A living hybrid robot made by ‘Biorobotics’? What is the story?

So, they are living robots Robotics liveOr biological, biorobotics. Biorobotics Also known as “hybrid biological robots” Bio-hybrid robotics. No, you didn’t read the names, which all refer to robots that combine living biological tissue with intelligent machines.

Perhaps the “simplest” example is the robotic hand. Which is inserted in place of the hand itself, and is controlled by the brain through the nerves through which it uses to control the missing hand.

Living biological robots are no longer just objects for white screen shows, such as the movie “Terminator.” Terminator. With the advancement of science and technology, hybrid living robots have emerged as one of the leading innovations that combine living organisms and intelligent machines.

A hybrid biological robot

The development of hybrid biological robots represents a major leap in synthetic biology Synthetic Biology And robots. To clarify, synthetic biology represents a modern science based on working on simple genetic components, then developing and multiplying them, and then working on the construction of advanced and large genetic structures, such as a person builds a building, stone by stone, wall by wall. For example, the genes in brewer’s yeast cells can be taken, then disassembled and rearranged into a synthetic virus with specific specifications.

Unlike traditional robots made of inorganic materials, biology, particularly synthetic, is used to create living tissues, some of which may have human characteristics, which can -work directly with electronic components, which allows to make robots with high and advanced intellectual and physical capabilities. flexibility

Simply put, a hybrid car combines an automatic vehicle that runs on fuel and its other body that runs on electricity. In a horizon full of problems, a hybrid biological robot combines a human, body and mind, and a robot with an automatic body and a “mind” composed of advanced artificial intelligence.

It is clearly an issue that raises countless challenges, including ethical issues.

In a research paper published in a journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesa multidisciplinary team identified the unique ethical issues raised by this technology and the need for strong regulation of it.

The researchers said the first area of ​​ethical concern is how bio-hybrid robots interact with people and their environments. They emphasized the need to ensure that this interaction proceeds in a safe manner, including social and psychological aspects.

In the same context, the question of protecting the privacy of individuals arises, especially if hybrid biological robots have sensing capabilities that can monitor or record personal information.

Independent behavior

The moral status of bio-hybrid robots raises an ethical problem and controversy, and this involves determining the ethical issues for these entities, including: Is there value bio-hybrid robots in themselves? What exactly is that worth? The question will be particularly important if these robots have autonomous behavior or sensory capabilities.

In a series of simulation experiments, scientists simulated scenarios like using a biological robot to clean up the oceans, but if the job went wrong, it could disrupt the food chain, a hybrid robotic arm would give its owner an edge over others, and more. .

Machine slaves

In the book “Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence The author Max Tegmark reviews ideas about the impact of advanced artificial intelligence on the future of humanity, and conditions of human suffering in the future due to the continuous qualitative increase in artificial intelligence. Tegmark emphasizes future ethical challenges, such as the issue of controlling these technologies and ensuring that they serve humanity and not threatened to exist.

The writer paints a picture of a future in which a superhuman artificial intelligence will be born, which, through its independent “thinking”, could innovate projects, some of which could put people in it. the problem if they are not compatible with human goals.

Tegmark draws a scenario of “slaves to the machine” when humans capture advanced artificial intelligence, in a view that resembles slavery [أو ربما إفناء؟] Modern Homo sapiens to ancient Neanderthals. Super robots look at humans as a different and inferior entity to them, similar to the current human view of animals and their right to live, and use them for their benefit. This situation is made possible by the availability of large digital data documenting human mistreatment of animals, which could provide a “justification” for superintelligence to treat humans better.

In the “invaders” scenario, advanced artificial intelligence would behave towards humans as if they were invaders on their own planet. A hybrid cannot organize his affairs, he does not understand anything, and he needs the help of digital information to improve his life. This advanced information will destroy people as they reduce their intelligent resources, and this situation paves the way for the spread of the phenomenon of virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa.

In the “return to the roots” situation, Tegmark believes that communities like the Amish will spread. Amish The American and the like, who reject technological methods, but are supported by people who have worked in technology, such as the creator of augmented reality, Jeroen Lanier, and the writer in the Guardian newspaper, Mark Boyle, who writes about technology, knowing that he abandoned smart ways and left himself in a British forest and that he communicates with the newspaper using primitive methods.

In conclusion, the horizon of the hybrid biological robot faces a large set of questions. Do we have the right to modify biological organisms and combine them with machines to achieve our goals? How can we ensure that these innovations do not take lives or harm the environment? What safeguards must be put in place to protect the privacy and rights of individuals in a world where the boundaries between people and machines are blurring?