Thoughts of Arnold
Thoughts of Arnold. Do you remember the hand saved at the end of Terminator-1? Can you imagine that it exists today? We are growing more intimate with our technology. Computers started out as large remote machines in air-conditioned rooms tended by white coated technicians. Next they moved onto our desks, then under our arms, and now in our pockets. Soon, we will routinely put them inside our bodies and brains. Ultimately, we could become more nonbiological than biological. We already have devices to replace our hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists, jaws, teeth, skin, arteries, veins, heart valves, arms, legs, feet, fingers, and toes. Systems to replace more complex organs (e.g., our hearts) are starting to work. A robotic suit has been developed that will help aged and physically disabled people walk, get up stairs and seat themselves without a chair will be available early next year. In 1999, scientists at Duke University enabled lab animals to mentally induce a robot arm to release water. First, a computer recorded the patterns of neuron activity in key areas of the animals’ brains when the animal pressed a lever that controlled the robot arm. Once the computer learned that neural pattern associated with lever pushing, it moved the robot arm when it detected the animals merely “thinking” about doing so. In later versions of this technology, monkeys were able to control a more sophisticated robot arm as though it were their own.