bits.

tools are starting to operate in an autonomous way, thanks to a

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growing flexibility, an improved awareness of their environment

able to change its environment to better suit their needs. What we

and growing decision making capabilities.

are going to see in the coming decade is that for the first time

artifacts that we have created will start to adapt themselves, and

Never before, in human history, we had tools with these

their behavior, depending on the context, and we will be part of

characteristics. Robots are the first example that comes to mind.

their context. Hence, starting in the next decade and even more

They come in many shapes and

so in the following ones, we will

operate in different areas. They

be living in a dynamically

Gallery 1.4 Smart prosthetics

may different significantly one

changing world where we will be

from the other, in terms of shape,

responding to the behavior of

dimension, functionality, cost.

machines and machines will be

However, what matter most in the

responding to our behavior in a

context of SAS is the different

continuously changing fabric

degree of autonomy they have,

where it will become progressively

the capability of evolving (e.g.

ever more difficult to distinguish

lear ning), the capability of

between the cause and the effect.

interacting with their environment,

among themselves and with us,

W h a t i s h a p p e n i n g i s t h e

humans.

establishment of a symbiotic

relation among (autonomous)

Well, in SAS we are interested

systems and among them and us.

because all these three aspects,

autonomy, self evolution and

There is yet another aspect that

interaction are now progressing at

A prosthetic hand with a sense of touch. Prosthetics are becoming more

will become apparent in the next

and more “aware” and able to dialogue with the person wearing them.

an ever faster pace and promise

decade. The interaction of several

Credit: Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center

to change the landscape and

systems, each one independent

ourselves as well.

from the others but operating in a

symbiotic relation with the others –us included- will give rise to

We have been used (like all life on Earth) to adapt our behavior to

emergent entities that are not existing today although we have

the context, and humankind went a step forward by becoming

started to recognize the abstract existence of something like a

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“smart city”, a “marketplace”, a “culture”. These entities are

and able to self evolve they will become more similar to citizens

seemingly abstract concepts although they are rooted in the

and like with citizens different strategies for control will be

interoperation of independent systems.

required.

As an example, a smart city is the

This emergence of abstract,

Gallery 1.5 Emergent entities

result of the interplay of several

although very concrete entities, is

systems, including its citizens as

probably the most momentous

a whole ad as individuals. We can

change we are going to face in

design a system and even

the coming decades. To steer it in

attempt to design a centralized

a direction that can maximize

control system for a city but it is

their usefulness and minimize

becoming more and more evident

d r a w b a c k s r e q u i r e s n o v e l

that a smart city cannot be

approaches in design, control and

designed in a top down way, as

communications that for the first

we would do with even a very

time will have to place on the

c o m p l e x s y s t e m l i k e a

same level: ourselves and our

manufacturing plant where

“tools”.

everything is controlled. Just the

The SAS group in its first

simple fact that a city does not

assessment is inclined to think

exist without its citizen and the

A Smart City is an emergent entity resulting from the loose interactions

that a new scientific branch,

impossibility of deal/control each

of a variety of systems, each of which in turns can be an emergent entity.

Image credit: ACM

rooted in the science of complex

single citizen as we would control

systems and taking on board

a cog in a manufacturing plant

social and ethical studies, is

makes the point.

required and promoting studies in

So far we felt that we could control, fully, a cog as well as a robot.

this area is one of the goal of the Initiative.

Well, as robots are becoming more and more autonomous, aware

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The symbioses of artifacts with ourselves will move by little steps

is a continuously evolving process resulting in a more and more

and it has already begun. Prosthetic hands are becoming more

advanced symbiotic relationship, so far with evolution slanted

and more sophisticated and part of their increased functionalities

towards the person who is (slowly) learning to adapt its actions

stems from the autonomous nature of the prosthetics. When we

and reaction to achieve a better control of the prosthetic. A

pick up an object, several control

leading edge prosthetic hand,

systems are at work, even though we

Gallery 1.6 Human Augmentation through prosthetics

differently from the first model

are normally unaware of their

t h a t d i d n o t h a v e

working. We pick up with the same

sophisticated interaction

ease a nut and a raspberry, though

capability, would not fit a

applying pressure on a nut is fine but

different person because over

on a raspberry it would crash it. The

time a very specific symbiotic

decision process is quite complex

communication has evolved,

and it involves the cooperation of

mostly on the part of the

different systems, sensorial –touch,

person -today- but we are

sight- motion, decision making at

now seeing learning and

brain/cortical level, fine grading

adaptation taking place in the

coordination by the cerebellum,

prosthetic hand.

immediate response by the spinal

E m b e d d e d I o T a re a l s o

nodes and more.

becoming more common

Prosthetic hands are now able to

A smart prosthetic hand that goes beyond the functional replacement of

(think of sensors to monitor

sense and interoperate with the

the lost hand. Through a computer and a display it can become a

chronic pathologies, smart

communications gateway. Image credit: Joung Jo In

person neural system, they can also

drug dispensers –like insulin

take local decision (like the level of

pumps) and they are getting

pressure to exercise). To a certain

more and more sophisticated.

extent they are “autonomous systems” and they enter into a

In a short while these IoTs will start to communicate with one

symbiotic relation with the person wearing them. Notice that this

another through body area networks and in the longer terms they

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are likely to create distributed decision points with an emergent

Human 2.0 and its main difference from the previous one is the

intelligence. Shortly after this they will establish a symbiotic

generalization that will involve several people.

relationship with the person wearing them, first improving the

Whilst in the “augmented human” we are likely to see an

wellbeing, then the physical performances and ultimately the

evolution that starts (as it is

intellectual ones. This is the path

already happening) to address

leading to augmented humans,

Gallery 1.7 Human Augmentation Ecosystem

some disabilities and then move

human 2.0 or transhumanism.

o n t o p r o v i d e a u g m e n t e d

Augmented humans, Humans 2.0

functionality to very few people, in

a n d T r a n s h u m a n i s m a r e

the human 2.0 we have a

sometimes used interchangeably,

generalized adoption. Notice, that

however The SAS initiative takes

someone is claiming that we are

the view of a progression where

already at that stage because of

the first step is leading to

the generalized and systematic

augmenting the physical abilities

use we make of the smartphone

of a person (imagine having a

to flank the web to our brain

wavelength converter embedded

memory. This is considered here

in the eye that let that person to

not a real human 2.0, although we

see in the infrared spectrum), then

may concede, and it might even

reaching a point where many

be appropriate to do so, that we

persons are markedly different

Human Augmentation has already started and it will take many shapes in

might see the human 1.5. The

from “natural” ones because of

the decades to come, “augmenting” our capabilities in different areas, as

transition to the 2.0 would be

shown in this graphic. Credit: Antonio di Pasquale, Frog-Milan

their extended capabilities on a

marked by a seamless interface,

permanent base, with specific

you are not going to interact with

“improvement” like a permanent,

the smartphone in an explicit way

seamless, connection to the web made possible by advanced

by typing or calling on Siri or Alexa but you simply think of an

CBI –Computer Brain Interface. This stage would characterize the

information and that pops up in your mind’s eye having been

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retrieved seamlessly from the web

Gallery 1.8 Swarms Intelligence

This makes sense because we are

(or a local storage you may carry

seeing and predicting an evolution

around).

o f a r t i f a c t s a l o n g t h e l i n e s

of “awareness-autonomy-evolution”

Transhumanism in a strict sense

that are specific to life. Technology

signals a transition to a new specie

evolution is making this possible. It

and it is further down the lane.

is therefore a natural step to extend

Although it is rooted in the

the concept of symbioses one step

l e v e r a g i n g o f s c i e n c e a n d

farther applying it to the relation

technology it is looking not at a

among artifacts, provided they have

symbioses between us and our

t h e a f o r e m e n t i o n e d t u p l e :

artifacts but to the possibility of

awareness-autonomy-evolution.

changing, at the genome level the

characteristics (or some of them) of

Interestingly, we have examples in

the human race. This is not being

Just as single cells can assemble into complex multicellular

Nature where these properties are

organisms, the individual Kilobots can follow simple rules to

addressed in this initiative, although

autonomously assemble into predetermined shapes. The vast scale

n o t b e l o n g i n g t o i n d i v i d u a l

of this swarm is a milestone in itself. Photo courtesy of Mike

we look at a form of technology

component in a relationship but are

Rubenstein, Harvard SEAS.

based transhumanism. not a new

emerging when many entities are

species but the augmentation of

interacting one another as an

our human species through technology.

ensemble. This is the case of of swarms of bees and one can

predict it will be the case for swarms of robots. There is therefore

So far the relation human(s)-artifacts has taken the centre stage in

a focus on two categories of symbiotic relations involving solely

this series of posts on Emergent Beings, and indeed “symbioses”

artifacts:

involves living beings. This meaning has been extended in the

previous discussion to include relations between living being (with

• the one where each artifact demonstrates awareness-

a focus on humans) and artifacts.

autonomy-evolution, and

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• the one where the ensemble demonstrates these properties as

that we are moving towards billions of IoT loosely connected

emerging property.

through the cyberspace (big data) with one another and we can

apply to the cyberspace AI technologies to extract emerging

In the former the symbiotic relationship may occur among few

properties and we can use the emerging properties to direct the

artifacts, an example is the area of robotics where each robot is

behavior of the IoT in the cluster.

increasing its awareness capabilities through better sensors and

context data analyses, becomes more and more autonomous

This is a completely new domain that will come into play in the

with technologies supporting analyses and problem solving and

next decade as the number of connected IoT will reach a

through AI/Deep Learning evolves over time. This will impact

threshold above which awareness-autonomy-evolution can take

several verticals, for sure in Industry 4.0 (manufacturing and retail)

place. 5G is likely to be an enabling technology in this domain

and in Health care.

providing the communication fabric whilst the “intention to

communicate” will rely onto ever smarter IoTs and clusters of

In the latter there is a need for a significant number of artifacts to

IoTs.

have these properties emerging and thus creating a symbiotic

relationship. There is no defined thresholds above which

properties emerge, although in general the simpler the entities

involved the more of them are required. We see this happening in

Nature where a flock of starlings give rise to amazing

choreograph in the sky with some hundred birds whilst in the

case of a swarm of bees the number is in the order of several

thousands.

These aggregations can be studied with the science of

complexity along with other technologies in the domain of AI.

There are a few studies focussing on collaborative robots, like the

These aggregations, and the emerging properties will be a topic

European funded SWARM project, aiming at improving the

of growing interest in the domain of IoT, although very little

collaboration among autonomous systems but they are falling in

studies have focussed on that. The interest derives from the fact

the first category I discussed, whilst in the future we will see more

19

and more emerging behavior from a multitude of low intelligent

entities, leveraging on their sheer number.

Number of connected devices (growth over the past few years

and in the next decade is led by IoT). Source: Small Caps

20

The convergence of Humans and Machines

OCTOBER 29, 2017

Technology is not just evolving our machines, it is creating a bridge between us

and them.

1. Augmenting humans with machines

2. Augmenting machines with humans

Bio-Interfaces are enabling seamless communications between our body, our

mind, and machines. This is clearly being exploited by better prosthetics that fit

3. SuperOrganisms

naturally to replace a lost functionality as well as future prosthetics that augment

an existing functionality.

The coming of context aware machines serves even better the interaction with

humans and the eventual shift towards machine aware leverages their intelligence

complementing and augmenting ours. This is bidirectional, our intelligence will also

augment machine intelligence (in the first phases, already today, our intelligence

augments machine effectiveness) creating a world where cooperation is among

humans, among machines and among humans and machines.

The cooperation may be a loose one, occasional as interaction arises among two

entities as they happen to operate in the same space or it can become continuous

taking the shape of a symbiotic relation. This latter may result in the creation of a

superorganisms, a new species, as envisaged by the transhumanism movement.

The full sketch of the convergence and eventual

The FDC SAS Initiative is not taking any stand on this, it simply takes notice that

merger of Humans and Machines.

there is this philosophical movement. The Initiative is focussing on the technology

Credit: FDC SAS Initiative

that can make this symbioses possible (basically requiring a seamless interaction

21

and self adaptation by the various components engaged in the

behavior where the contribution of each part is no longer

symbioses) and on creating a factual field where Ethical, Legal

meaningful.

and Societal issues -ELS- can be discussed.

A strong symbiotic relation also implies that its components can

In a symbiotic relation

n o l o n g e r o p e r a t e

there is an implicit

independently of one

Gallery 1.9 SuperOrganism

c r e a t i o n o f a

another. As noticed

s u p e ro rg a n i s m a n d

previously we, humans,

issues of accountability

are already living in a

arises. To what extent

symbiotic relation with

the superorganism is

our ambient to the point

actually recognized as

t h a t i f w e w e r e

an independent entity,

t r a n s p o r t e d t o a

hence potential y held

completely different

accountable, and to

one, e.g. in a jungle, we

w h a t e x t e n t

would be unlikely to

accountability remains

survive. Hence, the

in its components? The

e v o l u t i o n t o w a r d s

question is a difficult

symbiotic autonomous

one since the behavior

systems, where we

may not be a sum of

would be a component,

behaviors exhibited by

is nothing radically new.

each component, in

Superorganism Concept Expanded into Social Anatomy, Development, and Physiology

Components This figure shows a colony-level ethogram for a factory- or machine-like society

There may be reasons

which case one could

(the most sophisticated superorganisms). Different shading or fill patterns indicate that a

particular physiological or morphological specialization is required for the performance of the

to advocate for weak

direct the accountability

task. Credit: Timothy A Linksvayer

symbiotic relations only

to a specific part, rather

so that we can remain

it might be an emergent

22

an independent part that is just taking advantage of the

=============

symbioses when this is feasible and keep living independently

The concept of superorganism is central to the idea of symbioses.

when this is not.

We have plenty of superorganisms in Nature, actually it is difficult

However, also this approach creates significant ELS issues. It is

to find a living being that is not composed by several living

clear that a symbiotic relation confers advantages to its

organism all together forming a superorganism. Human beings (as

participants and at the same time creates a gap with those that

most ,if not all, multicellular organisms) are hosting billions of

for any reasons cannot engage in that relation. The Have vs Have

bacteria without which they could not live. Even in a single cell we

Nots represents itself although the gap risks to be more

see this cooperation among different living entities: mitochondria

significant than the one we have today between those who can

are remnants of archaic bacteria and of course they are an

access technology and those who cannot. The reason is that

essential component of a cell.

today the use of technology is explicit, in the future, in a

What we are facing today is the emergence of new kind of

symbiotic relation, it may become invisible. The advantage given

superorganisms. both as result of the loose interaction of

to those that can have, as an example, their brain wired to the

autonomous systems (think of a city, a symbiotic entity based on

internet versus those that will be able to access the internet via a

its loosely connected infrastructures, citizens included) and a

smartphone is way wider than the one we have today between

symbioses between (entities based on) atoms and (entities based

those that can access internet with their smartphone and those

on) bits.

who have no access to internet. The former will have an

increased access to knowledge and an increased intelligence, the

These latter superorganisms are new and we are going to see

latter will have a “delayed” increased knowledge only.

more and more of them in the coming decades.

There is not a clear boundary between a symbiotic relation and a

mediated one. This is another aspect that needs to be faced.

There are no boundaries around intelligence, hence it will be

difficult to perceive a disruption point, although we are clearly

seeing that we are close to an inflection point where convergence

of various technologies is reinforcing their evolution and us.

23

Brainternet: a peek into the future?

JUNE 13, 2018

Back in 2017, that’s long time ago!, a university project Brainternet, made the headlines of several news. The project was (and still is) carried out at the Wits

1. Connecting brain to the Internet

University, Johannesburg, South Africa, and by leveraging on portable (wearable)

2. Brain as an IoT

EEG harvested the signals resulting from the electrical activity of the brain and

3. Neuralink probably beyond the horizon

made them available on the Internet. It was claimed that this was the first time a

brain was connected to the Internet, becoming an IoT.

The claim is true, in a sense. Indeed the portable EEG, as any other sensor, picks

up the brain electrical activity and makes it available to the Internet. We surely say

that an air-condition equipment is an IoT if it has a sensor picking up its status and

sharing it on the Internet. So why not have the same claim for such a connected

brain?

At the time I did not commented on the spreading news because to me it was not

a big deal. All technology involved has been available for a long time and the

claim, although true -strictly speaking- was misleading. A brain is so much more

complex than an air-condition equipment and relaying the electrical activity

(actually an infinitesimal portion of the electrical activity) did not really seemed (to

What about a future where brains are just

me) as a true interconnection.

another Internet of Thing component?

A different story is looking at the (declared) aims of Neuralink, where using Image credit: La Verdad nos espera

implantable chips they feel it will be possible to connect the brain to a computer

24

having the two exchanging information. Whilst Brainternet is a

selves, multiple self, human augmentation. I stumbled onto an

reality (but it connects really really little) Neuralink is a dream (or a

interesting article on Paperjam addressing ethical aspects of nightmare – you decide-) that would provide a true connection.

human augmentation, trans-humanism and post-humanism.

The advantage of Brainternet is that it is not that much invasive

In the article the Brainternet was mentioned as a first step in the

(as invasive as wearing a hat and taking around a purse) and it

direction of a symbioses between our self, our brain, and the

provides a steady flow of data that eventually might create a data

Internet. A sort of peek into the future. As I said, I do not see it as

set for some deep learning

a real interconnection of our

algorithm to make some sense

brain to the Internet, more as a

out of it. It would require many

Gallery 1.10 Neuralink

p r o m p t t o c o n s i d e r t h e

people adopting it for some

i m p l i c a t i o n o f s u c h a

significant span of time to

connectivity when it will become

create a data lake with a

real.

sufficient number of data to

The article is making a call to

hope for the emergence of

look at ethical issues: even

some meaning, so far this has

though we are quite far, in a

not been the case.

technology sense, from the

So, why did I choose to mention

capability to create a brain to

it today? Wel , I am looking

machine interconnection, the

around on the web as part of

ethical issues this will open

the work we are doing in the

might require a long time to be

S y m b i o t i c A u t o n o m o u s

Neuralink aims at creating an interface able to monitor a million neurons. The

addressed, hence the need to

most advanced probes in 2018 can pick up a few hundred. In the diagram

Systems Initiative to prepare the

the overall vision of the initiative: be able to connect any brain to the Internet

look at them today, as they are

second White Paper (due in

creating a symbioses between the brain and the cyberspace. The interaction

hypothetical, because the

will take place using sensors on the skull, sensors on the brain and sensors

November this year) and in

embedded in the brain -dust motes-. Image credit: waitbutwhy.com

sentiment of many is not “if”

particular on the aspects of

they will ever become reality,

25

Are we smarter than our ancestors?

JULY 24, 2018

Tomorrow I am going to be part of a panel at COMPSAC 2018 discussing “a

smarter future”. I will be focussing on the trend towards symbiotic autonomous

1. Every living being is smart in its own

environment and time

systems and will be claiming that this is a path towards a smarter future.

