Implications of cyborgs for society

Cyborgs (cybernetic organisms) are systems combining organic and artificial elements in one working whole.

Cyborgs are not just the stuff of science fiction. At least 10 percent ofAustralians are cyborgs in a technical sense, including people with electronic pacemakers, artificial limbs and joints, drug implant systems, implanted corneal lenses and hearing aids, artificial skin, and other medical prostheses.

Mechanical child's hand with cosmetic glove. Source: Advanced bio mechanics.

Humans also are being 'cyborged' at an ever-increasing rate as they deliberately integrate themselves into larger cybernetic and mechanical systems either for business or for pleasure. These include neurosurgeons who are guided by fibre-optic microscopy during an operation, pilots of military aircraft who are connected to systems that monitor and feedback information about their bodily states (e.g. following eye movements, testing the conductivity of sweaty palms), and anyone who plays video, computer and virtual reality games.

At the same time that many humans are becoming more like machines (cyborgs), many machines seem to be becoming more like humans-artificial intelligences (AIs).

Whether or not any particular entity is a cyborg or an AI, it seems clear that we now live in a cyborg society in which distinctions between 'natural' and 'artificial' (or between 'organic' and 'machinic') are increasingly subsumed by the proliferation of systems that incorporate both.

What does this mean for ethics and politics in contemporary societies? How should humans treat cyborgs and AIs?

What are the implications of extending human rights to cyborgs and AIs?