BitLanders C-Blogging: Real Cyborg People - Photo credit: xoneka, edition by Amber255 via bitLanders

The reality surrounding us has finally begun to approach the events that many fiction writers have described in their works: thanks to modern technologies and medical discoveries, people are able to improve and perfect their physical abilities with the help of technology built into their bodies.

 A cyborg, we recall, is an organism containing both organic and electronic or mechanical components. Of course, cyborgs, in this case, can be called and owners of pacemakers, but I decided to write about the more unusual cases when a person took a step to become related to the machines.

Mechanical hands, bionic organs, finger flash drive. Did you know that Cyborgization is not somewhere in the future, but it already exists? Cyborgization is only the naive dreams of transhumanists? No! Cyborgs are already among us.

As technological innovations in the field of medicine and healthcare multiply day by day, it will be more and more usual to augment our bodies with the help of machines. It makes us faster, stronger or more sensitive to the environment.

Credit: medicalfuturist

The development of the brain-computer interface, the concept of digital immortality does not simply lead to an infinite expansion of human capabilities, too intimate interaction between the human brain and the machine creates fundamentally new risks and threats that humanity is only beginning to realize.

Cyborg, or a hybrid of man and machine, possessing superhuman capabilities, has always been a horror story, then a source of inspiration for dreamers about the man of the future. Pirate John Silver from Treasure Island with his wooden leg could also be considered a cyborg. As further - people with a transplanted heart, liver, kidneys, or simply prostheses.

But the main sign of a cyborg is the interaction of its artificial organs with the brain and nervous system.

There are already examples of partial brain prosthetics. Back in 2003, at the University of Southern California, under the guidance of the neurobiologist Theodor Berger, a prosthesis of the hippocampus, a department of the brain responsible for long-term memory, was created. And in 2004, the founder and head of cybernetics, John Donahue, first implanted a chip into the brain of 25-year-old Matt Nagle, who got paralyzed because of a stroke.

Photo credit: pitt

The idea of implanting a mechanism into human's body stirred up the minds of science fiction writers long before the advent of chips, and electronics in general. However, only now we are witnessing such actions in reality. Someone does it for decoration, while others improve their body. Probably, the day when people will begin to implant mechanisms in themselves is not far off.  There are the simplest modifications, such as implanting a chip for getting to work through a checkpoint, implanting a credit card chip, to pay for purchases literally with your hand. However, there are people who have more seriously approached the question of the technical evolution of their bodies, and I will now tell you about the most interesting ones.

On Querlo Chat I added some information about some real cyborg people: 

Kevin Warwick - a British scientist, a professor of cybernetics, the first man-cyborg in the world. 

Neil Harbisson - the artist, who can distinguish colors using the antenna built into his skull, was officially recognized as a cyborg.

Jesse Sullivan - one of the first cyborgs in the world with a bionic limb. 

Nigel Ackland - one of the few owners of the most advanced bionic prosthesis be-bionic 3.

Jens Naumann - after becoming blind, he got an electronic eye. 

Claudia Mitchell - one who received the first bionic prosthetic arm controlling the movements of a limb via thoughts.

Jerry Jalava - one with finger prosthesis with a 2 GB USB drive.

Please, chat with me if you want to know more about them (click the link if you want to open chat in a full-screen mode: Real Cyborg People):

At a time when robots are improving and increasingly resemble people, humanity is starting to accept robots. When these two species merge, no futurologist can predict yet.

One thing is clear: the path to the posthuman runs through the transhuman. There is a whole philosophical direction - transhumanism, many of whose adherents already consider themselves to be transhumans since they improve the body with implants and use computer communication technologies.

A transhuman will be transformed into a posthuman with the help of nanotechnology, genetic engineering, drugs to change the mood and improve memory, anti-aging therapy implanted by computer and, of course, the development of artificial intelligence. 

C-Blog: Real Cyborg People - Photo credit: querlo

There is some danger. The real danger lurks literally around the corner. After all, the more digital devices will be connected with the human body, the more clearly cyber threats will grow - hacker and virus attacks, information leaks. Or hackers can simply insert incoming information into you for the purpose of control, manipulation, surveillance.

 I hope all these dangers will be cared off to the time when more and more people decide to improve themselves with the help of technical innovations - to become cyborgs. 

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bitLanders AI-themed blogging
After the successful launch of "The bitLanders C-blogging", conversational AI blogging by Querlo powered by IBM Watson and Microsoft Azure. bitLanders continues to support its joint venture Querlo. We believe in our mission to promote our future - Artificial Intelligence (AI) - and build AI conversations via blogging, here we are to introduce "bitLanders AI-themed blogging!".

Credit: quote from bitLanders  

Always welcome back to check more Querlo Chat blogs on AI theme. 

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