2. Our environment is so complex that we

I’d like to share with you a few thoughts and, please, I am looking forward to your

need to rely on others

comments, and … dissent!

If one looks around and just stops for a moment observing cars, planes, hospitals,

smartphones… well, one cannot avoid congratulating the human species for all

these achievements! Compare today with 200 years ago, and then again with our

ancestors 2000, 20,000, 200,000 years ago and there is no question about it: we

are way smarter than our ancestors.

Wait a moment. Are we really smarter?

Imagine yourself being brought and left in a jungle, in the middle of a savanna, in a

desert … These are all places that our ancestors lived in, and managed to survive

to the point that we are their descendant. What would you think your success

Our ancestors could light fire without a lighter,

survival probability would be? Pretty low, to be on the optimistic side! Looking at

something I won’t be able to do.

the question from this perspective would surely lead us to reconsider the ranking

Image credit: Alamy

of smartness between us and our ancestors.

26

Now consider yourself as a smart individual, let’s say an engineer

grew to be adapted to their environment. Each one, me and my

that is one of the best around (lets’ boost our morale a bit) in

great-great grandfather, are equally adapted, smart, to survive in

designing advanced computers. And think about being

our own environment.

transported to the time of the Roman Empire (so just about 2000

What makes possible the amazing things that we are using every

years back in time). Do you think you would be able to build a

day, and the way we live our life today, is the symbioses between

computer and surprise the Emperor with your wizardry?

ourselves and today’s environment. This includes the access to

No, you won’t be able to build a computer because you have no

other people’s skill, knowledge, to tools ever more sophisticated,

idea how to get the raw materials

to a culture that has grown to

that are needed, nor -once you

Gallery 1.11 Supply Chains complexity

value innovation (it was not so

have them- how to process them

just 500 years ago!) to an

to become usable (and “No” for

economy that can exploit and

many many more reasons,

share value produced across the

including the absence of electrical

world making distance almost

power at that time!).

irrelevant.

It is not because you have been

Notice that I am not talking about

transported back 2000 years.

“ i n t e l l i g e n c e ” b u t a b o u t

Even today you won’t be able to

“smartness”. The two are distinct

build a computer without having

concepts, although there is some

access to the variety of supply

relation between them. An

Your average desktop computer supply chain.

chains involved and leveraging on

intelligent person is likely to be

Image credit: SCM Research

o t h e r p e o p l e s k i l l s a n d

smart but it is not a given. There

knowledge!

are plenty of examples of very

intelligent people that are not

So what is the point I am making? We are not really smarter than

smart at all in normal life situations. You can learn to be smarter,

our ancestors, we just happen to live in a different environment

you cannot learn to be more intelligent (although higher education

and we have grown to be adapted to this environment as they

27

for sure enable your intelligence to bloom). Intelligence is not

influence one another) have led to the creation of tools and to a

about symbioses, smartness is.

change in the environment. It is possible to have smarter relations

with the environment and the environment itself, particularly in

There are tools to measure intelligence, IQ tests. However, these

these last few years, is becoming smart. As a consequence, we

tools are using measuring sticks that are suited to our current

are also becoming smarter!

view of Intelligence. Were we to apply those IQ tests to people

who lived 200 years ago we

The rise of artificial intelligence

would get IQ results, on average,

that is characterizing this period

Gallery 1.12 Tools Maker Intelligence

a r o u n d 7 0 , w h i c h i s t h e

and will be have a much stronger

t h r e s h o l d s f o r b o r d e r l i n e

i m p a c t i n t h e c o m i n g t w o

deficiency. Actually, our great

decades, is effectively flanking

grandfathers were, on average, as

h u m a n i n t e l l i g e n c e . T h e

i n t e l l i g e n t a s w e a re , t h e

symbioses of these two kinds of

difference is in the measuring

intelligences in the next decade

stick.

will create the condition for much

s m a r t e r re l a t i o n s w i t h t h e

Clearly, today’s access to better

environment.

education makes intelligence

bloom, more than 200 years ago

O u r s y m b i o s e s w i t h t h e

when education was restricted to

environment will be taken to a

a small subset of the population.

deeper level, the one of modeling

“what if” situations that will be

This intelligence blooming along

used as tools to take smarter

with economic, science and

Today’s wood cutting and harvesting is way more efficient than in the

decisions.

technology growth, supported by

past thanks to machines that can do in a few minutes what took

lumberjacks a full day. Behind that there is the intelligence of some

better communications that

engineers who designed the machines and the work of many people

We won’t be smarter than our

manufacturing them. Knowing how to use and where to use them

makes ideas reach globally

requires smart people, but these smart people could not exist 200 years

ancestors, but our symbioses

(notice that all these factors are

ago since those machines were not there!

with the environment, mediated

Image credit: myinteriordesign..win

loosely interconnected and

by much more effective tools will

28

result in smarter relations than in the past improving our wellbeing

and the wellbeing of Planet Earth.

This evolution path is being explored by the IEEE Future Direction

Initiative Symbiotic Autonomous Systems where both

augmentation of humans and augmentation of machines are

studied and fostered, with consideration given to a possible

evolution towards transhumanism.

We are exploring the possibility of new relations of humankind

with the Planet and, since the two are strongly related, of

humankind with humankind. As in any major change and

evolution the questions are more important than the answers, and

it is crucial to come up with these new questions to steer the

evolution.

To look into this changing landscape the Initiative has initiated a

Delphi exercise. A number of experts from many disciplines have

joined the exercise and the evaluation of their answers will be

disseminated in November 2018. A first presentation of results

was given at TTM and the SAS workshop and it is summarized

later in this ebook.

Take a look at the clip of Dr. Michio Kaku discussing the genetic ingredients of intelligence. That will be the starting point for my

next post in this series.

29

Will our offsprings be smarter than us?

JULY 27, 2018

In my previous post in this series I mentioned an interview with dr. Michio Kaku, a US theoretical physicist and futurist with Japanese grandparents, where he made

1. Genomic manipulation for human

augmentation

the point that the basic, structural ingredients of intelligence with respect to

evolution can be found in the opposable thumb, the position of the eyes at the

2. Symbioses with machines to better

leverage their augmentation

front of the head and the language capability. The ideas are intriguing: the

opposable thumb gives us the possibility to manipulate the world, the front

position of the eyes is the one of predators that need to imagine what the prey

might do and devise a strategy (hence giving rise to abstract thinking) and the

language supports the transmission of knowledge in a much more articulated and

effective way thus allowing for the growth of knowledge from one generation to the

next.

These might be indeed very important components and they all have roots in

random changes in the genome that is being shaped through the natural selection

process. He is also pointing out that the genomic difference between humans and

their next of kin, the chimpanzees, is tiny, less than 1.5%. Scientists have

identified the genes involved in steering towards a larger skull (that can

accommodate a larger brain), those for languages… and so on. With genetic

manipulation we should be able to tweak the chimpanzee genome to provide it the

The AI Cube framework for analysis of AI systems

traits that would make it intelligent. At the same time, he says: “why would we

and their evolution. Credit: Adpakkala

want to do that genomic upgrade? We already have it and it is us!”.

30

However, this genomic manipulation possibility opens the way to:

• Stop the progress of machines (it is us who are making them

“could we create a more intelligent human?”. This issue may

progress, so far!)

become even more important as artificial intelligence is providing

• Make sure that in parallel we get ourselves a boost to keep an

machines with more and more capabilities, actually to the point of

edge on the machines

exceeding our own.

Now, for number 1, it is difficult in a competitive world that is

There is no doubt that machines will become more intelligent and

connected but also formed by independent parts to stop creating

more aware of their environment (the two things are related) and

ever more performant machines because that gives a competitive

eventually smarter than us. We can do, in principle, two things:

advantage and making machines more and more autonomous

Gallery 1.13 Human vs Chimpanzee Genome

The human and the chimpanzee genome differ in very few bases. Notice that the differences derive from a common ancestors, we -humans- are not descendant of the chimpanzee. Image credit: Rumney Marsh Academy

31

and intelligent is a way to

“i f you can’t beat them, join them

make them more performant.

Gallery 1.14 Genomic engineering

and see how to influence their

evolution”

For number 2, there is a huge

number of ethical issues but of

This is likely to be the evolution

course they are unlikely to stop

towards an even smarter world,

some constituencies to explore

where many of its components,

the possibilities (taking for

humans and well as machines, but

granted that from a technology

also bacteria and other inanimate

p o i n t o f v i e w g e n o m i c

and living forms will get smarter.

manipulation resulting in

Humans are, and are going to be, the

enhanced performance -

architects of this evolution. Genetic

including enhanced cognitive

modification of bacteria, to make

capabilities- will become

them more useful in a variety of

reality, the question is “when”

tasks, is already ongoing. Machines

not “if”). There are also many

with embedded artificial intelligence

grey areas where it is difficult

are getting more aware of their

to draw a line and we have

environment and better at interacting

seen that these lines are

with us. We are using prosthetics,

subject to shift, as culture

including our smart phones, to

evolves.

increase our physical and cognitive

capabilities, teaming up with

Indeed, it seems that these

machines and the environment in a

two paths are not going to be

seamless way (furthering our

f e a s i b l e . T h e S y m b i o t i c

symbiotic relationship with them).

Autonomous Systems Initiative

is both exploring them and

Bacterial modification through genomic engineering to produce insulin.

As our symbioses with machines

Image credit: BBC

looking for a third way that is

becomes more effective, we are also

basically saying:

becoming more and more dependent

32

on them (that is part of the symbiotic concept -relying on the

over this time and even more intriguing it has moved by leaps, not

other) but this has already happened. In today’s society we would

in a linear way. Human societies have remained stable for

be completely lost if electricity, to name just one thing, would be

centuries and millennia and then all of a sudden they have

switched off. We have adapted to today’s environment and we

evolved for a while. Genome cannot be the only explanation. The

are smart in it/with it. We will have to carefully design the

interrelation between us and our environment has played a great

t r a n s i t i o n t o w a r d s n e w e r

role. Actually, some estimate that

environments with the challenge

Gallery 1.15 Life evolution

the genome is responsible for just

that this transition is happening

5% of our intelligence with the

faster than ever before.

remaining 95% attributable to

environmental factors. Take a look

This observation makes me go

at the controversial interview with

back to Michio Kaku interview: I

Robert Plomin (controversial

want to observe that the ideas he

because it ties intelligence to

is presenting are not sufficient to

genomic characteristics and this

e x p l a i n t h e e v o l u t i o n o f

may sound like racisms. However,

intelligence and its impact on the

if you listen carefully to his points

world. Those genetic variations

it is clear that there is no

that resulted in the human

substantiation to racism in what

species happened some 200,000

he is saying).

years ago (some go back even

earlier) and if we look at the

Adaptability and capability to

genomes of our ancestors (even

leverage on the environment has

more recent ones dating some

been key to the success of life,

10,000 years ago) we see that

An interesting roadmap from the creation of life from non-life to the rise

from the very early forms to us

they are basically au pair with the

of culture as the influencing factor in evolution to the growing role of

and to what we see around us.

technology and the future symbioses of life with digital forms.

o u r s . Ye t t h e e v o l u t i o n o f

Adaptability has not been a

Credit: Michael Gillings et Al. Trends in Ecology and Evolution

society(ies) has been amazing

characteristic of the single

33

individual, rather it emerged from natural selection as result of

graphic life has started from “non-life” and behaved in a sort of

environmental changes.

mechanical way based on the genotype. As the genotype

became more complex and influence from the environment

Humans have been the first species that has been able to both

affected the behavior we saw the emergence of variety of

change their environment to

behaviors, and traits, related to a

increase their survival probability

Gallery 1.16 Species change their environment

single genotype: the phenotype

(and wellbeing) as well as to

became the observable set of

adapt themselves outside of

characteristics of life. With

natural selection processes, e.g

humans we have observed how

by dressing up to keep warm as

the behavior and traits of a single

the environment turned cold,

human become affected and

managing fire, building a shelter

entangled with his social context

…

leading to what is called the

More recently they (we) have been

extended phenotype.

able to create machines that are

We are now in a transition phase

able to help them and even mimic

where our behavior is affected by

some human capabilities. The

the digital world, and soon by

trend towards increasing those

intelligent machines. In the

capabilities -and expanding them-

coming decades the growing

to the point of exceeding humans

Other species like the cyanobacteria in the image have radically changed

capabilities of machines along the

also in cognitive capabilities is

the Earth environment but they did so not out of volition as humans do,

seamless interaction we will be

clear. By teaming up with

but in a “blind” way. Cyanobacteria are considered the cause of the

Earth oxygenation, that in turns open the door the the explosion of life

having with them will further

machines humans increase their

on the planet.

extend the phenotype. Actually,

adaptability to the environment

we will see an emergent behavior

and can be even more effective in

that results from these humans-

reshaping the environment to fit their needs. As shown in the

machines interactions, a phenotype that extends in the

34

cyberspace. On the one hand we will have digital self replication

would not be considered acceptable by our current society and

and digital sentience* (machine awareness) and on the other hand

culture.

we will see a biological and digital fusion.

If this is the path humanity and machine evolution will take then

A further point to consider is the capability of tweaking with our

we can expect, for the first time to have our offsprings becoming

DNA. From a technical point of view we already have this

smarter than we are because they will have the power to change

capability (using CRISPR/Cas9) and we are getting ready to apply

themselves and the environment by designing the changes,

it this to fix some genetic diseases. However, we do not

effectively creating a new species (transhumanism).

understand fully the implication of genetic manipulation (the

If the path will be towards a symbioses the question: “will

relation between the genotype and the phenotype is not

machine become smarter than humans” may no longer be

completely clear) and there are concerns on unexpected side

relevant as it is not relevant to ask if our liver is smarter than our

effects. Applying deep learning techniques may help in the

gut… They are both essential constituent of the whole. This may

correlation of genotype to phenotype, that is in understanding

be the future by the end of this decade. A humankind that morphs

what the implications of a gene manipulation on the phenotype

into a transhuman species by engaging in a symbiotic relationship

might be.

with its artifacts that, in turns, will be evolving to better fit the

I am pretty sure that in a decade or two we will have the tools to

symbiotic relations with us.

“design” the desired phenotype and implement this design at the

=============

genotype level. It will start with focussed bio-engineering to fix

some genetic anomalies resulting in a disease and it will move on

* There is no consensus on the possibility of creating sentient

to strengthen resistance to pathogens (it is likely to be the

machines among scientists. It may eventually turn out that

evolution of vaccination in the second half of this century).

“sentient” will be measured in the same way we have (mostly)

Beyond that point the road might take us towards directed

accepted to measure intelligence, through a Turing-like test. If a

adaptability on our side and towards the change of the

machine behaves in a way that we perceive as sentient that

environment to better fit our needs.

machine can be considered as “sentient”.

It is clearly a road fraught with ethical and social issues but I am

sure they will be addressed and solved, possibly in ways that

35

The sound of colours, the colours of sound

AUGUST 3, 2018

First of all this is nothing new: Neil Harbisson was born (in 1984) with a genetic

anomaly that does not allow him to see colors. His world was a palette of greys.

1. Augmented senses

Neil made the headlines in 2004 when he had an antenna implanted on his skull

2. Cyborgs are a reality ... today

with a chip that converted the colors captured by the antenna (made of optical

fibers) into vibrations, sounds. He is a musician, with a natural and educated

capability in appreciating the subtle nuances of sounds. That is why he decided to

have colors translated into sounds, music, a language he understand.

Over time his brain adapted and started to “see colors” matching them with

specific vibrations. In 2010 Neil co-founded the Cyborg foundation and in 2017 the

Transpecies Society to foster the evolution towards the expansion of human

senses and interaction with non human beings, including artifacts.

I stumbled onto Neil’s case as I was researching for a number of posts I am

planning in the coming weeks on “transhumanism”. One of the characteristics of

humans 2.0 will be to have expanded sensing capabilities. Now, you might say

For Neil Harbisson colours are vibrations he

that Neil had a restricted, limited sensing capabilities since he couldn’t see

perceives in his skull. Interestingly, he can hear the

colours. Correct. However, the prosthetics he had implanted captured a broader

sounds of colours that we cannot see, like the ones

light spectrum, including ultraviolet (visible to bees but not to humans) and infrared

in infrared and ultraviolet. Credit: TED

(visible to snakes but not to humans).

36

Hence, with that visual prosthetics Neil got superpower! He can

perception of purple is actually the same perception that purple

see the light emitted by a remote control (infrared) and he can see

generate in my brain. At the same time I cannot bet that my

many more hues in a daisy, as a bee can do.

perception of purple is the same perception you have of purple.

We have in common, through education, that when seeing a

It would required just a few little modification to his chip and to

certain object we both say: “it is purple”.

the antenna for him to be able to

see radio waves, look at a

Since each color is translated into a

smartphone and see when it is

“musical note” several colors

talking or when it is connected to

create a chord: turquoise, purple

the internet!

and orange are a b-minor for Neil.

Take a look at the presentation Neil

This has become an integral part of

gave at one TED to hear from his

the way Neil sees the world and

voice how it “looks like” to hear the

has give rise to a new -extended-

sounds of colors. It is surely

phenotype. The implant has not just

something that made me think, and

al owed Neil’s brain to perceive

I bet will make you think!

colors, the choice he made to have

colors translated into sounds has

Neil co-designed the skull implant

led his brain to convert sounds into

to have the possibility of seeing the

colors!

colors of the world and his brain

over the years has learnt to

Hence when Neil listen to music he

seamlessly capture the sounds into

actually perceives it in terms of

which the implant translated the

colors. In the photo of Neil shown

colors into a sort of color vision.

above, the background is actually

how he perceive a Mozart sonata.

I cannot of course bet that such a

Hearing that Mozart sonata or

translation would match our

looking at that image create the

37

same perception in his brain (of course this happens when he

“scan” the background image at a certain “speed” since in music

the time component is essential: by scanning it more rapidly he

would accelerate the “tempo”, conversely if he were to scan it

more slowly).

I found these considerations, that he makes in the TED

presentation, very thought provoking. Go back to the clip and

listen to it once more.

You will appreciate the meaning of what he claims: I have become

a cyborg.

We see a real symbiotic integration that is leading to an extended

phenotype, i.e. it is increasing Neil’s behavioral characteristics

when he is interacting with the environment.

This is amazing: humans have extended their phenotype through

Society and Culture. Now they can extend their phenotype

through a symbioses with a machine, in this case an artefact

communicating with Neil, a computer.

Clearly, by manipulating the genome, through bio-engineering, we

are changing the genotype, hence inducing a change in the

phenotype, but we see that also by creating a symbioses with

machines we are extending our phenotype. Transhumanism is

already here although by affecting us without affecting the

genotype is not creating a new species, we can still mate and

generate offsprings with humans 1.0.

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Humans vs machines: Who’s winning?

