When is human no longer human? when does the machine become human?

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*toxkillfraex Jun 28, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Oh dear all this religion in here hurts my brain, but this is also the philosophy forum.

So before I start an argument let me state where it's coming from. I'm a geek, a fan of computers, eternally intrigued by artificial intelligence and when AI becomes truly intelligent.

I'm also obsessed with Science fiction and cyberpunk. Specifically neuromancer, ghost in the shell and to a small extent even the terminator.

These all make me wonder about what technology is rapidly becoming or speeding to. One day we'll have the technology to replace a crippled body with a working machine, but is just a brain or a soul enough to call a human still a human?
Where is the edge between human and machine once we dare to merge metal and flesh?
It's scary to think about, but once we do that we're essentially reducing ourselves to fleshy mechanical parts

But when a machine is so intelligent so close to almost human behavior (and intentionally a dangerous independent mind that Hollywood seems so obsessed with) does that make it human. Is the advanced almost invisibly behind the scene workings of ones and zero's enough to name a machine permanently a machine and nothing more. ('Bicentennial Man' made this question very obvious and pretty much made me accept the idea that a machine can be human)

Do we need to fear the human machine and machine human? Do we need to welcome it or ban it?
Or is neither of these boundaries crossable in the aspect that human is human no matter what you do with it and that machine is a machine no matter how well it mimics us?

I'm looking for people to question my ideas or help expand on them with good or bad arguments (anything counts WOOT).

silliness is also alright though ;D

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~genstian Jul 8, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Humans is the name we have chosen to call our specie. Nothing else will ever become "human". Whenever we choose to improve ourself using machines we would still be humans. Mergly call it a evolutionary step when we no longer need to rely on improvements over a course of hundreds or thousands of years. And we would no longer need to die to improve over time. Muscles are very uncomplex things, heart and other muscular parts can already be replaced with rather effective alternatives. We don't yet understand how the brain works so it's hard to imagine if we could replace it, but perhaps part of it, our electronic wiring is very ineffective.

We can't create a true AI yet. In any event, it wouldn't be a "human", some kind of android. We would create them to serve us. Just like your computer is a slave to you, to simplify your life and so on. We would have no need for revolting machines.

*toxkillfraex Jul 9, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

More like... machines would have no need to revolt in the first place.

But I'd definitely enjoy self enhancement. It can't be much worse then relearning how to walk from a wheelchair.

~genstian Jul 9, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Aye, and thats why we create such things to begin with

*toxkillfraex Jul 9, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

yup exactly so

~i-am-a-retro-lass Jul 6, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

All human beings are robots already, in a biological sense. Why? Because they are essentially Data Processors. In other words, Data enters through our five senses (sight touch smell taste and hearing) into the data processor (the body and the brain) Once the brain has collated analysed stored or deleted or amended or tweeked all this data according to its capacity, it then spews out the data output in thinking and talking and doing. Clones would therefore be the ultimate biological robot for humanity. But of course we as a species would be far too egotistical to allow our clones to be better than us, so I see the technology getting better to improve ourselves within transformer kinds of suits and other technologies ....

*toxkillfraex Jul 7, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Yeah humans are far to ego driven... I know I am

but transformer kind of suits? =O You d realize I now imagine a human turning into a car?

~i-am-a-retro-lass Jul 8, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

i saw this amazing skate board suit somebody designed. No matter which way you fall, you are rolling....I think the only thing missing in the design was how to roll uphill? So I think that nano suits enhancing the human movements...also like that bloke with those amazing artificial bouncing legs (he has no legs)is running in the olympics?
I would design a suit with legs to make me run faster,(see the legless man with amazing bionic running legs) headgear to make me see and hear a lot more than i can (see a jet pilot near us) and a jet pack to make me fly (see the bloke in a new zealand shed who built one).............AMAZING to think that its happening already? ha ha (there is even a bloke who designed an all terrain car, boat and plane vehicle)

*toxkillfraex Jul 9, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

wow... how did that all terain thing work out?

Also the guy with the bounding legs has no advantage over the others, hence he can go an run in the Olympics without trouble... Which I think is awesome

~i-am-a-retro-lass Jul 10, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

it was pretty awesome to watch the designer skate boarding on his head, his back, his stomach, his hands etc....going amazingly fast, even along perpendicular walls and down staircases and stuff like that.

*toxkillfraex Jul 11, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

I can just about imagine it =O

*dreams away*

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