Man meets robot
Photo Source: NASA

I think that most of us, when we hear the word robot, think of a metal man that is driven by an internal computer. In the movies of the 1950s, the part of the robot was usually played by some guy in a metal suit. As time went by, we got a little more sophisticated and began to use robots that were remote controlled. Who could ever forget Robbie the Robot from the movie Forbidden Planet. Oh I forgot, that is getting to be a long time ago and some of you may never have heard of it. It was the forerunner to Star Trek. One of the serious lead rolls was played by Leslie Nielsen, I am sure you know him from Naked Gun. Yeah he was a serious actor for many years before someone realized how funny he could be.

But this is not about the movies. It is about how humans are starting to use robotic parts and becoming a little more robot like every year. The U.S. Army has been working on an exoskeleton for years now. The idea is that it will enhance the abilities of the ordinary soldier. He will be able to carry many times his own weight, jump over high obstacles and who knows, maybe the device will also have advanced weaponry built into it. It is pretty much secret right now so we really don't know all the capabilities that it will have. When I think of it, I can't help but feel that it will have some drawbacks. I really shouldn't talk about it since I don't have enough info on it right now, but the thought of being strapped into a device on the battlefield would scare me, no matter how proficient it was. It just seems that it couldn't be as maneuverable as the human body if you had to get out of the way of something very fast. I certainly could be wrong as it might have this capability built in..

Exoskeleton Test
Photo Source: DARPA

Even more intimate than an exoskeleton, is the use of robotic parts to replace human parts that were lost or damaged. We are getting to the point where we may soon have an artificial arm or hand that will look just like the real thing. We already have devices that produce feedback and give a sense of "feel" to the user, allowing him or her to apply just that right amount of pressure when picking up things like a glass or food. This can now be done without crushing the item or holding it so loosely that if falls to the floor. The limb has direct neural control. The new prosthetics are said by the wearers to feel very natural, but not quite like the real thing yet. Every time one of these devices is attached to a human, the human becomes more cyborg like. Can you imagine some day in the future a person's head being attached to a android body? Is this so far fetched? Look at it this way, our brain is the computer that controls all our mechanics. The mechanics is our body. If we could keep the brain or even the head alive and learn how to attach it, why couldn't we put it on a mechanical body? This might be necessary for people that were victims of horrible accidents.

In the future it might be very common to see humans with robot parts. They may not even be noticeable and this would be great for the person using them, since it would eliminate the embarrassment factor. This is only one way that humans are being tied into machines. The military has had a computer, for a few years now, that can read thoughts, at least that is the word on the street. It is said that it is installed in the most advanced fighter planes and allows the pilot to fire weapons systems just by thinking about it. Remember the movie Firefox with Clint Eastwood? It also featured a computer of this type in a Russian plane. Not only that, but it is also said that the most advanced military computers in fighter jets operate on light instead of electrical impulses, allowing them to be much faster.

We can't forget that medical robotics have come a long way. Robots are now doing operations and doing them better than any human could. It is said that just recently, the first non assisted robotic operation took place and it was a huge success. While the operation was being performed the surgeons watched of course. This can't help but worry some people. It is true that if something were to go wrong in the future and there was no surgeon watching, the robot doesn't have any feelings and will act only on its program. Still, the program was written by people who do have feeling, so therefore only the decisions of the programmer will be carried out.

So far we have talked about putting robotic parts on humans, but will human parts ever go into a robot? Right now, laboratories all over the world are trying to grow human organs. These would be used to replace damaged ones and the rejection factor would be eliminated. Could we grow a human brain some day and put it into a robot? So far no one has tried to grow a brain and it might just be impossible. Brain transplants are impossible today due to the complexity of the brain but who knows what the future holds? Robots may turn out to be as human as us some day, a sort of new race created by man. This reminds me of the script of Battlestar Galactica. Could a race of machines reproduce? Sure, if they were smart enough, they could build more of themselves.

What does the future hold for man and machine. Will humans become more robot like while robots become more human? Will there be some point where they will both be equal and it will not be possible to tell one from the other? Who knows. I guess if man lives long enough on this earth, then anything will be possible.