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

The rise of the machines

1. The rise of Machines

Technology is providing new, more innovative ways to augment us – human beings

2. Man over Machine

– thus enabling us to better respond to a world moving at a faster pace, and more

easily secure that all-important competitive edge for businesses and industry.

3. Machine over Man

Institutions and government are facing mounting social costs, while communities

4. Man and Machines together

and individuals alike are looking for a healthier, happier life. These challenges and

aspirations press researchers to push past technology’s boundaries to develop

smarter machines, since these intelligent constructs represent the most practical

way to augment our capabilities.

Since the beginning of Homo sapiens, we have crafted machines to help us; what

we are seeing today is an acceleration of this process. Part of this hastening is the

result of having reached a tipping point: we are no longer required to transfer

human knowledge to a machine for it to become smarter. We have forged

machines that can learn on their own by observing us, making sense out of big data, and watching experiences as they unfold on the web. Just as important is

the ability of these clever creations to test their newfound knowledge both against

other machines and internally through the use of virtual clones.

Many robots vs human, humanity and technology.

To be sure, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has progressed significantly, though it’s more Pop art retro vector vintage illustrations. Image

in terms of its applicability than in terms of absolute theoretical progress. AI can do

credit: Tech Talks depositphotos.com

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far more today because processing power is abundant, cheap

immensely effective, could lead us down the path to wholesale

and (almost) ubiquitous. This, along with pervasive

destruction.

communications, and sensors and storage capabilities, has led to

The growing issue is the vital role played by machines – both as

an inflection point in the availability of data. The consequence is

single entities and collectively as

twofold: the data space is so big

infrastructures – means we

t h a t i t i s b e y o n d h u m a n

Gallery 1.17 “Robotization” is growing

basically no longer have the

comprehension, and it is fueling

option of just “shutting them

m a c h i n e s ’ c a p a b i l i t i e s ,

down”. Think about the power

intelligence, and continuous

g r i d , w i t h i t s h u n d re d s o f

learning.

thousands of people working

This process has just begun, and

around the clock to ensure that it

there’s no end in sight. Machines

stays on. The idea of turning it off

have evolved beyond their

(e.g. for decreasing CO2) is

clockwork origins, and are likely

simply no longer an option.

to surpass humans in a growing

S u r g e r y i s b e c o m i n g

number of areas.

progressively robotized, and

Man over machine

medical diagnostics have become

f u l l y m a c h i n e - d e p e n d e n t .

Until now, building a better

Automated machines today

mousetrap has served to improve

The Da Vinci robot is now extensively used for surgery. Close to 5,000 of

these robots are active around the world: 2,770 in the United States, 719

manufacture drugs. Pul ing the the human condition. We have

in Europe, 561 in Asia, and 221 in the rest of the world.

plug on these operations would

consistently benefitted from

Source: Wikipedia

have dire consequences for

machines and have always had

millions of people worldwide.

the power to shut them off… and

sometimes we did. Consider the devastating weapons that while

Yet, we can still claim that we are using machines as extension of

ourselves, leveraging them as stronger, faster, and cheaper

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hands. Because of this, humans still triumph over the machine,

them. On one hand, this twin will be a digital mirror allowing for

but it is up to us to decide where we go from here.

monitoring of any telltale signs of health problems. On the other

hand, it will take on a life of its own in cyberspace, becoming a

More recently, machines have risen to become more than merely

repository of our existence, a sort of black box that can be

our augmented hands; they are now beginning to amplify our

queried at will. It could even become a means of simulating next

cognitive capabilities. It’s subtle, steps, whether in business,

but it is happening.

education, health, or even

Gallery 1.18 Cognitive extension

Most of us have a symbiotic

entertainment, allowing us to

relationship with our smartphone.

determine the best path forward.

But how often do you really use it

Comments:

to call other people? More often

than not, we’re using our devices

•we are still the designers of our

to call machines. Need help

machines. If we were to stop

reaching a destination? Let your

today the evolution, current

smartphone show you the way.

machines would not be able to

Want to impress your guests by

take up and foster evolution by

cooking a gourmet dinner? Get

themselves

out your smartphone and look for

•t h e p r o g r e s s o f a r t i fic i a l

a recipe. Feeling awkward? Dr.

intel igence is making machine

Smartphone can check your

“ p o t e n t i a l l y ” a b l e t o l e a r n

pulse, face color, and other health

independently of us. This learning

cues, and then offer advice.

Smartphones have become tools extending our cognition capabilities,

an extension of our memory, of our capabilities, like, in the image,

is still limited to very specific

These are but a few examples of

translating from one language into another.

areas hence these machines can

how we’re starting to engage with

Image credit: AndroidPit

progress only in their specific

machines, but the list is growing

areas

rapidly. In the coming years, we

• even in the very limited areas where today machines can learn

can expect more people to have a digital doppelgänger flanking

and get better they still need humans once they break down

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and in general they all depend on “logistics” (like power) that is

If robots have eaten human jobs like candy, then autonomous

provided by humans.

vehicles could be like setting a glutton loose at an all-you-can-eat

buffet. From this perspective, we’re losing to machines, because

Machine over man

they perform better than we do at certain things. The digital

Extending our sphere of knowledge by using machines as tools is

transformation promises to be even worse. During the late

a grand idea…as long as we’re on the winning side. But are we

industrial revolution, when machines stepped in to take our jobs,

truly still in command of our intelligent machine creations? If the

it was all about automation. With the digital revolution, jobs aren’t

answer to this is “no,” we may

being replaced by machines;

find that we have a lot to lose.

Gallery 1.19 Robots replacing humans on jobs

they’re simply disappearing.

There’s no longer a need for

That human jobs are being lost to

a u t o m a t e d p a p e r s h u ffli n g

machines is nothing surprising b e c a u s e t h e r e ’s n o p a p e r

nor new. The revolution in

anymore.

agriculture machine technologies

has multiplied the yield making it

Sure, AI can replace a few brains,

possible to feed 7 billion people

however, more critically, it makes

better on the average then 1

those brains redundant. Think

billion people were fed two

about self-driving, autonomous

centuries ago. There’s no going

vehicles. You no longer need

back now – if we were to turn off

operators, which equates to the

the machines that produce

potential loss of 3 millions or more

fertilizers and insecticides, and

driving jobs in the U.S. alone, but

that make it possible for one man

you also no longer require that

Evolution of robots, struggle for a place at work. Automation of business

to do the harvesting work of 10,

processes. Robot expels the employee’s business from the workplace.

many vehicles. Today, we buy a

Concept of replacing people with robots, artificial intelligence.

the penalties would be famine

car and then park it along the

Image credit: Tech Talk -depositphotos.com

and quite possibly, mass human

sidewalk or in a garage 90

extermination.

percent of the time. With their

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Gallery 1.20 Human vs Machine

commoditization, a mere 40 percent of

just that, leading to its defeat of world Go

today’s vehicles would be ample for

champion, Lee Sedol. I am also fairly certain

satisfying all of our transportation

that militaries worldwide are building smart

needs. This translates into reduced

weapon systems capable of pursuing their

manufacturing demand, along with

(assigned) goals using strategies of their own

fewer red lights, traffic signs, and

making. Bots being used in the financial

police.

markets are acquiring self-awareness, finding

new means of meeting their “programmed”

A world permeated by machines

targets.

performing in the knowledge space, a

world customized for machines, is

Now, we can take some comfort from the

quite different than the one we know

“programmed” part of this narrative; however,

now. The corollary is that we lose along

notice how I included “programmed” in

several fronts, and they win.

parentheses. How long can we trust an

intelligent autonomous system to play within

But hang on a sec – it’s clear that in

human-programmed boundaries? This isn’t

such a world, we would lose…but

just about software bugs or hacking. The very

doesn’t winning require some sort of

concept of “autonomous and intelligent”

awareness or sentience? Would a

means these machines are taking up lives of

machine ever be motivated by winning

their own. And in many areas, a fully

to pursue a strategy that would allow

performing autonomous system needs

them to do so? It might seem far-

leeway to wholly exploit its intelligence and

fetched, but we’re now seeing the first

logic capabilities.

examples of this motivation, leading

machines to devise strategies for

It‘s a sort of catch-22 situation – the more

Job hours by humans vs machines.

winning on their own.

intelligence and autonomy you allow a

Source: Statista

machine, the better it will perform and the

For example, DeepMind’s AlphaGo did

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more useful it will be. But at the same time, the more leeway the

symbiotically, but what if they were integrated directly into our

less control you have.

bodies? Think a smartphone in the form of a contact lens capable

of transparently delivering augmented reality images straight to

As noted at the start of this piece, we’ve already reached a

the brain. Think it sounds like science fiction? Think again. The

turning point where humans alone

first prototypes have already been

are no longer able to extract all

Gallery 1.21 Human-machine seamless Interfaces

built.

potential value from cyberspace;

we can do that only through the

Soon, brain-computer interfaces

use of machines. For machines to

could become seamless as well,

be able do that, they need to be,

creating a new synergistic

well, better than us. So we’re

relationship between the cloud

already in that catch-22 situation.

and us. At that point, the question

of “who knows what” would be

Man and machines together

moot; you ask me a question and

So far, the division between

I know the answer. Sometimes

humans and machines has been

that answer will be stored in my

clear – I’m here, the machine is

own neural circuitry, but most of

there – but that boundary is

the time it would come from the

getting fuzzier. Smart prosthetics

connection of my neurons to the

fuse seamlessly with our bodies,

web.

making up for lost limbs or

Smart contact lenses so far have not passed the stage of concepts and

laboratory prototype. There are already a few prototypes of smart

Of course the real problem is not

providing additional strength,

contact lenses as sensors chemically analyzing eye tears. Smart lenses

about where the knowledge is

stability, or resilience, as seen in

including a camera and a screen have been patented but no real

implementation is available. They would make for a seamless interface

stored, as long as it is seamlessly

e x o s k e l e t o n s d o n n e d b y

connecting a person to the cyberspace. Image credit: Samsung.

accessible. The real problem lies

assembly line workers.

in where the decision-making

We u s e o u r s m a r t p h o n e s

process takes place! The answer

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to this is very complex; it’s already an issue today and truthfully, it

decisions with these smarter mechanized constructs. And just

has been an issue for centuries.

like with humans, there will be advantages and disadvantages

alike.

Think about it. Our brain decision process is influenced by the

way it has been “educated”

M y g u e s s i s t h a t t h e

by the cultural context. These

transformation will be subtle.

Gallery 1.22 Human Machine Symbioses

e x t e r n a l f a c t o r s a r e

We’ll neither realize it is

influencing our decision

happening, nor that it has

processes to the point that in

happened. How deeply do we

certain situations, we can

c o m p r e h e n d t h a t o u r

l e g i t i m a t e l y c l a i m t h a t

decision to buy a certain

influence has been so strong

brand of toothpaste was

that our brains can’t be held

influenced by a commercial

accountable for the choices

that we saw a month ago and

made.

have since forgotten?

The point I’m trying to make

This isn’t a win or lose

is that we humans are in

situation. We’re going to wind

symbiosis with our cultural

up as a partner to our smarter

environment, and the tools –

m a c h i n e s , a n d t h a t

both physical and conceptual

partnership will be fostered

Unanimous AI is a new company that is offering the capability to merge AI with

– that we have been taught to

human brains creating a symbiotic super intelligence.

by our augmentation through

use.

technology. Machines will

play an essential role in this

In a way, it will be no different

augmentation and, as with any successful technology, they will

in the coming decades. Our context will change, becoming

fall below our level of perception. In the end, the revolution will be

permeated by intelligent machines. Much like we do today with

silent and invisible.

our fellow humans, we’ll have to contend with and negotiate our

45

Comments:

machine symbioses since, in a way, those humans will be partly

machine as well.

• Philosophers have been debating on “free will” for millennia. In

the future the debate will have to take into consideration

machines as well, specifically the ones in symbioses with us

• As intelligence is likely to be shared (in a way we area already

facing this problem as we confront fake news) what happens to

responsibility and accountability? When machines are involved

today in a decision process (e.g. in landing an aircraft under

IFR) and it fails we look for the human responsibility (who

checked the autopilot last, who designed it, who maintained the

radio forming the gliding path…). Where are we going to look

when machines will be “self-designed”? The human factor may

vanish from the equation.

• Emotions are a human characteristics, or so we say. Yet, we

know that our emotions are conditioned, sometimes even

created, by chemicals to the point of being outside of our

control. Deep Brain Stimulation may become, along with other

technologies yet to be invented, a way for machines to become

symbiotic with us. At that point would we fall in love as result of

a machine deciding that is the right thing to do?

• Transhumanism will leverage, it will happen, on human machine

symbioses. Part of this symbioses may occur before the birth of

the human 2.0, as result of the redesign of the genome by a

machine, possibly the most effective way of creating a human-

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Brain to brain interface: where are we?

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

Brain to Computer Interfaces (BCI) have progressed quite a bit both in the

“hardware” part increasing sensing resolution and capabilities and the “software”

1. Brain to Computer Interface

part making it possible to make sense out of the electrical signals detected.

2. Computer to Brain Interface

Today it is possible to control a robotic arm with thoughts helping people with

3. Brain to Brain

motor disabilities, there are a few BCI demonstrations for playing games on a computer and several experiments have been performed using animals. BCI are

transitioning from the labs to actual use at home, signaling the transition towards maturity although a lot remains to be dome to make them really usable. There are

two crucial points: detection of brain activity shall be done without needing an

invasive implant (today this is required to get better signals and decrease the noise

created by the thousands of concurrent activities going on in the brain) and to

move to a wireless connection from the detecting sensors to the processing unit.

Research has also progressed in the other direction (CBI: Computer Brain

Interface) sending signals to the brain to activate specific reaction. So far most

experiments have been run on animals and have been focussing on the activation

of motor neurons.

It is much more difficult to move into this direction, computer to brain, since it is

BCI coupled with CBI to create a brain to brain

both difficult to influence what is going on in the brain and do so in the very

interface. Credit: Plos One & Neuroelectrics

specific areas that are to be involved. Technologies like deep brain stimulation,

47

DBS, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS, are being

nerve we can indeed move the finger but the brain would be

tested, with the former providing much more precise control but

unaware that the finger is moving because of a decision it has

requiring an invasive procedure and the latter being less accurate.

taken!

Obviously, by linking together a BCI with a CBI a direct brain to

The problem is our brain (as well as a fly’s brain) is complex. We

brain communication should become feasible. The hurdles are big can manage complication but to manage complexity you need to

and they are not just of technical nature. The most basic issue

tackle the full brain, to interact at the same level of complexity

today is that we still don’t understand what is going on in the

and we are still far from that point.

brain and the more we understand the harder establishing a brain

to brain communications seems to be.

Gallery 1.23 Motor cortex

Whilst intercepting motor signals (ie the

intention to move a finger of the left

hand) is now -almost- straightforwards

Carolien M. Toxopeus

and conversely sending a signal to

move that finger is becoming feasible

by stimulating the appropriate motor

nerves, the manipulation of thoughts is

still in dreamland. We cannot, as an

example, transfer the thinking of

moving the finger and have the brain

activating the appropriate motor nerves

to execute that action. We do not know

where the stimulation should take

place (probably in different parts of the

Several views of the motor cortex as it activates to initiate and coordinate movements. Although we have an increased understanding of what areas are involved in what movements it is still too difficult to activate brain and at very specific moments…).

movements through the motor cortex stimulation. Muscle activation is done by stimulating the terminal nerve Also, notice that by stimulating a motor

(or motor center in the spinal chord. Image credit: Carolien M. Toxopeus, University of Groningen et al. PLOS

48

Towards Humans 2.0

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

The dividing line, if ever there was one, between our ancestors and the present

human species has been set by the acquired capability to use tools (it goes back

1. Creating tools to make tools

to millions of years ago, the oldest proves of humans using tools go back to 2-3

2. Tapping on external energy sources

million years ago with homo habilis and homo erectus, pre-dating homo sapiens

to augment strength

sapiens). As any dividing line created by historians it is a fuzzy one. There are a

3. Cognitive Augmentation

few animals that are using tools (from insects to birds and mammals) and even a

4. Genetic manipulation

few that are perfecting tools (some monkeys do). This is no surprise since humans

are not at the tip of evolution, all species living today are, one way or another, at

the leading edge of evolution. Using tools is part of this evolution.

Humans, however, are the only species living today that is making tools to make …

tools. The first “humans” what we may call “humans 1.0” used tools in hunting

(first) and in agriculture, to scrape skins and became pretty good in shaping stones

and wood to serve the intended purposes. It took several million years to make the

leap, to start inventing tools that would be used to make better tools, we may

place this invention 5,000 years ago. This requires the capability to imagine what is

needed and what is needed to make that. I would say it is an imagination of the

second order. That is why I labelled this evolution as “humans 1.2”.

A few more millennia and humans invented a way to increase their strength

The path towards Humans 2.0 started a long time

initiating the industrial revolution (first with steam and then with electricity and the

ago, now we are getting closer.

related engines converting the energy in mechanical movement). Yes, the lever and

49

pulley were ways to augment human strength, but it actually

exchange rates… you name it. More than that. This incredible tool

traded displacement for strength. The energy was provided by the

is connecting our mind with an unlimited source of knowledge,

human worker.

the web, and with an unlimited source of services. Notice that this

knowledge and these services are the result of million of people

Water mills (3rd century BC) and

that have worked to create and

windmills (1st century BC) clearly

Gallery 1.24 Apps are an extension of our brain, and mind

share it. Think about it: the

predate steam and electricity but

smartphone shrinks the distance

converted an energy that was

to other minds and brings the

available locally. We really have to

past into the present.

wait the invention of the steam

engine to have a way to increase

This is another major leap in the

human strength everywhere that

increase of our capability as a

was desirable.

species (the smartphone has

reached a penetration close to

This has revolutionized our

50% in the world) and I labelled society, increased the GDP and

this as “humans 1.7”.

transformed us as human beings.

That is why I am labelling this

Why am I labelling humans with a

event as the birth of “humans

progressive, distinct number? Are

1.5”.

humans 1.7 different from humans

1.5? Yes, they are. We are what

In the last 25 years (at mass

There is surely an app for you, out there! Image credit: Pursuit Magazine

our genome is creating but that is

market level) the massive use of

also part of the story. We are also

computers, particularly impactful

what we are nurtured in. And the

in the last decade as they become a continuous presence in our

experiences, the context we live in is making us who we are as

life in form of smartphones, we have seen an increase of our mind

much as our genomic roots. The experiences we live, what we

capabilities. We can rely on our smartphone to remember

learn changes our synapses, our brain and there is no doubt that

numbers, appointments, to help us finding the way, to calculate

50

the kind of experiences we live today are quite different from the

increased capabilities as a species with the kind of tools that are -

ones that shaped our grandfathers. Our children are growing in a

somehow- supporting those increase capabilities.

context that is different from the one we grew. They are different

In the last years we have started to see a transformation in the

from us, for sure they are humans 1.7, most likely we are humans

“quality” of our tools. For as long as we can know, tools have

1.6 … (look at the nice, although old, clip).

been an extension of our body,

What will it take for the next leap,

from the club to the hoe, from the

Gallery 1.25 Is technology changing what it means to be

for seeing the birth of “humans

loom to the amazingly huge and

human?

