Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Moravec imagines generations of robots in the distant future that look
less like the clunky machines we see today, and more like artificial, self-
reproducing organisms. One has the shape of “the basket starfish”;
another model, “the Bush Robot,” features a stem, treelike branches,
balls attached to its limbs like fruit, and microscopic fingers that “might
be able to build a copy of itself in about ten hours.” Eventually, super-
intelligent creatures of this kind, “Ex-humans” or “Exes,” would grow
weary of the limitations of Earth, seeking their fortunes elsewhere in the
universe. The question of what will become of ordinary humans in this
brave new world is for Moravec of little concern. It is clear that his sym-
pathies lie with the smarter, more resourceful, more powerful successors
to our pathetically weak and incompetent species. At one point, he sug-
gests that when robots end up producing all foods and manufactured
goods, “humans may work to amuse other humans.”
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In the longer
term, however, this pattern is likely to prove unstable. “Biological
species,” Moravec writes, “almost never survive encounters with supe-
rior competitors.” He speculates that generations of robots who leave
Earth may eventually return with aggressive intentions. “An entity that
fails to keep up with its neighbors is likely to be
eaten
, its space, mate-
rials, energy, and useful thoughts reorganized to serve another's goals.
Such a fate may be routine for humans who dally too long on slow Earth
before going Ex.”
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Unstated in visions of this kind, but clearly implied by the drift of dis-
cussion, is the conviction that God's original creation was inadequate.
With the knowledge available to them now and in the future, scientists
can do better than the Creator, that bumbling old fool, who gave us such
a terribly inadequate world and equipped us with such a decrepit
physique (especially the brain). Surely, we the enlightened can do far
better, designing new beings and new worlds based on the power of
rapidly advancing technologies. If one prefers a story that sidesteps the
theological dimensions and relies on theories of evolution, a common
prediction among posthumanists is that science will create the means to
channel evolution along marvelous new paths, ones that will, alas, even-
tually lead to human extinction. In either context, though, the belief that
somehow progress is “for us” needs to be discarded; at this juncture it
is merely an outmoded prejudice.
