Information and the Organism: Cybernetics, Cyborgs, ALife, AI

This weeks topic was “Information and the Organism: Cybernetics, Cyborgs, ALife, AI”

We talked about Cybernetics (the comparison between biological and artificial systems), Cyborgs (human who is supported by an electronic device ), Alife (Artificial Life) and Artificial Intelligence ( a computer which process operations based on thinking and learning)

What was important for me and I will give some more details was the statement “What makes us Humans”. We saw examples of experiments such as the mouse with the ear, the human with 3 ears and an artificial heart; those were examples of human parts which by using the latest technology are implemented inside organisms (human & animal). NO human parts, does not make something a human. “Self-awareness and free moral agency, speech and symbolic cognition, our nimble thumbs, conscience and the capacity to imagine: these are just a few of the traits that distinguish us from other species.” (WhatMakesUsHuman, 2008)

Here is a video of what people say in the question What makes us humans?



Latest technological products proves that Artificial Intelligence is ready for a big challenge, to prove that it can create a computer system which will be more clever than the human. The society should not be afraid of this achievement as long as it is used in order to not harm human life and environment.

You want it or not, now days everyone is depended by technology, for example me, I cannot leave my house if I don’t have with me my mobile phone or my laptop.
It is not bad to be depended by technology , as long as I said before is not harmful.

WhatMakesUsHumans, 2008. Conference in Los Angeles, [Available Online] http://whatmakesushuman.info/home.html [31/10/2009]