2.0” - transhumans- a marked

complex steel mills. Robots have

improvement from the past?

just been the more recent tools to

extend our capabilities.

I described our evolution as

human species as a result of our

However, in the last few years

ability to develop and use ever

robots are starting to become

more effective (and sometimes)

“autonomous”. This does not

complex tools. Of course this

mean that they can perform their

goes both ways. One can rightly

duty unsupervised. This has been

say that it is our evolution that has

true for quite some time. You

led to the capability of creating

program a robot to do a certain

better tools. The minds of hunters

job, including very complex ones

and farmers devised better tools

like flying a plane, and it will do

to use in the field, likewise

that without any supervision.

evolved minds of scientists,

Is the evolution of electronics and artificial intelligence changing the way

With “autonomous” I mean that

researchers and engineers led to

we are “humans”? A series of conferences organized in Mogliano Veneto

robots are starting, mind you -just

t h e t a m i n g o f s t e a m a n d

by the Galileo Galilei Institute.

starting-, to have a life of their

electricity.

own in which they take decisions

I a m n o t c l a i m i n g o n e

that have not been programmed.

interpretation over the other, just noticing that we can tag our

This is the result of the “mind” we have provided them, a mind

51

that can learn and their behavior is based on what they have

by interacting with itself. Actually it can create many clones of

learnt.

itself and explore new avenues of both computation and

interaction.

Look at AlphaGo (a nice movie, released in January 2018, is

available on Netflix with insight on

These new breeds of robots are

its “mind“): that computer played

entities that will be flanking

Gallery 1.26 Human - Smart prosthetics Symbioses

in a way that surprised its

ourselves, no longer extensions of

“ d e s i g n e r s ” ( n o l o n g e r

our body but “living” things that

“programmers” since in a way

co-exist with us, learning from

AlphaGo is programmed to learn,

experience and we will become

not to operate).

part of their experience.

The learning process is an

Can this co-existence bring to a

unpredictable one, it may lead to

new superorganism?

unexpected capabilities, be it the

Prosthetic limbs have reach such

learning of a kid or the one of a

a sophistication that can be seen

robot.

as operating in a symbiotic

The robots have the advantage of

relation with the person having

learning fast, and they can learn

them. And in a few cases the

using a replica of themselves as a

person’s perception has fully

sparring partner. Imagine you

A 3D printed hand. Just looking at the image one may not be sure

integrated the prosthetic limb.

whether it is the prosthetic hand solving the Rubik’s cube leveraging on

were learning to play tennis by

Newer version have embedded

its embedded intelligence or if it is the human hand “connected” to the

rushing back and forth in the two

human brain, or may be both cooperating. For the record: in this case it

intelligence, able to predict what it

is the human hand/brain, in the next decade it might be the other way

parts of a tennis court first hitting

around. Image credit: Open Bionics

will be expected from them, they

t h e b a l l ( s e r v e ) a n d t h e n

can interact with the body, and

responding to it … Impossible,

the brain of the person, receiving

obviously, but not for a robot! A robot can clone itself and learn

signals and returning sensation. It is an easy bet to say that in the

52

next decade we will see even

to relieve fatigue and increase

Gallery 1.27 Exoskeleton applications

better prosthetics, with higher

their strength. In the future they

level of intelligence and autonomy

may become standard body

able to interact seamlessly with

augmentation for a variety of

the body in a true symbiotic

workers as well as other areas,

relation.

like tourism. Are you interested in

a nice but hard excursion

The image shown is to emphasize

requiring perfect physical fitness

the progress made in 3D printing

and weeks of training? Forget the

functional prosthetic hands and

training and don an exoskeleton

the way they can collaborate

and you are on your way. I would

seamlessly with the normal hand.

expect this to become as normal

Today the level of intelligence in

as today it is to see elderly people

the prosthetic hand focusses on

choosing an electrical wheelchair

smoothing its operation but in the

to visit some tourist spots.

next decade this intelligence may

grow to provide additional ability

The market value of exoskeleton

to the hand, additional expertise

is growing rapidly, it was 43M$ in

to perform tasks that person’s

2014, it is expected to reach

hand/brain do not have.

1.8B$ in 2020 (Winter Green

Research).

In that case you may see this

p ro s t h e t i c a s a f u n c t i o n a l

Key to this evolution will be the

augmentation of the person.

Chairless chair exoskeleton system to relieve workers fatigue. Image

“seamless” experience. You

credit: Noonee

Clearly this will apply to various

should not feel the augmentation

forms of exoskeleton today apparatus, just enjoy “your”

focussing on helping people with motion disabilities and workers

augmented capabilities. It will require advances in material

53

science and in artificial intelligence. The apparatus shall be at the

Once this becomes generalised we will enter into a new

same time autonomous (so that you don’t need to perceive it and

dimension, that of humans 1.9. At one stage, further down the

“command” it) and seamlessly integrated with you, i.e. creating a

lane, this augmentation will become a standard way of “being

symbiotic relation. In most cases it will take some time for both of

human” and that will finally lead to “humans 2.0”. It is likely that

you (yourself and the

this will involve some

apparatus) to adapt

Gallery 1.28 Exoskeleton Market forecast

modifications to our

to each other and

body, resulting, as an

this in a way will be a

e x a m p l e , w i t h d e p a r t u r e f r o m

drought resistant

t o d a y ’s s i t u a t i o n

p l a n t s , t o s o m e

where it is just you

t w e a k i n g o f t h e

that need to adapt to

genome.

an apparatus, be it a

N o t i c e t h a t w e

new pair of ski, new

already have taken

booth…

t h i s b o d y

The trend is toward

modification path in

a n i n c r e a s e d

the last 50 years with

a d o p t i o n o f

… v a c c i n a t i o n .

a u t o n o m o u s

Vaccination gives us

systems, in different

Rapid growth of market value in the US. Similar growth are also expected in other parts of the world.

superhuman strength

shapes and serving

Source: Grand View Research

in fighting some kind

different uses, all

of viruses and we

providing through a

have been extremely

symbiotic relation an augmentation of some of our capabilities.

successful in this area. Vaccination teaches our immune system

to be prepared to some viruses attacks and respond in an

effective way. We have been able to tweak with the genome of

54

some plants to make them more resistant to bugs and drought…

effectively creating species 2.0. The time for humans 2.0 is

coming.

Notice that what seems scaring today, because is perceived as a

significant change, will not be so tomorrow, since the evolution

will be slow and mostly unperceived. It will start affecting few

niches where the need is stronger (like genetic diseases or

Gallery 1.29 Augmentation through gene modification

disabilities) and ethical issues minimal and overcome by other

considerations to expand to other areas.

Looking ahead, like it is done in the IEEE FDC Symbiotic

Autonomous System Initiative, will help in identifying

roadblocks, both technological – economical – societal, and

open a broad discussion on how to tackle them steering the

evolution in a desired way.

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory

have identified a common set of genes that enable different drought-

resistant plants to survive in semi-arid conditions, which could play a

significant role in bioengineering and creating energy crops that are

tolerant to water deficits. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

55

Life 3.0

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

In my search for information relevant to the recently launched Symbiotic

Autonomous Systems Initiative I stumbled onto a fascinating book written by Max

1. Life 1.0 - Managing complexity

Tegmark, Life 3.0.

2. Life 2.0 - flexibility on top

When discussing on life from a scientific point of view the first question coming to

3. Life 3.0 - Symbiotic life

the fore is what is meant by life, in a scientific sense. The problem is that as you

look closer and closer the boundaries between what we may call life and what we

wouldn’t call life gets blurred.

In his book, Max answers the question by noting that imposing requirements such

as “being composed of cells” is not satisfactory at all and therefore he prefers to

define life as a process able to retain its complexity and replicate. Of course this

definition is more inclusive and opens the door to consider entities, not cell based,

as “life”.

At the same time this leads him to the need of classifying different forms of life and

he starts with bacteria, clearly living things since they can maintain their

complexity and replicate. They interact with the environment, as an example by

sensing the presence of sugar and activating their flagella to move closer to it (and

eat). The mechanism at work has been perfected through billions of generations

and although it works perfectly is not flexible. It is the implementation of

A really intriguing book full of suggestions on a next

instructions written in the bacteria DNA and these can not be changed by the

step of life evolution. Credit: Max Tegmark

56

bacteria itself, although they get changed over generations of

not well defined. Mice have much more flexibility than a bacteria,

bacteria (through evolution). This is an example of Life 1.0.

a single mouse can learn, although not as much as we do, so

perhaps it should be classified as 1.x. At the same time humans

If, on the other hand, we look at humans we see that we are

are now able to learn much more using the Internet and a

much more adaptable as individuals. Each one of us learns and

smartphone as a prosthetic. Is this a Life 2.x form?

changes his behavior accordingly. The amount of information that

a human DNA can store is in the order of a GB. However, the

Artificial intelligence is creating entities that are mostly software,

amount of information that a human brain can store is in the order

or a software that keeps evolving and enters into a symbiotic

of 100 TB (according to Max).

relation with hardware of different

What is crucial is that this

Gallery 1.30 Towards Life 3.0

sorts. This is what Max calls Life

“potential” gap is filled through

3.0.

individual learning and experience

And this is what connects to

so a person can increase her

Symbiotic Autonomous Systems.

inherited -genetic- knowledge. A

newborn cannot speak any

As long as we take Max definition

language but in a relatively short

of life and we look at robots that

time can develop a software plug

can duplicates themselves and

in in her brain that can let her

learn we are getting closer to Life

understand and speak any

3.0, and if we are considering

language (one plug per language,

symbiotic relations with humans,

of course, and it takes time to

augmented humans through AI,

create one…).

again we are on the path towards

Life 3.0.

This capability of relaying on soft

processes is what Max calls Life

Better to read Max’s book for

2.0. By the way: why using 1.0,

intriguing thoughts!

2.0? Because the boundaries are

Sketchy summary by Eric Topol

57

Artificial Super Intelligence

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

As part of the second White Paper produced by the Symbiotic Autonomous

Systems Initiative I am discussing the evolution towards Artificial Super

1. AI evolution: Narrow > General > Super

Intelligence. We discussed this at the Workshop in San Diego on October 30th

2. AI versus Human Intelligence

and at the TTM 2018 following the workshop.

3. Emerging Symbiotic Intelligence

Today Artificial Intelligence is not au pair with human intelligence, humans still have

the upper hand. However, this is not generally true. There are areas where

computer intelligence is better than the human’s one, as an example where it is

needed to look at huge amount of data, or remember many data, or evaluate the

outcome of some complex decisions. Computer AI has managed to beat the

human chess world champion, the human Go world champion, has won

Jeopardy…

Hence it would be fair to say that although we do not have computers that can

demonstrate the same level of human intelligence in general (Artificial General

Intelligence –AGI) we have specific areas where computer intelligence is better

Today we have Artificial (narrow) Intelligence. In the

than the human’s one.

future we might expect machines to demonstrate the

Now, there is a consensus on the fact that sometime in the future computers will

same level of intelligence of humans (Artificial

demonstrate an intelligence comparable to the one of humans, they will achieve

General Intelligence) and thereafter to take the lead

AGI (although there is no consensus on “when” this will happen).

with a human-machine convergence, immediately

followed by humans 2.0 and Artificial Super

Intelligence. Timeline by Reimagining the Future.

58

Paradoxically, this will be the point when they will also achieve

being and the other components are also intelligent, the emerging

ASI -Artificial Super Intelligence- since they will maintain the edge

intelligence is likely to be of ASI type.

in those areas where they already have an edge on human

This will be unlikely to happen within the next 20 years, although

intelligence, hence by the time they will demonstrate AGI they will

a few scientists and futurists bet on this transition to ASI to

also demonstrate ASI.

happen in the fourth decade of this century.

However, with ASI it is usual y

meant the capability to be better

Gallery 1.31 The path towards Artificial Super Intelligence

not just in a few areas but better in

most areas. This might require a bit

longer but not that much longer.

The point is that computer are

getting more intelligent by learning

and they no longer learn from

humans. They are starting to learn

also by themselves, trying different

approaches and evaluating them.

T h e a d v e n t o f s y m b i o t i c

autonomous systems -SAS-, where

there will be a computer as a

component, will lead to the

emergence of intelligence at SAS

level and this emergent intelligence

is most likely to be better than the

intelligence of each component. If

one of the component is a human

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

59

The path towards Transhumanism

AUGUST 6, 2018

Evolution has marched along the 4.5 billion years of our Planet. Although life

seems to have started some 3.5 billion years ago, evolution was already at work 1. Evolving the Human Body

before that time, creating new and more complex molecules that eventually gave

2. Evolving Human Thought

rise to the first forms of life. It has never stopped, it keeps going on today.

3. Evolving Human Behavior

However, if we focus on a single species we have many cases (most actually)

where evolution stopped simply because that species disappeared. The 5 great

extinctions of the past wiped out most species.

Researchers studying evolution pointed out that the human species is unlikely to

evolve further. Our siblings have already disappeared and we are the last species

of homo sapiens. In order to further evolve, generating a new species we would

need to incur in a random variation (that’s possible) that would pass a natural

selection process leading to a divergence from the current species and this is no

longer possible for the foreseeable future. We no longer have on Planet Earth

Will there be a Human 2.0?

niches isolated from the rest of the Planet were a divergence can strengthen to the

The answer might be different from what evolutionists

point of becoming a new species. We keep mingling with one another and our

would have thought 100 years ago.

genes keep getting exchanged .

The evolution is likely to come from a joint, symbiotic

evolution, of a technology embedded environment, a

We might, in the longer term, create new niches, like sending astronauts to

technology supported design of human evolution and

colonize Mars. At that point the separation conditions that are required for the

the embedding of technology in humans.

emergence of a new species will be satisfied, but we are far from that.

60

Humankind has diverged for millennia (millennia are too short on

Transhumanism exploring these possibilities and the impact they

the evolutionary clock to create and select a new species) in their

might have on business. They are considering three main

extended phenotype: communities separated in space have

“evolutions”:

evolved different cultures and therefore different extended

•

Evolving the human body

phenotypes (just think at the many languages spoken on the

Planet, even though their number is decreasing ever more). In this

•

Evolving human thought

last century the Planet has shrunk to the point that even these

d i v e r g e n t e x t e n d e d

•

Evolving human behavior

phenotypes are becoming

These evolutions are the

Gallery 1.32 The Extended Phenotype

rare and difficult to emerge.

r e s u l t o f c o n v e r g i n g

H o w e v e r, i n t h i s l a s t

evolution of biotechnologies,

decades we are seeing

human machine interaction

u n e x p e c t e d e v o l u t i o n

technologies/symbioses and

avenues on the horizon, not

b e h a v i o r a l a s p e c t s

the ones of natural selection

( p r o m p t e d b y n e w

but the ones enabled by

possibilities and change in

“ d e s i g n ” . G e n o m i c

culture).

manipulation and symbioses

These same areas are being

with machines are opening

explored in the IEEE FDC

up new possibilities, and

S y m b i o t i c A u t o n o m o u s

give rise to many questions.

Systems Initiative and were

The genotype consists of all the genes. The phenotype is the result of their

T h e V i s i o n a r y

also the topic of a Delphi

expression. Differences in the genotype leads to differences in the phenotype, like

I n n o v a t i o n G r o u p a t

the color of skin. We know some of these correlations but we are far from knowing all

study whose results can be

of them since a single gene difference may lead to several differences in the

Frost&Sullivan published an

seen in the second SAS

phenotype. In addition, the actual people phenotype (what we perceive of a person)

is conditioned by other factors, like culture (including what diet is part of that culture,

i n t e r e s t i n g s t u d y o n Initiative White Paper.

resulting in different average size of people). These additional factors are forming the

“extended phenotype” and technology is one of these factors that is reshaping our

behavior. Image credit: The Straits Times

61

Evolving the Human Body

In these last decades the variety of augmentation to our body

made possible by technology has started to grow and we can

We have started to augment our body long long time ago,

expect a real explosion in the coming decades. These body

probably the first augmentation go back 170,000 years ago when augmentations can be classified in three areas:

our ancestors started to wear clothes to protect themselves from

cold weather. You might not

• external wearables for sensing

consider that an “augmentation”

and movement enhancement;

Gallery 1.33 Human augmentation technologies

but it actually made possible to

• internal implants in the body

extend significantly the human

with special case for brain

habitat. It is also worth noticing

implants;

the long time it took to the human

r a c e t o a c h i e v e t h i s fir s t

• biological augmentation based

augmentation considering that we

on genomics, genetics and

lost thermal insulation from hair

reproductive.

( t h a t o u r s i b l i n g s , t h e

chimpanzees still have) some 1

The three categories represent

million years ago (based on

just a broad classification and

genomic analyses). That is a quite

there are a number of examples of

l o n g s p a n o f t i m e t o l i v e

a u g m e n t a t i o n b a s e d o n

completely naked!

technologies falling into more

t h a n o n e c a t e g o r y. A s a n

Fast forward. At the end of the XIII

example, the implant developed

century the first visual aid (sort of

A cochlear implant based on optogenetics. Neurons in the cochlea are

by the University of Gottingen

genetically modified to become sensitive to light. Using optical fibers a

glasses) were invented (Northern

microchip converts sounds in light pulses that in turns stimulate the

(see image) requires the genetic

Italy) providing another earlier

aural nerves with a very high precision.

modification of cochlear nerves

Image credit: Gottingen University

c a s e o f h u m a n b o d y

so that they can become sensitive

augmentation.

to light. At this point a microchip

can convert sounds (picked up

through a micro microphone inserted in the ear duct of a deaf

62

person) into light pulses.

The microchip might also be

Gallery 1.34 Areas of Human Augmentation

These are carried to the inner

designed to capture radio

ear by optical fibers, where

signals and convert them into

t h e c o c h l e a r n e r v e

sound patterns.

terminations are. The light

T h e s e a re e x a m p l e s o f

pulses stimulate the nerve

augmentation that involve

terminations in a very precise

both biological modifications,

way, not achievable with

wearable and implantable

current technologies, and

devices.

send the signals to the brain

for processing. This device,

Human augmentation is a

so far tried on gerbils but

form of evolution that our

soon to be tried on humans,

species has taken in its own

can be seen as a way to

hands and it is not going to be

restore hearing. At the same

stopped. Eventually it might

t i m e i t c a n p r o v i d e

end up in the creation of a

augmentation both in hearing

new species through bio-

sounds that would be too

engineering that modifies the

Application areas for human body augmentation. Source: Frost&Sullivan

weak to be detected by a

genome. We are still far from

normal ear and to detect

that although the main hurdles

sounds that are outside the

are more in the ethical and

frequency response of our hearing sense. As an example the

social domain than in the technological one (we do not have the

microchip could be designed to provide hearing in the ultrasound

knowledge to apply the technology we already have that would

range (like bats), which could be used to see in complete

lead to a new species creation although we are already seeing

darkness like having a radar.

work in this direction with the application of deep neural networks and more general y artificial intel igence to understand the

63

connection between the genotype and the phenotype and as next

already happening and the last one not likely to happen anytime

step to design the genotype based on the desired phenotype).

soon.

