What is hybrid intelligence? Can bots learn empathy and is technology the new religion? These and similar questions were all up for discussion at the Brave New World Conference in Leiden recently. Philosophers and science fiction writers have long grappled with questions of man and machine. But technological advances combined with the climate crisis have brought these debate to the fore. I spoke with journalist and author of ‘New Dark Age’ (2018), James Bridle and heard philosopher, Nolan Gertz, author of ‘Nihilism and Technology’(2018) speak there. The relationship between man, nature and technology has always been complicated. But increasingly there seems to be a polarization between those who see man and nature as allies against the growing threat technological dehumanization. And those who see man and technology as partners in overcoming the limitations of the natural world.

Imagine a world in which one could design one’s own family. A research team at Eindhoven University of Technology was recently awarded a €2.9 million grant to develop a working prototype of their artificial womb. The artificial womb would deliver oxygen and nutrients to the baby through an umbilical cord-like tube, mimicking the natural environment of the female uterus. This breakthrough raises ethical questions about the future of baby making on a global scale. But it doesn’t stop there. The Reproductopia Clinic, created by the Next Nature Network, is the creation of various artists and designers, in light of these and other developments. It allows one to design your own reproductive future through a series of six steps. These included, finding your co-parents, assembling your gene pool and creating your reproductive technology.

Turning my son into a cyborg – Dr. Vivienne Ming

Technological advances such as these highlight the increasingly blurry boundaries between the human and the non-human. As a recent article in Forbes magazine put it, ‘Cyborgs are here and you’d better get used to it’. Cyborgs are organisms with both biological and technological components. As new technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D printing bring ever more possibilities, theoretical neuroscientist, Dr. Vivienne Ming is unapologetic about her decision to ‘turn my son into a cyborg and change the definition of what it means to be human’. When her son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, she admits playing the ‘mad scientist with my son’s biology’. She hacked his insulin pump by building AI that learned to match his insulin to his emotions and activities. 

Cyborgs are part of a growing ‘transhumanist’ movement, popularised by writers, thinkers and entrepreneurs like Professor Nick Bostrom, James Lovelock and Elon Musk. The latter, recently revealed first details of an electronic brain implant. Developed by Neuralink, the company in which he has invested more than 100 million dollars, it facilitates direct communications between people and machines. At the Brave New World conference we were treated to a viewing of Zima Blue. An award winning animated adaption of short story of the same name, by Alastair Reynolds. Now part of a Netflix series called Love, Death and Robots, Zima Blue explores the notion of transhumanism through the central character, Zima. A universally acclaimed artist, who lives a reclusive life in a far flung galaxy, Zima turns out to be more machine than man.

‘If Mother Nature had been a real parent, she should have been in jail.’ – Nick Bostrom

Transhumanism is a philosophical movement that advocates for a transformation of the human condition via recourse to advanced technologies. Emerging technologies are seen as a way to overcome fundamental human limitations so that a posthuman future may be imagined. Philosopher, Nolan Gertz, therefore argues that transhumanists see nature as essentially flawed and technology as a new God-like entity. He quotes author of New York Times best-seller, Superintelligence, Professor Nick Bostrom, as saying, ‘If Mother Nature had been a real parent, she should have been in jail.’ Does such a position posit technology as God and transhumanists as the priests of tomorrow’s brave new world, tasks Gertz? What are the implications of such a perspective for the brave new world of tomorrow?

James Bridle takes up a related argument when he asks, what form of intelligence are we creating via AI? And why is the development of AI consistently predicated on the notions of domination? He encourages us instead to look once more at the natural world, about which we still have so much still to learn, in order to gain a more diverse understanding of intelligences. What he calls, ‘other intelligences’. By this he means that of the fauna and the flora with which we have shared the earth for thousands of years. ‘The more we learn about nature, the more we realise how blind we’ve been’ he says. Bridle gives us the example of Pando, a single male quaking aspen tree found in Utah, US that covers 43 hectares. Known as the trembling giant, this incredible organism is estimated to have an 80 000 year old root system. Pando’s status as the world’s most massive organism was only recognised in 1992.

Is democracy under attack by technology?

The journalist goes on to provide other examples of different kinds of intelligences that are being successfully used in politics. There are many who fear that democracy is under threat by technology. Bridle goes back to Ancient Greece where democracy was based on the random allocation of jobs. The idea that we might benefit from more randomness in decision making was put to the test in Ireland. The writer explains how the ‘big, knotty societal problem’ of abortion was successfully resolved there, using citizens assemblies. The cognitive diversity of this large number of randomly selected individuals aided them in coming to a consensus on an issue that many politicians preferred to avoid. Since then, more successes have been achieved using this method.

So how are we to make sense of the brave new world that awaits us? How are we to choose between an increasing number of options that seem to pull us first one way and then another? History teaches us that we can not stop time or change. Whether you’re a cyborg fan or a traditional naturalist, perhaps a bit of both, it’s worth bearing the following in mind. Nolan Gertz encourages us to think more carefully about how we think about advanced technologies. He emphasizes the importance of being more aware about the assumptions we might unquestioningly carry around with us. James Bridle reminds us that not everything can or should have a solution. It is important to retain the ability to wonder. Science’s inability to fully explain a phenomenon, does not justify our dismissal thereof.