Frost&Sullivan Visionary Innovation Group has listed a number of

Of course, for each of these areas there are different degrees of

areas where human body augmentation will serve on the path fulfillment (ambition) and way of achieving them. As an example,

towards transhumanism:

we have plenty of plastic surgery being performed to increase

attractiveness (curiously, may be a Freudian slip, I first typed

1. Increased Attractiveness

Increase “attractivemess” which is

2. Enhanced Sensing

Gallery 1.35 Augmenting attractiveness

something happening when plastic surgery

goes too far….). In the future some genomic

3. Sport optimization

tweaking may result in the same increase of

4. Digital biometrics

attractiveness without need of surgery.

Would you like your offspring to be tall? A

5. Ubiquitous and continual

little genomic modification and there you

monitoring

have it! Likewise, one might claim that we

already have some sort of “Enhanced

6. Optimized diet

Intelligence” through the use of tablets,

7. Enhanced strength

smartphones to grab information from the

web.

8. Disease free bodies

Use on nanotechnology in cosmetics is widespread with all

Let’s start discussing each area.

9. Extreme aging

major brand having adopted nanotech. Concerns on the

potential side effects have not stopped their use so far.

Image credit: BidnessEtc

1. Increased attractiveness

10.Enhanced Intelligence

From as far as we can go back in time

11.Digital hardware enhancement

humankind has tried to enhance personal

I have listed the various application areas according to my feeling

attractiveness, coloring (sometime scarring) the skin, elongating

of time occurrence, with the first one, Increased attractiveness,

the neck, constraining the feet to remain small, increasing the

64

muscle size and so on. Of course, attractiveness changes across

over 15,000$). Of course, one could say that also in the past rich

cultures and what can be attractive here may be unpleasant

people could afford a life and choices that most other people

there.

could not…

Cosmetics goes back several thousands years and technology

2. Enhanced Sensing

has contributed significantly to cosmetics. Nanotech is now A lot of research is ongoing to meet the needs of impaired people

providing more options in cosmetics and electronics has also

who lost completely or partially some of their sense capabilities,

found application into cosmetics. Flexible electronics as well as

be it hearing, seeing, touching, smelling and tasting (the order

on skin-printable electronics will provide means to create a novel

reflects both the investment and the results obtained so far). Most

line of skin jewels, sparkling skin in the real sense.

of the results have shown that once we engage some artificial

Plastic surgery is widespread and will get better with the

sense to replace or supplement an existing sense it becomes

availability of new materials.

possible to extend the natural

S m a r t m a t e r i a l s w i l l a l l o w

sense capabilities, this effectively

Gallery 1.36 Enhanced Sensing

reshaping of body parts.

augmenting the sensorial capacity

of a person, to the point that an

Genomic and bio-engineering are

artificial sense might (in the future)

already supporting the selection

become of interest also to people

of specific traits in In Vitro

not suffering from any sense

Fertilization so that couple can

disability.

choose the color of the eyes of

The capabilities of our senses are defining our perception of the world

and the way we interact with it. In the image on the left a village scene,

their baby…

in the middle how the same scene would be perceived if we were to

We are not at that point, yet. All

have a fly eye and on the right if we were to have a mollusk eye.

artificial senses developed so far

These growing set of possibilities

Image credit: David Trippet

c o m e s h o r t i n t e r m s o f

are opening up a set of social and

performance to replace with the

ethical issues, including the gap

same effectiveness natural senses

between those who can afford this “un-natural selection” and but it is also clear that progress in technology will fill the gap and

those who cannot (choosing the sex of the future baby may cost

will push beyond the capability of natural senses.

65

One of the point that is emerging from research in this area is the

area of Augmented Reality and this will result in the availability of

flexibility of our brain, the real processing point of sensation, the

“interfaces” that will augment human vision and hearing. Notice

one that gives meaning to the data provided by our senses (and

that today we are talking about wearable based interfaces (like

often associates emotion to them). This flexibility is such that

goggles) but in a few decades technology will have moved to the

sometimes the brain can rewire itself to deal with signals

point of providing invisible interfaces, with direct connection to

conveyed by a sense as if they were conveyed by a different

the sensory nerves and eventually to the brain (I don’t see this

sense. It is the case of Neil

happening in the next 30 years -

H a r b i n s s o n , I d i s c u s s e d

apart from some lab demos).

Gallery 1.37 Sport optimization

previously in “The sound of

Once Augmented Reality will

colors, the colors of sound”, that

become seamless it will change

can see colors by hearing

forever our perception of the

sounds…

world and it might be one of the

Enhancing our senses would

first turning point in the path

p r o v i d e a d i ffe r e n t v i e w /

towards transhumanism.

perception of the world and would

3. Sport optimization

likely set up a different set of

interactions. This is nicely

Somehow related to Enhanced

discussed in an article on Oxford

Sensing is the area of Sport

Academic: “Music and the

optimization, a way of reshaping

Transhuman ear: ultrasonics,

the body to better fit the demand

material bodies and the limits of

of a specific sport. It is related

sensation“. It is a long article but

since it is involving sensing. The

Oscar Pistorius running in the Olympics. Image credit: Business Insider

if you are interested in these areas

two single biggest hurdles in

it makes for a good reading.

having functional prosthetics (for

limbs, hands, …) is the powering

A lot of work is being done in the

of the prosthetic so that it can be

66

active and its interface with the body. Providing accurate

prosthetics Don Elgin, a paralympic pentathlete athlete is using sensations is crucial to ensure a seamless integration with the

depending on the game he is participating.

body.

So far prosthetics have been used to recover from disabilities but

Most recent advances have seen the embedding of sensorial it would not be surprising if they will be adopted in normal

capability (touch) in prosthetics. An electronic skin is covering the

competition. If you think about it, professional skiers are using

prosthetics and can transmit sensations like touch, pressure and

boots and skis that are ever more sophisticated and that are

even pain.

providing a competitive advantage in the race. What about a

skeet shooter donning a prosthetics to keep his arm still as she is

The first Olympic for Cyborgs,

aiming at the bull’s eye? Or a

people using prosthetics to

Gallery 1.38 Biometric technologies

soccer player donning high tech

participate to the context, was

shoes that will steer the ball in the

held in October 2016 in Zurich,

exact spot at a kick penalty?

Switzerland and a new edition is

planned in 2020.

Clearly, as technology progress

sport competitions will have to

Paralympic athletes are showing

rethink their rules…

performances that are getting

closer to the one of normal

4. Digital biometrics

athletes and it is expected that

How many passwords do you

they will get an edge over normal

h a v e ? H o w t o u g h i s i t t o

bodies. Some discussion has remember them? And yet you

already started on the fairness of

never need to identify yourself

using prosthetics in “normal”

when you meet a friend, even

Olympics, showing the progress

when you meet him again after 10

in this field.

A variety of biometric technologies are already being used and will keep

evolving with the goal of becoming seamless in their application.

years!

Take a look at the variety of

Image credit: Ashley Hudson

Connectivity of our body with the

67

cyberspace will be a given in the next decade and along with it

This remains challenging but it is expected that in the next

there will be biometric identification, in different forms, to

decade, through multiple biometric identification approaches the

authenticate who we are. We can identify a person through

problem will be solved once and for all.

fingerprints, through iris scan, through face characteristics (ratio

Humans 2.0 will be inhabiting a space where they will be

among different points in the face), through DNA, through blood

identified by the simple fact that they are there. Clearly, this will

vessels distribution and shape, through heart beats (examples of

be most convenient but at the same time privacy issues will come

physical attributes based biometrics), through gait, through voice,

to the stage. Identity information shall remain property of the

through micro movement during writing (examples of behavioral

owner and can only be verified by those who have the right to do

attribute based biometrics), and more!

so and cannot be shared with third parties.

The crucial point is that all these requirements need to be

Seamless biometrics identification may result in a continuous

satisfied at the same time:

monitoring and localization of a person. This may tremendously

• identification should be certain (no false positive)

increase personal safety and overall security. On the other hand

the Big Brother syndrome will be

• identification should not be

Gallery 1.39 Ubiquitous and continuous Monitoring

more than justified, hence the

denied (no false negative)

absolute need to preserve privacy

• identification should occur only

and trust.

when needed

5. Ubiquitous and continual

• i d e n t i fic a t i o n s h o u l d b e

monitoring

seamless

From what just said, it follows that

• identification should be possible

it will become possible to have a

anywhere, at any time

u b i q u i t o u s a n d c o n t i n u o u s

monitoring (subject to the privacy

• i d e n t i fic a t i o n s h o u l d b e

c a v e a t e x p r e s s e d ) . T h i s

affordable

monitoring can extend from the

Soft skin wearable health monitoring system. Credit: University of Tokyo

68

identification to many more aspects (and again privacy concerns

Because of this, and more generally because of a sense of being

are at the centerstage). A clear area of application is in the

“controlled” it is most likely that the adoption will be slow, apart

monitoring of health parameter. Ambient, wearable and from those persons having a medical problem for whom being

embedded sensors will be able to keep track of all vital signs and continuously monitored will provide a sense of relief.

connection to the cyberspace will

6. Optimized diet

allow the continuous checking of

Gallery 1.40 Optimized diet

these parameters by the person’s

We already have plenty of “apps”

digital twin. Health care will shift

to help in monitoring our food

f r o m “ s i c k c a r e ” t o r e a l

“intake” and advising on what

“healthcare”. Most of the time it

would be best for us and for the

will be possible to prevent

kind of activities we are planning.

problems and in those few cases

They just represent a starting

where that will not be possible the

point for what it might be possible

red flag will go up immediately

tomorrow.

and the rescue team will know

immediately where to go and

Do you like nightmares? OK, try

what is the problem increasing

this. You go to a restaurant and

enormously the probability of

as you look at the menu, through

successful recovery.

Augmented Reality you’ll see both

the restaurant proposals as well

In this area in addition to the

Computers, sometimes disguised in a smartphone or tablet shape, are

as the number of calories

privacy concerns there are also

already providing dietary support. In the future it may get better, or

associated to that dish, along the

worse, depending on your taste. Image credit: 123RF

“hacking” concerns, malicious

number of calories you still have

attempts to enter the sensory

available for the day. If we are

system and the communication it

really looking into the future, let’s say second half of this century,

has with the cyberspace.

the restaurant menu will connect to your taste buds and olfactive

69

cells to make your brain have a virtual taste at what is available

needs. Personally I would hate this kind of future and I am pretty

(talking about subliminal advertisement!).

sure I won’t be alone. Hence…. it is unlikely to happen.

Once you choose and you get the actual dish in front of you

Evolution is made possible by technology (and economics) but in

Augmented Reality will kick in

the end people are the one

again showing the full amount of

choosing what they want. I bet

Gallery 1.41 The Human Metabolome

calories in the plate (using

most people will not go for this

sensors to identify what’s in the

kind of future.

plate and evaluating the calories)

What is more likely to happen is

and as you get a spoonful you’ll

that we will have the choice of

see in AR the available calories for

using much better, customized,

the day decreasing…

dietary advice and it will be up to

As I said, it is a nightmarish

the single individual to look for

perspective but it gives you the

them and go along with them. In

idea of what may lay ahead.

specific situations (some chronic

pathology, food allergies, athlete

Knowing your genome and your

in training,… ) these supports will

metabolome, foreseeing your

be used extensively, in other they

coming activities your Digital Twin

will not.

will advise on the optimal diet.

Let’s hope it is not going to

The Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) is a freely available

There are other ways, however, to

electronic database containing detailed information about small

disclose to your wife what you are

look at the optimal diet in the

molecule metabolites found in the human body.

actually eating, nor to your

future:

Credit: http://www.hmdb.ca

insurance company…

• complementing whatever diet

Of course one can push this to

you take (that is not actually a diet

the extreme having pills rather than food to meet your eating

at all), with some customized drug that will simply stop the

70

assimilation of those substances that are not fitting your profile

we can be sure of that since it is no longer a claim from some

and need;

research lab, it has become an issue for the traditional meat

producers. In the US, the Agricultural professional groups

• having the cooking process managed by some smart robots

including the American Sheep Industry Association, National

that knowing your dietary need will make sure that the outcome

Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council,

of its cooking fits your diet by removing or blocking some

National Pork Producers Council and the National Turkey

substances without affecting the look, the smell and the taste;

Federation are  lobbying President Trump to ensure fair

• tricking your brain into believing that you are

competition (reading between the lines: to

Gallery 1.42 Enhanced strength

eating what you chose whilst in reality you

outlaw artificial meat). When the market feels

are getting something else, in line with the

the heat of a new technology it means that

optimal diet;

technology is real!

• tricking your brain in perceiving you already

7. Enhanced strength

ate so you no longer feel the urge to eat

We have learnt to enhance our strength

some more;

centuries, millennia, ago first with the lever

• changing your brain so that it is actually

then harvesting hydraulic and then steam

longing to get exactly the food that is

power. Today we have a tremendous array of

required by the optimal diet.

machines that multiply our strength. Our

body strength has also improved since our

I guess that a mix of those options will find a

ancestors, we have grown taller (10 cm in

way to the market. Actually, there might be a

average in the last 150 years) and the

further way:

muscular mass has increased. It looks like,

however, that this increase has leveled out

• food might be customized at the origin to be

healthy for a particular person, hence to fit

a n d t h e r e a r e g o o d p h y s i c a l a n d

his optimal dietary needs. Artificial meat, as

physiological reasons why we cannot get

A military exoskeleton relieving from fatigue

an example, is on the way to the market and

and seamlessly connecting the soldier with

bigger and stronger.

his team. Credit: Raytheon XOS 2

71

Much more recently researchers have started to create

risky. Besides, the present culture consider artificial improvement

exoskeletons, wearable machines that can diminish fatigue and

of strength a form of cheating (doping).

multiply our strength. Whilst diminishing fatigue (including

In the future we might expect to increase our knowledge on the

flanking no longer usable muscles as it is the case for

effect of the genome on the

e x o s k e l e t o n s f o r p a r a l y t i c

phenotype also in relation to

patients) is already being done, Gallery 1.43 Exoskeletons

strength, hence there will be the

with an increasing level of

possibility to make changes to the

effectiveness, the multiplication of

genotype to increase strength at

strength carries problems that are

the phenotype level.

of difficult solution in a general

context whilst they already work

It is, however, much more likely

well in limited context. The

that the increase of strength will

difficulty derives from the risk of

come from the evolution of

hurting the person wearing the

exoskeletons. These, in certain

exoskeleton: imagine having to

applications, might become a

interact with a bulldozer not from

seamless extension of our body.

the cockpit but from the moving

We have already taken the first

blade and lift cylinder!

step in this direction. Consider, as

an example, skiing equipment.

Military and health care are the

The boots can be designed on our

t w o s e c t o r s s t e e r i n g t h e

Wandercraft exoskeleton "Atalante".

foot shape, using 3d laser scan

evolution.

Image credit: AOL/Steve Dent

and 3d printing and can be made

We have drugs that can enhance

with smart material to absorb

our strength and decrease the

vibration and become more

sense of fatigue and a few people are using them. This goes

responsive.

along with dangerous side effects that makes this approach quite

72

Donning an exoskeleton at work might become as normal as

vitro IVF and in grown up person) becomes available.

using a screwdriver… BCI will also improve the capability of

However, in the coming decades we can expect two major

controlling robots to the point of having them becoming a

revolutions:

seamless extension of our body and effectively multiplying our

capabilities.

• quicker understanding of what is going on, both at a community

and at a personal level

This will be another component in the evolution towards humans

2.0, towards transhumans.

• shift from curing to keeping healthy.

8 Life without disease

The first revolution leverage on

Gallery 1.44 Life without disease

big data as they are becoming

In the last century health care

more and more available from

made incredible progresses.

health care records and from a

Purified water and better food

variety of sensors. We already

take the lion share in this

know that this is a mine of

progress, although they are often

enormous wealth that can bring

underestimated. Drugs, surgery

significant benefit at personal and

( e n a b l e d b y a n e s t h e s i a ) ,

societal level. First signs of

antibiotics and more recently anti-

epidemics can be detected and immune therapy have fought

appropriate action to contain the

diseases that were killing millions

spread can be taken (cell phone

of people.

tracking helped to foresee the

On the horizon we have the hope

potential spread of the latest

to cure genetic diseases, as our

Ebola infection). More than that.

understanding of the genome

Knowing the presence of an

Life expectancy in various world regions. As shown in the graph, life

g ro w s a n d t e c h n o l o g y f o r

expectancy has improved everywhere, mostly thanks to purified water

infectious agent in a community

and better food in developing Countries. Image credit: Healthy Planet

modifying the genome (both in

raises the attention of care givers

73

to that particular pathogen and symptoms can be evaluated in

bodies, the understanding of the genome and the possibility to

that context leading to more appropriate actions. Even more: by

act immediately. In a way it will be the shift from “sick-care” to a

monitoring the effect of the cure/containment it is possible to

real “health-care” where the goal is to remain in good health. This

improve it making it more effective.

is what can make life without disease possible (at least a goal).

Correlating data of thousands/

Wearable, ambient and contact/

Gallery 1.45 Future proactive healthcare

millions of people allows the

embedded sensors (in this order)

detection of niches (thinly

will be providing a continuous

d i s p e r s e d ) h a v i n g s p e c i fic

m o n i t o r i n g o f o u r b o d y

characteristics like being more

physiological parameter and

susceptible to a specific drug and

these will be matched, in our

this allows for a much better cure.

digital twin, with the expected

The generalized sequencing of

ones (taking into account the

the genome in the coming

situation, the kind of activity we

decades will provide huge amount

are engaged, the mood and of

of data increasing the possibility

c o u r s e o u r g e n o m e ) . A n y

of understanding patterns of

deviation will trigger an analyses

d i s e a s e s p r e a d a n d c u r e

to determine the probable cause

effectiveness.

and further testing may be

activated (through already existing

The technology is basically here

A wirelessly controlled microchip, implanted under the skin, can safely

sensors or through specific

(although it will improve in the

and reliably give osteoporosis patients the daily dose of a drug that they

procedures). Corrective actions,

coming years), the real hurdle is

need. Credit: MicroCHIPS, Inc., Massachusetts

including the assumption of drugs

privacy, the concern that these

(monitored from remote), can be data might be mis-used.

taken immediately, often using the

The second revolution will be

drugs that we will be carrying

fueled and made possible by quasi real time monitoring of our

along in our body in a chip, ready 74

to be released, in case of some chronic situation or via a robot

France in 1997 at the age of 122). Others claim that there is no

dispenser bringing us the drugs!

pre-coded maximum life span.

Will a life without disease become a reality? I doubt, but for sure

It is evident that today no one (that we know of) has been living

our capabilities to foresee and act will be increasing tremendously

up to 150 years, however all those that have been living, and died

in the next decades.

so far, lived a life that was subjected to today’s (or yesterday’s)

conditions. One could say that if

9 Extending human life

Gallery 1.46 Extending human life

we were to change those living

If a life without disease and health

conditions, e.g. by proactively

care can promise a sort of “live

avoiding issues, persons might

forever young” the extension of

live longer.

human life is a different story,

Looking at the genome of animals

although it is obvious that if we

researchers have observed that

were able to avoid diseases that

during cell replication the terminal

are eventually resulting in death,

parts of the DNA strings forming

we would be one step forward in

each chromosome (the telomeres)

the direction of extending human

gets shorter and have postulated

life, but that is only the life that is

that this shortening would

cut short by a disease.

e v e n t u a l l y h a m p e r f u r t h e r

The maximum life span for

replication, hence putting a

humans is still a matter of

boundary to the life span. To

The cause of death in several geographical areas. In red the cause of

controversy. Some studies claim

death is a transmissible disease (transmissible both human to human or

confirm this, experiments have

other to human, like non purified water containing bacteria). In green the

that humans maximum life span is

cause of death is a disease that has been acquired by the person, as

been carried out to stitch extra

diabetes, high blood pressure, hearth attack, stroke, cancer. In yellow

around 115 years (although a few

DNA on the terminal parts of the

death as consequence of external causes (car crash, falling from a

exceptions have been recorded,

mountain…). Image credit: Healthy Planet

telomeres, thus lengthening them

like Jeanne Calment who died in

again as well as to artificial y

75

shorten telomeres in mice. So far (but significant more research is

It is quite obvious that anyone of us if asked: “Would you like to

needed) it seems that telomeres play an important role in

live longer” would say “yes!”, even more so if the lengthening of

senescence and that tweaking

life would be associated to a

with them may result in deferred

Gallery 1.47 Life expectancy trends

good life, with no ailment,

s e n e s c e n c e . D r u g s

particularly those associated to

(senotherapeutics) are also being

the old age. The strive to have a

tested on mice and seems to

better health in the elderly age is

have some effect. As always

obviously also increasing the

happens there are also many

desire to live longer.

“quacks” on the internet riding the

The average increase of life span

wave of telomeres and promising

h a s a l r e a d y a ffe c t e d t h e

the eternal youth. We are very far

economic burden on pension

from that.

funds, leading many Countries to

Still, these studies show that

p o s t p o n e t h e r e t i r e m e n t

l o o k i n g f o r a c a u s e o f

thresholds. In a society that is

senescence, and then overriding

seeing the number of jobs

it, is within the realm of science

Global life expectancy in the last 12,000 years. Notice how stable it has

shrinking this creates huge

and it might become possible in

remained till three centuries ago when it increased sharply.

employment problems.

the next decades.

Credit: Cato Institute "The improving state of our world"

Considering the significant

R e t a r d i n g t h e s e n e s c e n c e

amount of resources, and people,

process, and all the chronic ailments that come with that, is surely

today involved in elderly care, the perspective of a world with a

beneficial to the individual and to the community (just think about

growing elderly population that will occupy available jobs

the huge medical expenses that are sustained in the last part of

compound with the decrease in need for jobs looking at elderly is

our lives). However, prolonging the average life span is affecting

something to be taken into account!

the Society as a whole in many ways.

76

Some are already looking at the effect of a population living to be

that once science and technology will find the youth spring that

110 (that is close to current maximum life span) and are seeing

will be reserved for a lucky few, and the unlucky ones are likely to

that the working life would have to expand into the 80ies and

go on fight causing a shortening of the life span through wars….

90ies. Considering a youth period

Gallery 1.48 Enhanced Intelligence and Digital Hardware One way or another a Society

of 25 years, dedicated to basic

Enhancement

where life span would exceed on

learning (up to college and

average what is today considered

university) that leave some 65-70

as the maximum human life span

years of work versus the 40 years

will be significantly different from

(on average) we have today. That

today’s Society, it will be a

means over 50% more jobs would

transhuman Society.

be required.

10. Enhanced Intelligence and

Some are saying that society, and

digital hardware enhancement

culture, will need to adapt to

these changing condition, may be

We are the expression of our

having people to work for 20

genes. However, this expression

years in a row and then stepping

is influenced by a variety of

out from the work for a 5 years

environmental factors. Take the

sabbatical to be retrained to a

ability to play piano. Yes there are

changing world…

some people that are more

inclined to music (musical ear we

However, this is just considering a

say) but it is unlikely that a person

very limited extension of life. If

can play piano without studying it

you were to push the average life

and practicing a lot.

span to 150, 200, a completely

d i ffe re n t s o c i e t y w o u l d b e

Various aspects of intelligence. Credit: Frames of Mind. The theory of

This applies to intel igence as

multiple intelligences, Howard Gardner. Image credit: Adioma

needed. It may also be the case

well. Researchers agree that there

77

are a number of genes that steer

human intel igence only a few

Gallery 1.49 Collective Intelligence

a person IQ (not just one but

point to genomic variations as the

several of them, close to 100

w a y t o i m p r o v e h u m a n

probably, whose interplay has not

intelligence. It seems more

been understood so far) and they

feasible, and effective, to create a

also agree that the manifestation

seamless symbioses among

of intelligence is strongly affected

people and the environment so

b y e n v i r o n m e n t a l f a c t o r s ,

that one can benefit from the

including education.

other (this is the reason I

clustered the topic of enhanced

How much is related to the genes

intelligence with digital hardware

and how much to the environment

enhancement).

is subject of debate. From a 5%

influence of the genome up to a

A s s o c i a l a n i m a l w i t h

50% influence of the genome,

s o p h i s t i c a t e d a b i l i t y t o

depending on whom you are

communicate and learn from each

asking, and in most cases to what

others humans have a collective

type of intelligence one is

intelligence that significantly

referring to.

augment the intelligence of the

single person, to the point that we

M a t h p ro w e s s i s p ro b a b l y

are no longer able to live by

influenced more by genes than

ourselves, we rely on other people

social intel igence where social

Collective intelligence is present in several species. In Humans, thanks

to more sophisticated communication tools -language-, collective

knowledge that is de facto

factor and the environment play a

intelligence is playing a major role in Society and progress.

embedded in the society and in

much stronger role.

Image credit: Rose experience

the society organization. You

Hence, when discussing the

probably don’t know how to build

future possibility of increasing

a fork but you know where to go

78

to buy one.

Gallery 1.50 The Symbiotic Autonomous Systems tree

In the future these widespread social knowledge will be

permeated by the digital world and by machine. In a way

the architecture of intelligence may become similar to the

Cloud: you have users, both humans and machines, that

whenever have a need for “intelligence” will use their local

“intel igence” to leverage on the “intel igence in the

Cloud”. The Cloud will consist of digital twins that will be

able to inter-relate with one another transferring

knowledge as needed and converting that knowledge into

a usable one for their real twin.

This is already happening (the very first steps) with smart

assistants (AI powered).

One of the facets of transhumanism will likely be the

reliance on a society where digital bits and atoms will be

fused together from a perceptual point of view. And we are

starting to see this happening now. We are leveraging on

machines (as we have been used to do from millennia) and

for the first time machines are learning to leverage on us,

looking on us to learn and sharing intelligence with us.

Among the various aspects of transhumanism this is the

one that is likely to happen sooner and that is going to

have most impact, this is my bet.

Human Augmentation merges in a symbiotic way with Machine Augmentation

giving rise to Transhumanism. Credit: SAS

79

Evolving Human Thought

It would be wrong to believe that human progress and artifacts

are the sole result of human thinking capability.

In a world, and Society, that is

b e c o m i n g m o r e a n d m o r e

Polynesian boats that managed to

Gallery 1.51 Intelligence as result of natural selection

connected we may expect an

cross large parts of the Pacific

evolution of what is meant, and

ocean were not designed by

was meant, with “thinking”, a

engineers, Polynesians did not

characteristics that humans have

have a sophisticated “science”

along with other species but that

supporting naval design. The

in humans is so important to

amazing boats they built were the

influence the behavior of the

result of a natural selection

individual and the community.

p r o c e s s c o u p l e d w i t h t h e

possibility of learning and passing

Culture, in the sense of the shared

on the knowledge to future

capability to operate as a whole in

generation.

a certain way has been evolving

because of the flexibility of

Those boats that sunk were

“ t h i n k i n g ” p a i re d w i t h t h e

dismissed as poor design. Those

capability of passing on “our”

that managed to come back were

culture to future generations that

In the past much of human culture and thinking evolved through natural

taken as example of good design.

selection. What worked was kept and carried out to future generation,

in turns will transform it. In this

Over the course of generations

what didn’t was discarded. That was the case for the development of

the language and the invention of

Polynesian boat building skill. Image credit: metavuvale.com

Polynesians got skilled in boat

writing have been crucial. Internet

design and construction and

is further boosting the individual

surfed the ocean.

access to “culture” and the possibility to influence/contribute to

I mention this to point out that there is a strong relation between

culture and to its evolution as never before.

our culture and Nature, between the way our culture evolves and

what we learn from Nature.

80

In these last centuries the amazing progress in science and

(although processing does not mean exactly the same thing in

technology has given us a better understanding of how the world

a brain and in a computer)

“works”, including ourselves, and opened new opportunities to

5. providing more resilience to the thinking activity (including

leverage on the world resources. In the coming decades a new

more focus)

possibility will become real: the sharing of thinking with

machines and in a way a symbiotic “culture” with

Gallery 1.52 Information boosting Intelligence

machines.

An interesting perspective on transhumanism can be

derived from this vision of a species that “thinks”

leveraging on its artifacts, and that in turns creates a new

culture. In the following I will look into the enabling

technologies steering towards this evolution.

The increase of thinking capabilities can be pursued by:

1. “engineering” a better “brain” (pretty though, since we

do not know yet how it works nor how the genome is

shaping it …)

2. Improving processing capabilities through focused

stimulation

3. better exploiting its capabilities, including establishing

better connection with it, feeding more pertinent data

An interesting mapping showing the inter-relations of Big Data with Digital Health and

and getting the output from its processing faster

Precision Health (personalized monitoring and cure). Brain Machine Interface technology

connects to implantable sensors, optogenetics, VR, Lab-on-a-Chip, and clusters with

Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Image Credit:

4. using it as a co-processor flanking external processors

2017 Roadmap for Innovation. ACC Health Policy Statement on Healthcare Transformation

and calling “thinking” the symbiotic processing

in the Era of Digital Health, Big Data, and Precision Health

81

1. Engineering a better brain

performance”. Likewise, we are getting close to understand that

some brain pathologies derive from some faulty wiring (like in

Our brains, as those of all animal life, have evolved through

depression cases) but we don’t know how to re-wire that brain in natural selection to make their “host” more effective in the life

a proper way (even assuming we get the technology for re-wiring

game. They have not been

the brain).

“ d e s i g n e d ” . D a v i d L i n d e n ,

Gallery 1.53 Genes shaping the brain

professor of Neuroscience at

In addition, consider that the

John Hopkins University said:

growing understanding of the

genome is just making the idea of

“no engineer ever would have

tinkering with the genome to

designed it like this”.

improve the brain ever more

On the other hand one could

daunting. Our genome contains

easily claim that no engineer,

some 20,000 genes (not as many

today and for the foreseeable

as scientists assumed just a

future, would be able to design a

decade ago but still a big number)

brain as good as our (meaning

and it is now understood that with the thinking, emotional, size

about one third of them, close to

and energy requirements of our

7,000, have their saying in how

brain, or even a fly’s brain…).

our brain develops and “works”.

Notice that in most cases the

However, the fact that there is no

development of the brain and its

design at the core of our brain

operation is related to the

makes any attempt to improve its

Brain regions have distinct and overlapping sets of differentially

interworking of these genes and

expressed genes. Venn diagrams illustrating the overlap of differentially

design an almost impossible task.

expressed genes across the cerebellum (yellow), hippocampus (green),

their expression (so there is also a

You cannot say: “take a few

hypothalamus (red), and neocortex (blue) data sets. Credit: Surjyendu

time relationship). This is clearly

Ray et al, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University

neuronal circuits and re-wire them

making the idea of designing a

t o i n c r e a s e t h e b r a i n

better brain by modifying the

82

genome an impossible dream (at least for the foreseeable future).

Tibetan being more apt to live in an atmosphere having less

oxygen. NASA scientists are looking at these diversities with the A different matter would be to recognize some mutation in the

goal of identifying specific genes that are providing better

genome associated to a specific disorder and attempting to fix it

adaptation to conditions that astronauts will have to face in long

by modifying the genome. That would be much easier and it is

space travel, like going to Mars. They have already identified

almost within out technology capability. In this case what is

genes that provide better resistance to radiation, other that

needed is to compare a genome resulting in a brain without that

increase memory… And, they have also started to wonder if by

specific disorder with a genome of persons having that disorder.

manipulating the genome to create the “perfect” astronaut they

If, by pure luck, it turns out that only a few genes are involved one

are creating a new species…

might hope that restoring them

would get rid of the disorder.

Gallery 1.54 Genes mutation affecting the brain

This is clearly an area that we

Beware, however, that the

can only hope to address with

situation is not that linear.

t h e h e l p o f c o m p u t e r

There may be more genes that

processing power, to analyze

have mutated in parallel with

the big data resulting from the

those that result in a brain

genome and gene expression

disorder but that all together

and through deep learning

lead to a living person. The

(artificial intelligence) to

risk is that by fixing “only” the

understand both what it

genes involved in the disorder

MRI scans show brain tissue loss in carriers of the TREM2 Alzheimer's risk gene

means and more importantly

mutation at 24 months. The colored areas are the temporal lobes, and the red

o n e w o u l d a l t e r t h e

what a modification would

area is the front of the hippocampus, the area that typically degenerates the

equilibrium, hampering life.

earliest if people have Alzheimer's disease. Areas colored red lose tissue fastest

imply (basically understand

at about 3 percent per year.

how a genotype modification

There is also a further way: on

Credit: Paul M. Thompson, University of Southern California

impact the phenotype). The

planet Earth there are 7 billion

graphics accompanying this

humans that have evolved in

post makes visually clear the

slightly different ways to better adapt to local conditions, like

many relations existing in this area.

83

The idea of creating transhumans by designing their brain both

communications links (dendrites).

from scratch and by modifying existing genome seems too far

Furthermore, the whole brain operation is conditioned by

fetched at least for this century. However, there are other

chemicals, like dopamine, serotonin and many more, percolating

approaches to improve our thinking capabilities that seem more

in the brain that are also the result of its activity.

feasible.

All this complexity tells us that it is quite difficult to find ways for

2. Improving processing capabilities through focused stimulation

i m p ro v i n g a s p e c i fic b r a i n

Our brain, as any brain, is a

Gallery 1.55 The brain is a massively distributed system

functionality through a focussed

processing and storage device

stimulation.

with no clear separation between

It has been possible to interfere

the two functions. In this sense it

w i t h b r a i n p r o c e s s i n g b y

is quite different from a computer.

implanting electrodes (Deep Brain

Unlike a computer it does not

Stimulation – DBS), as an

have a “bus” rather a mesh of

example in blocking epileptic

c o n n e c t i o n s t h a t a re a l s o

a t t a c k s , a n d t o d e c r e a s e

processing signals as they are

symptoms in Parkinson disease.

carrying them and “remember”

DBS is also being experimented

the communications that took

for relieving depression although

place to the point of influencing

there is not yet a consensus on

future communications, another

the effectiveness of DBS in this

difference with computers where

area with more recent studies

the communication bus is just a

c a s t i n g d o u b t s o n t h e

… communication bus. Synapses

Processing in the brain is massively distributed. This makes any attempt

to increase performance of a specific functionality quite tricky given the

e ffe c t i v e n e s s o f D B S o n

have been found to be processing

number of areas and neuronal circuits involved. In the graphic a

depression.

points, there are a 100 trillion of

mapping of the visual function on brain areas involved. Notice that this is

a schematics, at a neuronal circuit level the number of areas and

them and they are on the

connections is greater. Image credit: Cerf

A newer approach is TES, Trans-

84

cranial Electrical Stimulation, where the idea is to interfere with with the brain processing by interfering with a single neuron.

the brain’s electrical activity by placing electrodes on the head.

Optogenetics has proved very effective in learning more on the

This is clearly providing an even less focussed interference than

fine processing going on in the brain and it represents a

DBS, however progress in the possibility to finely tune the

possibility to tackle some brain issues, like blocking pain signals.

electrical fields generated by

A fourth way is to use chemical

several electrodes on the skull is

Gallery 1.56 Optogenetics

substances that interfere with the

making possible to generate

brain. Caffeine is a well known

focussed electromagnetic beams

example -widely used!- that has

in specific brain areas. Being a

stimulating capability on the brain,

non invasive procedure it makes it

facilitating, to a point, focussed

more acceptable and it makes it

thinking. A growing set of

easier to experiment with it.

s u b s t a n c e s a r e b e c o m i n g

A third approach, much more

available to stimulate the brain, so

focussed, is using optogenetics.

called nootropic drugs.

Here specific neurons can be

They have a broad effect, since

modified to become sensitive to

these substances pervade the

light and by implanting an optical

whole brain (and body) and are

fibre it becomes possible to

more likely to influence the overall

activate, de-activate a single

p r o c e s s i n g ( a n d s t o r a g e

neuron. The problem here is that

MIT researchers have devised a way to control single neurons using

optogenetics. To help achieve this, they developed an opsin, or light-

effectiveness) of the brain, as it

there is not such a thing as a

sensitive protein, that can be targeted to neuron cell bodies (bottom

h a p p e n s w i t h t h e n a t u r a l

single neuron responsible for a

row). Neurons in the top row have traditional opsins that are distributed

throughout their axons.

substances produced by the brain

specific activity (which is good

Image credit: Ed Boyden et al, MIT, Paris Descartes University

(and body glands with neurotropic

since it makes the brain much

effect). There is the possibility of

more resilient!) and it is therefore

finding substances that can have

close to impossible to interfere

85

more specific effect on certain

Gallery 1.57 Brain Computer Interface

to be investigated) huge steps

brain functions but this remains to

f o r w a r d h a v e b e e n m a d e ,

be seen.

particularly in the direction Brain

>>> Computer.

A fifth approach that might

become available in the future is

There are now both invasive

using nootropic drugs in a

(implant) and non invasive

focused way, delivering them to a

interfaces that capture the brain

specific area of the brain using an

electrical activity and detect

implanted chip as a dispenser.

“intention” (P300 wave), like

Clearly this would require an

moving a finger, speaking a letter,

invasive procedure but it would

moving a pointer on a screen and

reach the goal of limiting the

“clicking” on it. Progress is now

effect of a nootropic substance to

accelerating thanks to the

a limited area of the brain.

increased computational power

a n d t h e u s e o f a r t i fic i a l

Potentially, a mixture of all these

intel igence in processing brain

Conceptual Roadmap for BCI as proposed by the European Brain

approaches might be used and

Initiative.

signals. Obviously, the prime

may lead to a fine control of the

target application is toward

brain working. We are not ready

enabling people with severe

for that today, as much more understanding on how the brain

communications disabilities to reach out to the world, but as non

works is needed.

invasive interfaces are becoming available we are starting to see

3. Improving communications with the brain

application in gaming environment to the point that some

consider BCI as the gaming interfaces of the future. Applications It is now close to 50 years that we have the idea of a Brain

in the military area are also progressing, although we cannot have

Computer Interface that could allow a communications between

the latest info for obvious reasons.

them. From the idea born in the seventies (as a technical concept

86

One indicator of the growing interest in several areas for BCI is

These new technology will support, as an example, the shift from

the attention paid to their vulnerability to malicious attack

today’s P300 speller able to intercept a single letter to word

(obviously a crucial aspect in military applications).

decoding and early in the third decade speech decoding.

Another indicator is the market size that in the US has reached

BCI will move from helping disabled people to augmenting people

806 million $ in 2015 and is expected to double (1.72B$) by 2022.

cognitive capabilities by connecting the brain to the web

knowledge and this will clearly move the human race one step

In the next decade we might

towards transhumanism.

expect BCI to pass the thresholds

Gallery 1.58 BCI Market Value

of restoring human capabilities

Notice that today we are still

and enter into the augmentation

seeing a much easier path from

space. This will happen very

the Brain to the Computer, the

subtly, e.g. by improving reaction

re v e r s e c h a n n e l , f ro m t h e

time in gamers (and soldiers), and

Computer (the Web) to the Brain

then by augmenting cognitive

is much trickier.

capabilities.

However, in many applications the

This evolution is stymied today by

r e v e r s e c h a n n e l c a n b e

technology (or looking in the

“mediated” by our senses, like:

opposite way it will be fostered by

• you wonder what would be the

better technology in the future).

Growth and expected growth of the BCI market in the US.

square root of π?

Credit: Grand View Research

As shown by the Human Brain

• your thought is captured through

BCI roadmap (a must read

the BCI by a service in the web

document in you are interested in whose answer will be returned to your brain via (as an example)

this area) in the next decade we will have technology that will

move from non invasive to wearable interfaces, complemented by

• an electronic contact lens that will display the numbers in an

semi-implantable and implantable ones.

Augmented Reality way directly in your eyes.

87

4. Using the brain as a co-processor

hundreds of them and growing (Adapteva is proposing an multi-

core architecture supporting a billion processing units!).

As soon as we started having computers, researchers tried to

connect them together to leverage on the possibility of harvesting

Our brain is, too, a distributed processing system. At macro level

more processing power. Internet is the result of this idea:

scientists have identified several areas each dominant in the

connecting computers (with their

processing of certain signals, like

processing and data) in a

v i s u a l s i g n a l s p r o c e s s i n g

Gallery 1.59 Brain as a co-processor

seamless web that can be

happening in the V1, V2, V3, V4

experienced as a single entity.

and MT on the dorsal pathway

and in the TE, TEO and LGN in

Actually, the idea of distributed

the ventral pathway.

processing took also the other

d i r e c t i o n ! W i t h i n a s i n g l e

I t i s a c t u a l l y w a y m o r e

computer several processing

complicated than this. The brain

chips, each one with specific

does not work in macro areas

processing prowess, can be tied

with clearly defined interfaces, it

t o g e t h e r t o p e r f o r m a

works on trillion of synapses

c o m p u t a t i o n . N o w a d a y s

affecting each others and being

computers have GPUs along with

affected by chemical compounds

CPUs, supercomputers have

Our brain is a massively distributed system -sort of- processing sensory

percolating in the brain as result

hundreds of thousands of CPUs/

data and data generated autonomously (thoughts, dreams…). In the

of brain activity and body

image the Hypothetical involvement of different brain zones in some

GPUs (the latest supercomputer,

processing activities, in R the actual activities in the brain and in Z the

situation. This makes the brain a

difference. Notice that these are very “gross” approximation of parallel

S u m m i t , h a s 1 0 1 , 3 7 6 I B M

much better distributed systems

computation engaged in an activity. What if we could defer one or more

processors and 24,576 NVIDIA

of these brain computation to an external processing device (an

that basically avoids the current

implanted chip, a processing service in the Cloud or in a robot) to

accelerators) and within a single

increase the overall efficiency? Image credit: The Brain as a Distributed

downfall of computer distributed

processing chip there are now

Intelligent Processing System: An EEG Study. Armando Freitas da

systems where the challenge is

Rocha Fábio Theoto Rocha Eduardo Massad

many “processing cores” –

how to split the computation on

88

different nodes. In the brain everything goes on basically in

implanted chip, or in a wearable device, in an assistant robot or in

parallel and the various processes influence one another both

the web. Take a look at the clip showing how the use of Artificial spatially (because of the trillions of connections) and temporally

Intelligence is now allowing a computer to detect shapes we see

(because synapses are affected by what they did before, they

in our thoughts by looking at brain’s electrical activity.

h a v e m e m o r y o f p r e v i o u s

Interestingly, one could also

computations).

Gallery 1.60 Neuromorphic computing

imagine a coupling of BCI with

However, from a conceptual point

CBI, hence connecting one brain

of view one could imagine that

with another brain to leverage the

part of the brain computation

knowledge and skills of both. This

could be enhanced by some form

is what we are doing every day,

of external processing. In a way

working in teams, but again the

we did it already as we got used

availability of seamless BCI could

to process data and using the

make this cooperative working

result to take decisions, fine

happening at a completely

tuning our understanding and so

different level.

on. However, so far this has been

Notice that both in this last case,

done through the mediation of our

as in the previous one of involving

senses (like: we “look” at a

an external device, what would

printout -video screen- and the

become possible, differently from

eyes bring the result to the

today, is an interaction below the

brain…). With the evolution of the

thresholds of perception. Today

BCI, discussed in a previous post,

t h i s i s n o t p o s s i b l e , a n y

we might expect a seamless

information we exchange with a

connectivity between the brain

The brain is often compared to a computer but in reality it is radically

different. Scientists are still at work to understand how “computation” is

computer, through our senses and

processing and an external

performed in a brain and they have already detected several properties

actions, necessarily flows through

processing taking place in an

that would make computers better. Image credit: HP

89

the perception layer (yes we can be absentminded and not take

Symbiotic Systems will have this shared “intelligence” and

notice of what we are doing, but we are still working at the

thought forming.

perception level).

At the same time, it is clear that there is a potential for a

This is a major constrain, since most of brain processing happens

tremendous boosting of human’s thinking capabilities that would

below the perception level (including, it seems, some decisional

shift our species into transhumanism.

processes). The possibility of engaging additional processing

5- Providing more resilience to the thinking activity (including

capabilities operating at the “unconscious” level would radically

more focus)

change the thinking processes since it will act on their substrata.

It would be a completely new world, fraught with ethical issues

Thinking activity, as any other brain process, is the result of the

(who is responsible of the decision and of the decision effects?).

activation/deactivation of millions, billions neurons and synapses.

Gallery 1.61 Deep brain stimulation

Deep Brain Stimulation is progressing rapidly targeting an increased number of application areas. In the graphic the use of DBS with directional electrodes to restore memory function. Image credit: Fifth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank

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In turns, these activation/deactivation is influenced by several

chemicals in the brain. This latter is what nootropic substances

chemical substances floating in the brain.

do, the former is achieved by influencing the neuronal activity i.e.

neuromodulation.

Improving thinking activity therefore can be pursued by tinkering

with neurons and neuronal circuits and /or by tampering with the

The availability of ever more sophisticated electrodes has

progressed the Deep Brain Stimulation

(DBS) and the report published by the Gallery 1.62 DBS applications

Think Tank on DBS in January 2018 is

quite interesting in its pointing out the

growing application areas of DBS.

The electrodes are becoming thinner

and can be inserted with decreased

risk of damaging the brain. Additionally,

each single electrode can host several

points of electrical emission and these

can be directed in specific direction.

The big issue remains the capability to

affect specific neuronal circuits, taking

into account that:

• our knowledge on which neuronal

circuit is involved in a specific function

is still quite limited in general and very

much so when dealing with thinking

Status and expectation of DBS application in several areas, from pain control to epilepsy management. Credit: Vth Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank.

functions

• the position of the right neuronal

91

circuit (assuming we can know which is the one we want)

controlling the “mood” and it is possible to direct the pulses

changes from person to person and it even changes in the

(through resonance principles) exactly on those areas.

same person as the brain evolve

Being a non invasive technology we can expect further studies on

• t h e e x i s t e n c e o f s e v e r a l

healthy people that might result in

neuronal circuits involved in the

the improvement of thinking

Gallery 1.63 Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation

thinking function and the likely

functions. In a way, TMS seems to

impossibility to address in an

be similar in its way of working to

appropriate way each of them

nootropic drugs, in that it affects

in a systemic way a large part of

So far, also for its invasive nature,

the brain rather than a single

DBS is being considered for

neuronal circuit.

curing some disorders (see the

table in the figure) and not for

Nootropic drugs have been know,

improving the thinking capability

empirically, for quite a while: “You

of a healthy person.

look drowsy, why don’t you take a

cup of coffee?” Indeed, caffeine

A new approach, based on Trans-

has been known to stimulate

cranial Magnetic Stimulation, is

thinking by sharpening attention

now being considered, with focus (keeping you awake). Similarly L-o n r e l i e v i n g d e p r e s s i o n

theanine (you find it in a cup of

symptoms. Using a coil placed on

In transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), an electromagnetic coil

placed against the scalp creates a magnetic field that stimulates certain

tea) can make you feel calm and it

the head (no invasive procedure

areas of the brain. Image credit: Mayo Clinic

may increase creativity.

needed) magnetic pulses are

focussed on specific areas in the

Several natural substances that

brain. Some studies indicates that the TMS can indeed relieve

can be found in plants like Rhodiola Rosea, Bacopa Monnieri,

some depression syndromes, although it is not clear what is the

Panax Ginseng have the capability to influence the general

actual mechanism involved. We are aware of areas in the brain

92

activity of the brain, sharpening thoughts and making it more

It can be expected that in the coming decade, as more

resilient to fatigue.

understanding on the brain thinking processes will become

available, we will control a toolkit of substances for effective

Increasing thinking processes “resilience” is also about

neuromodulation and that may also overcome or at least delay

decreasing brain fatigue. We all experience this kind of fatigue

brain/mental fatigue.

(known as mental fatigue or brain

fog) that leads to decreased

This on the one end will increase

Gallery 1.64 Risks of evolving human thoughts - I

f o c u s . T h e r e a r e s p e c i fic

the thinking capabilities and on

conditions (pathologies) that are

the other hand will rise some

characterized by mental fatigue,

e t h i c a l i s s u e s a s d o p i n g

like myalgic encephalomyelitis/

substances.

chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/

=============

CFS), that lead to cognitive

impairment. Recent studies have

In this last part Transhumanism,

p i n p o i n t e d t h e c a u s e ( l i k e

stimulated both by reading the

inflammation) but this is not

F r o s t & S u l l i v a n r e p o r t o n

leading to finding ways to avoid

Transhumanism and by the

mental fatigue by increasing the

preparation of the second White

brain resistance to it. In this area

Paper on Symbiotic Autonomous

again most research focuses on

Systems, I have addressed the

understanding the root cause of

possibilities of increasing human

“anomalies” and fixing them,

When considering augmentation of humans thinking capabilities ethical

thought capabilities. Clearly I

r a t h e r t h a n i n c re a s i n g t h e

and dark areas emerge. Slide credit: Frost & Sullivan – Transhumanism

expressed very personal opinions

“performances” of an healthy

on the feasibility of the various

brain.

approaches and on their evolution

in time and I should say that within the team working on the White

93

Paper there are different opinions,

more sophisticated technology

mine being probably one of the

becoming available to interact

Gallery 1.65 Brain processing of external stimuli

most conservative one.

with the brain will first lead to fix

brain problems (Alzheimer,

This has been discussed at the

Parkinson, depression, attention

workshop on October 30th, 2018,

d e fic i t d i s o r d e r s , … ) a n d

in San Diego in conjunction with

eventually to increase its thinking

TTM 2018 where further debate

capabilities. I don’t see the latter

took place on the various

happening in the short term (20

technological, societal and ethical

years).

aspects.

However, as Frost&Sullivan point

My basic reservation on the

o u t i n t h e i r r e p o r t , s u c h

possibility of significantly improve

possibility, if it will come to pass,

our brain thinking capabilities

will bring significant risks in the

rests on the complexity of the

societal and ethical context that

brain. Tweaking with part of it is

need to be considered.

not likely to produce the desired

results since all the brain is

As shown in the Frost&Sullivan

involved in thinking, and in the

slide, there are several aspects

variety of aspects involved in

needing consideration:

thinking, like perception, feeling,

Human brain regions implicated in language processing. AC: Auditory

• C o n t r o l

memory…

Cortex, STG: Superior Temporal Gyrus, PMC: Primary Motor Cortex, 45:

The interaction with the brain, as

BA 45 or Pars Triangularis of the Inferior Frontal Gyrus, 44: BA 44 or

Of course, never say never. It

Pars Opercularis of the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (BA 44 and 45 are part of

seen, may take place in a variety

Broca's area, which is implicated in syntactic processing), AG: Angular

might well be that the increasing

of ways using technology in part

Gyrus, SM: Supramarginal Gyrus. The dotted oval shows the location of

knowledge we are gaining from

Wernicke's area, which is implicated in semantic processing. Image

available today and evolving, plus

credit Anne van der Kant

studying the brain and the ever

technology that will be invented

94

tomorrow. In all cases there is the potential risk of hacking. It

effective way to “hide” information by providing you sufficiently

would be naive to assume that brain interfaces will not be

good information that will stop your quest. How many time did

subject to attack. They already are! Think about advertisement.

you go to the 10th page of Google results? Very, very few I bet.

Isn’t a form of hacking into our

And there are probably some

brain to steer our decision (as

Gallery 1.66 Risks of evolving human thoughts - II

o t h e r t h o u s a n d s p a g e s o f

well as feeling and desire) in a

answers reported. What about

specific direction?

creating a sense of trust on your

co-processor (today we can call it

• I n fl u e n c e

the “internet”) that you lose the

This seems to relate to the

need to perform a critical

previous one but it is not about

analyses of what is going on?

hacking the interface, it is about

Notice how this is already

the kind of stimuli, answers,

happening to pilots that have to

information, we get as result of

trust the ILS as they land in the

a symbiosis of our brain with an

fog with zero visibility. Once in a

e x t e r n a l c o - p r o c e s s o r,

while the system fails and the

intelligence. To what extent

pilots are usually unable to detect

such external co-processor will

that it is no longer to be trusted.

influence our understanding and

decisions? There are so many

When considering augmentation of humans thinking capabilities ethical

• I d e n t i t y

ways this can happen and

and dark areas emerge. Slide credit: Frost & Sullivan – Transhumanism

We are, by far, our brain. It is

providing wrong information is

through our brain that we process

probably the least of concern.

the world and react to it Our

What about providing a limited set of information that as a

interaction with it and its components, including other people,

matter of fact skew our understanding and decision in a very

depends on it. Our feelings also depend on it. In most

specific way? This is equivalent to provide a deluge of

legislations it is accepted that if the brain is “malfunctioning” the

information! I often observe that Google search is the most

person is not held responsible for his actions. At the same time

95

legislators usually pursue those that are inducing malfunctioning

post traumatic syndromes where the presence of dreadful

in their brain, like getting drunk or taking drugs (and of course

memories affects the behavior of that person to the point that

actions carried out under the effects of mind altering

life becomes miserable). Hence, a “memory chip” that would

s u b s t a n c e s a r e p r o s e c u t e d ! ) .

ensure the preservation of all memories would lead to a different

processing and, some may claim,

Hence the question of what

Gallery 1.67 The ethics of human enhancement

to a different person. What about

happens when a brain is

systems that can alter the moods

“enhanced” is well posed. Is

and feelings (via chemical

that person the “same” person

injection, electrical stimulation,

h e w a s b e f o re t h e b r a i n

…)? They may compare to some

enhancement or should he be

of today’s drugs, but they can be

considered a new person? Once

much more specific, may be

a circuit is implanted in a brain,

without undesired side effects.

becoming part of its circuitry

Yet, would that person be the

and changing its processing,

same one?

including its thoughts, can we

• B a l a n c i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

still say that person is the same

As it was considered in a previous

a s b e f o r e ?

post we may come to the point of

creating a symbioses between our

We keep learning through our

Humanity is entering a "trans-human" era, where biology is treated as

brain and other “thinking tools” all

lifetime, we keep forming new

something to be manipulated at will, depending on one’s lifestyle

together working as a distributed

memories, but at the same time

interests rather than health needs. But questions remain about how far

society is prepared to accept these kinds of applications and what

system. These complementary

old ones may fade away (and

ethical issues they create. Credit: Andy Miah, MIT Technology Review

thinking tools may be in the form

they do). It is not just about

of implanted chips, remote

“forgetting” because we also

processing and AI somewhere in

are our memories since the processing (and so our thoughts

the environment that can even become plug-ins depending on

and behavior) is influenced by our memories (as emphasized by

96

the need. As an example a military pilot may plug into her brain

some equivalent of organizations in symbiotic thinking

aircraft smart components that will work in symbioses with her

processes?

brain during the mission, a surgeon may link into a symbioses

• S o c i e t a l

with robots actually performing the surgery and so on! Actually,

Communications, both explicit -

one might even envisaged, in

talking, writing- and implicit –

t h e r e m o t e f u t u r e , t h e

Gallery 1.68 Risks of evolving human thoughts - III

gesturing, posture, face mimic-, is

s y m b i o s e s a m o n g h u m a n

g e n e r a t e d , m a n a g e d a n d

brains, what about a classroom

“decoded” by the brain. Culture is

where the educator’s brain and

also playing a role in this, like the

the students’ brain are linked

facial mimic differs in various

and operate in a symbiotic way?

geographical areas (in the

Western world we nod to mean

The question is where can

“yes”, in India they shake,

responsibility for decisions be

wobble, the head to mean “yes”).

assigned. Who is accountable

C o m m u n i c a t i o n s i s w h a t

among the several thinking

create communities and Society

processes interacting with one

and keep them “functioning”.

a n o t h e r ?

We have seen the changes in

How can the quality of thinking

Societal behavior resulting from

be measured and proved that it

When considering augmentation of humans thinking capabilities ethical

new communications means,

gets better (and who decides

and dark areas emerge. Slide credit: Frost & Sullivan – Transhumanism

particularly in this new century.

what “better” means?) as more

This changes were foreseen and

thinking processes are pooled

examined by Marshall Mcluhan,

together? Notice that we have

condensed in his statement “The medium is the

similar issues in any human communities, team work and we

message” (watch  the clip). Mcluahn pointed out that the have invented “organizations” to manage them. Can we invent

modern medium are “electrical extension of the brain”.

97

What we foresee now is the possibility of extending the brain

contradictory messages floats at the same time in our brain).

even more radically through a symbioses with the cyberspace,

What is the message when this is the result of processing partly

its data/information/knowledge and its processing/services/AI.

taking place in a brain co-processor and partly in the brain?

It is obvious that this is going to have profound Societal

Which takes prevalence? Which component of the symbiotic

implications, although it is not clear today what they might be.

system is in charge of choosing and making a message

We have already experienced changes in the human

e x p l i c i t ?

interactions brought forward by SMS, emoticons, tweets, blogs,

As one can see there are many questions (these are just a

Instagram. What is it going to happen when communication

subset…) and answers to them are not straightforward.

might no longer require our

We have been discussing for at

senses as mediator but a

least 2 millennia on “free

Gallery 1.69 Consciousness vs unconsciousness

direct brain connection can

will” (without reaching any

be established (quite in the

agreement, by the way). What

f u t u r e o f c o u r s e ) ?

will we mean with “free will” in

As an extreme, just wonder

the new context of distributed

on the implication of reading

intelligence and symbiotic

other people’s mind. It would

autonomous systems?

no longer possible to put up

• S u r p r i s e s

a “social” mask in interaction

The Frost & Sul ivan report

with other people. Besides,

quite appropriately points out

we know today that what

that although we can imagine a

gets out as interaction is not

number of issues raising in the

what is in our brain but it is

A lot is going on in our brain at every moment, including when we sleep. We

become aware of something is going one when the cortical area of the brain is

t r a n s i t i o n t o w a r d s

the result of a processing

involved. Whatever processing happens outside of the cortical area is not

Transhumanism we can expect

that makes a message

perceived. This can be extended, in the future, when part of the processing

might happen in the cyberspace. We won’t be aware of it unless its results

“surprises”, new side effects

explicit and that often is not

arrive to our cortex. Image credit: The brainbank. https://

thebrainbank.scienceblog.com/2013/03/04/what-is-consciousness-a-

we are not able to foresee

“shared” by the whole brain

scientists-perspective/

today as our brain becomes

( a l t e r n a t i v e , o f t e n

98

“distributed”, changes and the sense of self will be morphed

More specifically they expect the areas of

into a different thing. In this respect I found very interesting the

• gamification (an approach based on game paradigm to increase

short stories contained in the “Mind’s I: Fantasies and

the engagement of people’s brain in a specific activity),

reflections on self and soul” book by Daniel Dennett, Douglas

H o f s t a d t e r, a n d

• behavioral science

Stanisław Lem.

Gallery 1.70 Evolving Human Behavior

(moving more and

more from qualitative

E v o l v i n g H u m a n

t o q u a n t i t a t i v e

Behavior

analyses, leveraging

I am no sociologist at

o n h u g e d a t a

all but as we are

availability),

c o n s i d e r i n g

• artificial intelligence

technology evolution

(making machines/

and their impact in the

ambient more aware,

S y m b i o t i c

re s p o n s i v e , h e n c e

Autonomous Systems

changing the human

Initiative, the societal

p e rc e p t i o n o f t h e

aspects are clearly

environment and the

important.

interactions with it),

Frost&Sullivan in their

• sensorization (making

2 0 1 8 r e p o r t o n

The technology evolution and its adoption may eventually create a human 2.0. This “human” will

probably have a different social behavior. Credit: Frost & Sullivan

possible to monitor

Transhumanism point

almost continuously a

out how technologies

variety of parameters

w i l l a ffe c t h u m a n

on human reactions and interactions).

communications at the societal level leading to what they label an

“increased human behavior” (see graphic).

99

to lead to more efficient communications among people and

There have been a few experiment involving monkeys and rats

among people and machines, to create easier communications

that seem to demonstrate the technological possibility of a Brain

fabric to support community formation and operation, to better

to Brain interface. Some limited experiments have involved

engage/motivate people in communicating and support more

human brain to brain communications (watch the clip).

emphatic communications. This

For now, let’s assume effective

latter might be a bit unexpected

Gallery 1.71 Brain to Brain Interface

and seamless brain to brain

since communications will involve

communication in humans will be

machines (and entities in the

possible. What would be the

cyberspace) much more than

societal implications?

today and one would not expect

to see emphatic involvement with

Our social relations happen in a

a machine.

cultural environment that masks

and twist what we might feel. You

I’ll let the experts discuss on this .

are not telling a person you are

I’ll just point out, since it is much

meeting “Wow, just look how ugly

more technology related, that one

you are!”. It wouldn’t be nice and

of the vision coming up from the

for sure it is not a good opening

Frost&Sullivan report is the

s t a t e m e n t t o p r o m o t e a

possibility of making the first

collaborative exchange. Hence

s t e p s t o w a r d s t e l e p a t h i c

we “mask” our thoughts and

A schematic of the brain-2-brain interface developed by University of

communications. This vision is

Washington researchers. Watch the video of the actual experiment at:

vocalize just those that fit within

based on the assumption that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNRDc714W5I

our cultural framework.

there will be seamless Brain to

This is already an issue since it is

Computer Interfaces, implying

not a given that our cultural framework matches the one of the

that by coupling two of them we might achieve a Brain to Brain

person/persons we are interacting with. This is clearly the case

interface.

when a Westerner meets a person from the Far East Asia. Cultural

100

differences are noticeable and unless one is aware of them the

Would a brain to brain interface transfer also those hidden

interaction may turn awkward.

thoughts, leading to a communications that we are not even

conscious about?

A direct brain to brain communications may not take into account

these differences leading to problems.

As it can easily be seen, and without stepping into societal

considerations, the issues are many.

More than that, much more actually. When we interact there are

many paral el thoughts

floating in our brain.

Gallery 1.72 The evolution towards Human Machines symbioses

What would a brain to

brain interaction do with

r e s p e c t t o t h e m ?

Transfer them all? Pick

and choose (how)?

We actually often have

contradictory thoughts

and it is only after some

evaluation that we make

up our mind and decide

w h a t t o v o c a l i z e .

Actually, there may be

e v e n s o m e h i d d e n

thoughts that haven’t

come to our perception

level floating around (this

has been demonstrated

The roadmap diagram developed by the IEEE FDC Symbiotic Autonomous Systems Initiative

in several experiments).

101

Acronyms

5G: 5th Generation wireless system

ACM: Association of Computer Machines

AGI: Artificial General Intelligence

AI: Artificial Intelligence

AR: Augmented Reality

ASI: Artificial Super Intelligence

BCI: Brain Computer Interface

Cas9: CRISPR associated protein 9

CBI: Computer Brain Interface

CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor

CO2: Carbon dioxide

CRISPR: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats

DBS: Deep Brain Stimuation

DC: Direct Current

DNA: DeoxyriboNucleic Acid

EEG: ElectroEncephaloGram

ELS: Ethical Legal, Societal

FDC: Future Direction Committee

Image credit: Dreamstime

f-MRI: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

102

GAN: Generative Adversarial Networks

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

HMDB: Human Metabolome DataBase

IEEE: Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers

IFR: Instrument Flying Rules

ILS: Instrumental Landing System

IoT: Internet of Things

IQ: Intelligent Quotient

IVF: in Vitro Fertilization

ME/CFS: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

MR: Mixed Reality

OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

RFID: Radio Frequency IDentification

RPA: Robotic Process Automation

SAS: Symbiotic Autonomous Systems

SITN: Science In The News (Harvard University)

SMS: Short Message Service

TMS: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

VR: Virtual Reality

103

Artificial consciousness

Artificial consciousness is a consciousness created, and experienced, through artificial

means. It is associated to machines (computer with artificial intelligence). Awareness is

considered to be an essential component of consciousness but it is not sufficient to reate

consciousness.

So far the jury is still out on the possibility of creating artificial consciousness although

discussion on the ethical implications arising from it are already being studied.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_consciousness

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Artificial General Intelligence

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the intelligence of a machine that could successfully

perform any intellectual task that a human being can.

Source: Wikipedia

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Artificial Super Intelligence

Artificial Super Intelligence, ASI, is an artificial intelligence that surpasses the brightest

human minds in any area. It goes beyond Artificial General Intelligence, that is au pair with

human intelligence.

A few researchers observe that computers today are better than humans in several areas

(like calculus) and are getting better and better in several more areas. This implies that once

AI will reach the AGI stage as a matter of fact it will also be ASI. Hence, AGI will never

happen, the shift will be from AI to ASI, skipping AGI. This is the “singularity”.

Machines will not become as smart as we are. All of a sudden they will move to be inferior

to us to be superior to us.

Notice, however, that ASI does not imply Artificial consciousness.

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Augmentation

Increasing the performances and extending the capability of an entity.

In our context we are referring to both humans, human augmentation, and machines,

machine augmentation. In the longer term a symbioses between humans and machines

may augment both.

The natural process of random mutation and selection has extended living beings

capabilities and performance. In our context augmentation is achieved by design. This is a

superset of the natural evolution processes and includes, in the case of machines, random

changes and selection processes, either controlled or open (self learning, self adaptation,

self replication).

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Autonomy

The ability of a system to be able to act independently and intelligently in dynamic,

uncertain, and unanticipated situations. In addition, an autonomous system should be able

to detect when its goals stand in conflict with the laws that govern its behavior and must

have a way to “fail” gracefully in those situations.

Often varying levels (modes) of autonomy are used in the literature. There are four modes of

operation: 1) in the Fully autonomous mode, the system operates without human

intervention while adapting to operational and environmental conditions, 2) in the Semi-

autonomous mode, the human operator and/or the system plan(s) and conduct(s) a mission

which requires various levels of human-robot interaction. It should be noted that the system

is capable of autonomous operation in between the human interactions (also called

“bounded autonomy”), 3) in the Teleoperation mode, the human operator, using sensory

feedback, either directly controls the actuators or assigns incremental goals on a

continuous basis, from a remote location, and 4) in the Remote Control mode, the human

operator controls the system on a continuous basis, from a remote location via only her/his

direct observation.

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Awareness

Knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists.

Source: Merriam-Webster

In our context we refer both to machine awareness (and self awareness) and to human

awareness of being part of a symbiotic entity.

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BCI

BCI, Brain Computer Interface is a means through which information/data is transferred

from the brain to a computer. There are several technologies being used and more are

being studied. The goal of a BCI is to be able to capture the information required for a given

goal, e.g. controlling a robot to operate on behalf of a paralyzed person, or to study the

working of the brain and its neuron/neuronal circuit.

The interface can be based on external sensing or may require invasive (implant) sensing.

A given BCI is characterized by the technology and protocol used and its performances are

measured with respect to the sensitivity and resolution provided.

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Bio-interfaces

Interfaces that can establish a communication path between a biological entity and an

artifact. In general they act as a transducer between a living entity and an artifacts. The two

channels, from the living entity to the artifact and from the artifact to the living entity may be

using different technologies and protocols.

Examples of bio-interfaces are the protonic chips that use protons (ions) rather than

electrons to communicate with living cells. Interfaces used in smart prosthetic limbs are

another example of bio-interfaces, since they adapt the communications to the one

supported by muscles in a limb or nerve termination.

Other interfaces, like sensors to detect electrical activity (such as EEG, ECG) are not

considered as bio-interfaces.

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Bio-Machines

A Bio-Machine is a machine that has been engineered using bio components, like bacteria,

to acquire/deliver a specific functionality. As an example, bacteria (and genetically modified

bacteria) can be used in symbiosis with artifacts to detect specific molecules.

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Bioengineering

Bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to

create usable, tangible, economically viable products.

Source: Wikipedia

Related Glossary Terms

CRISPR/Cas9, Genetic engineering

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Brain implant

An artifact that is designed to be implanted inside the skull, either on the meninges or

inside the brain. It may be used to monitor brain activity and/or to influence it. It can be a

temporary implant or a permanent implant and has to be bio-compatible with brain tissues.

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CBI

CBI, Computer Brain Interface is a means through which information/data is transferred

from a computer to the brain. Like in the case of BCI the interface can be based on external

actuators or may require invasive (implant) actuators.

So far CBI technologies can only influence, tamper with, the working of the brain in some of

its functions. As an example CBI are used to block an epileptic seizure by interfering with

the electrical activity underlying the seizure, another example is to alter depression

(although no conclusive assessment on the effectiveness is available as October 2018).

The stumbling block in creating a generalized CBI is due to the massive distributed nature

of most brain functionalities making it practically impossible to interfere with all the involved

neurons/neural circuits. Additionally, in most cases, any given neuron/neural circuit can

participate in several functions, hence tapering with one to influence a function is likely to

influence another function, often in a non-desirable way.

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CRISPR/Cas9

CRISP/Cas9 is a technology used to modify DNA strings (now also being used to modify

RNA strings adopting a slightly different protocol). It is the current tools for genetic

engineering.

CRISPR is an abbreviation of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats

and was discovered within the genomes of prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria and

archaea that developed this “technique” to defend themselves from virus infection.

Cas9 is an enzyme that uses CRISPR sequences as a guide to recognize and cleave

specific strands of DNA that are complementary to the CRISPR sequence.

Related Glossary Terms

Bioengineering, Genetic engineering

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Deep Learning

Deep learning is part of a broader family of machine learning methods based on learning

data representations, as opposed to task-specific algorithms. Learning can be supervised,

semi-supervised or unsupervised.

Source: Wikipedia

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Digital Twin

Digital twin refers to a digital replica of physical assets, processes, people, places, systems

and devices that can be used for various purposes. The digital representation provides both

the elements and the dynamics of how an Internet of things device operates and lives

throughout its life cycle. Source Wikipedia

A more business oriented definition from General Electric, one of the first companies to use

Digital Twins:

Digital twins are software representations of assets and processes that are used to

understand, predict, and optimize performance in order to achieve improved business

outcomes. Digital twins consist of three components: a data model, a set of analytics or

algorithms, and knowledge.

In our context a Digital Twin is a digital replica of any characteristics of a real entity,

including human beings. The characteristics represented by a digital twin are a subset of

the overall characteristics of a real entity. The choice of which characteristics are digitalized

depends on the purpose of the digitalization, i.e. the intended use of the digital twin.

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Emergence

Complex systems, i.e. those systems composed by many parts that cannot be reduced

without a loss of function (complex systems cannot be simplified without losing some of

their characteristics, while complicated system can), often show characteristics that are not

present in any of their components. This is often the case when one or more of their

component is autonomous. The behavior of a system that is not the result of one of its

component but that results from the interaction of the behavior of its constituent parts is

called emergent behavior and the property of these systems in creating a whole “behavior”

is called “emergence.”

In our context we talk of:

- Emergent Intelligence, meaning the intelligence that is created by the interaction of the

various components of autonomous systems when acting in symbioses, and

- Emergent Behavior, meaning the behavior shown by autonomous systems when acting in

symbioses.

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Exoskeleton

An exoskeleton is a rigid external covering for the body in some invertebrate animals,

especially arthropods, providing both support and protection.

In our context an exoskeleton is a robot shaped in a way to wrap around part of a human

body to increase the human strength (and relieve from fatigue).

There are already many areas of application of exoskeletons, mostly in healthcare,

manufacturing and military.

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Generative Adversarial Networks

Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are a class of artificial intelligence algorithms used

in unsupervised machine learning, implemented by a system of two neural networks

contesting with each other in a zero-sum game framework. They were introduced by Ian

Goodfellow et al. in 2014. This technique can generate photographs that look at least

superficially authentic to human observers, having many realistic characteristics (though in

tests people can tell real from generated in many cases).

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Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of DNA to alter an organism's characteristics

(phenotype) in a desired way.

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Metabolome

The metabolome is the total number of metabolites present within an organism, cell, or

tissue.

The Human Metabolome project has resulted in the creation of the Human Metabolome

Database (HMDB) a freely available electronic database containing detailed information

about small molecule metabolites found in the human body.

http://www.hmdb.ca

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Nootropic

Nootropics (colloquial: smart drugs and cognitive enhancers) are drugs, supplements, and

other substances that may improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions,

memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals.

Source: Wikipedia

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Optogenetics

Optogenetics (from Greek optikós, meaning 'seen, visible') is a biological technique that

involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, that have been

genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels. It is a neuromodulation method

that uses a combination of techniques from optics and genetics to control and monitor the

activities of individual neurons in living tissue—even within freely-moving animals—and to

precisely measure these manipulation effects in real-time.

Source: Wikipedia

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Self-aware

Being aware of existing as an independent entity, having feeling, desires, purposes.

In our context we address machines’ self-awareness.

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Sentient Machines

A sentient machine is a hypothetical machine that exhibits behavior at least as skillful and

flexible as humans do. It is often associate to Artificial General Intelligence -AGI- and to

artificial consciousness.

“Sentient” connects to the idea that a machine can have feelings and can appreciate that

other entities can have feelings as well. It is a blurred area: we have computer (programs)

that can feel the mood of people interacting with them but they do not feel anything in our

sense of feeling, they just react in an appropriate way taking into consideration those

(expression of) feelings.

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Smart City

In this context a smart city is seen as a complex system, an emergent entity, resulting from

the interplay of autonomous systems that all together create a symbiotic being, i-e- the

smart city.

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Emergence

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Smart prosthetics

Smart prosthetics are an evolution of prosthetics that embed processing and decision

capabilities. In order to do that they have sensors and actuators, the first reporting data to a

processing units, the latter executing orders provided by the processing units.

More recently smart prosthetics have become equipped with technologies to interact with

the person’s body (and brain), i.e. to understand the intention of the person, acting in

consequence, and providing sensation to the person.

We can expect smart prosthetics to become smarter in the coming decade, embedding

intelligence and acting in symbioses with the person, eventually giving rise to a more

intelligent symbiotic behavior.

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Superorganism

A Superorganism is an organism composed by the symbiotic relations of several

organisms. In Nature we have plenty of examples, in a way most living being are symbiotic

expression of a multitude of organisms (from sponges to human beings).

A superorganim can be composed by a multitude of similar entities (think about a hive, a

superorganism composed by thousands of bees) or by different living entities (think of a

cow needing bacteria to digest cellulose).

A superorganism can be an abstract entity like a smart city, emerging from the loose inter-

relations of different infrastructures and players (citizens, business...).

In our context we are interested in superorganism emerging from a mixture of atoms and

bits of living entities and artifacts.

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Transhumanism

The belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental

limitations, especially by means of science and technology.

Source: Oxford Dictionary

In our context we are not expressing a belief, rather we are pointing at the possible

implication of technology evolution on humans.

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Turing test

The Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit

intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.

Source: Wikipedia

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Table of Contents

part of the brain computation