Re-Designing Humans
Clones, Drones & Simones
Joseph M. Rosen, M.D.
May 13th, 2003
Future Realities - 2050
Goals:
Artificial Humans

X2 looked at Marvels – enhancements to
human functions through mutations
(evolution) and Engineering

What will the role of surrogates be in the
year 2050 in the support of humans

Surrogates can take many forms and
serve functions in many ways
Stina’s List:
What I should be doing

companion

father

surgeon

mentor

builder

scientist

gardener

teacher

hiker

artist
Goals:
Time and Space

The goal is to collapse our notion of time
and space – Disneyworld ‘stroller’ story

First half of the 21st century will be about
artificial humans that can be controlled at
a distance – teletransportation

Second half of the 21st century will be
about surrogates that are autonomous

Mars mission causes a time delay
Human Surrogates:
The Four Technologies

Cloning – Star wars, Multiplicity, BR

Robots –AI, Terminator,Robocop

Virtual Reality – Simone,Matrix,FF

Frankenstein – The modern
Prometheus – Junk Parts but you still
need a human brain (A.B.Normal)
Human Surrogates:
A history in a Nutshell

Where do humans
come from - Myth

Prometheus - clay

The Golem

Science and
alchemy
Human Surrogates:
Science and the Renaissance

16th Century

Dissection

Science

Monsters and
Marvels
Human Surrogates:
The Tech of Cloning

Cloning - from cell to
clone – 1979

A clone provide a set of
spare parts for a human
from a single cell or HGP

They are important later in
our story but at his point
raise too many ethical
issues
Human Surrogates:
Robot technology

Robots provide a story
of invention

Earliest robots date
back to the beginning
of civilization as clocks

Robots are computers
with arms and eyes – or
may be reconfigurable
Capek R.U.R – Master Slave relationship in society:
Robots as Humans :

From Film Fiction (Metropolis) to Reality
History of Robots:
From clocks to companions

Early Robots were water clocks

17th Century robots were Automata

18th Century robots were Looms and
began Industrial Revolution

19th Century robots were computers

20th Robots became workers –
computers with arms and legs

21st Century – our companions?
Ancient robot Clocks:
First engineering challenges





Giant Clock Mechanisms
with robots
Powered by water
Clocks made smaller
Clocks perform greater
and more detailed tasks
for amusement
Early scientific
inventions
Early Robots – Beginning to
define our general concepts






Artificial Duck by
Vaucanson 1738
Walks
Quacks
Eats, digests, etc.
Flaps its wings
Toys for the King
Robots: Machines that look
like humans and perform acts

The young writer 1774

Jacquet-Droz’s boyautomaton = doll

Performs programmed
tasks – writing,music
and drawing

Mechanical computer
Modern Robots are human-like
and perform specific acts
Commercial Robots as
Companions for your family





Sophisticated
Expensive
Integrate into the team
and family
Designed to do simple
tasks
Make them cheaper
Human Surrogates:
The Technology of VR

Virtual Reality is harder
for my generation to
understand

They are the most
flexible, the cheapest, and
part of cyberspace

Simone illustrates the
advantages
Virtual Reality helps us to redesign people :
Virtual Humans have many
roles to play in Reality
Mike McKenna thesis work –first virtual humans :
Avatar Design from Cockroach
to full Walking human
Grinning Evil Death
Mike McKenna thesis work –first virtual humans :
Avatar Design from Muybridge
photos to computer model
Can we distinguish reality from virtual reality? :
Virtual reality Turing test
virtual reality – creative artifice – Jaron Lanier:
What is cyberspace:
A world where Avatars live
Virtual reality creates a new world
virtual reality – creative artifice – Jaron Lanier:
Early NASA systems –1980’s
Scott Fisher and Jaron Lanier
Virtual reality creates a new world
First Applications for virtual reality – Jaron Lanier:
Human Design in Cyberspace:
Surgical Simulation
Virtual reality creates a surgical
environment to create virtual humans
From nasal repair to virtually re-configuring the nose:
CyberSurgery
Augmented
reality going
beyond
physical
surgery for
nasal repair
Virtual surgery
Combinations:
Frankenstein and
Cyborgs
Does not provide a
surrogate as long as
we need a brain
Young Frankenstein or
Edward Scissorhands
still needs key parts
from willing or
unwilling humans
Only for completeness
Conclusion: Comparing the
Technologies of Surrogates

Cloning - biotech

Robots Computers

VR - Avatars

Cyborgs - combos

What should be
our measure?
Life on Mars:Special
challenges of Time

Mars Mission – 3 year round trip

The speed of light becomes a
limitation - 20 to 40 minutes to Mars

Premium on artificial intelligence

Remote control and tele-operations
is severely limited in far space travel
Mars Exploration - 2014
Mars @
Departure
Jan. 24, 2016
161 day Transit Out,
154 day Return
Return Inbound
Trajectory
Earth @
Departure
Jan. 20, 2014
Mars @ Arrival
June 30, 2014
Earth @ Arrival
June 26, 2016
Mars Surface Stay Time: 569 days
Earth Orbit
Mars Orbit
Piloted Trajectories
Stay on Mars Surface
Mars Perihelion:
January 22, 2013
December 10, 2014
From Earth to Mars:
When time becomes the Issue

Cloning – intelligence has the
advantage, although ethics an issue

Robots – how intelligent can they be

Virtual Reality – greater flexibility

Frankenstein and cyborgs– No real
advantages over humans in cost
Summary
Key remaining
questions
Human machine
interfaces
How do we improve the
performance of
humans and
surrogates on teams
Cybercare in 2050
Human Machine Interface
Nerve Chip Project
Direct Couple to
Nervous system
Cochlear Implant
for limbs
Future Project 2050
Nerve Chip Project
A direct interface to
robots and computers
Review of surrogates:
Each has pros and cons

Stina’s list of what I should be doing

Virtual reality provides the most flexibility

Robots are expensive but expendable

Clones are potentially the brightest but
have the greatest ethical issues

Combinations provide all of the problems
without any real saving in cost or risks






Real Surgeons
Telerobotics
Telepresence
Virtual (AI)
Combinations
of physical
systems in
future OR
Combinations
of physical and
information
virtual system
2050:
The Fabric of Society

Healthcare in the 21st Century - cybercare

In the last talk on May 27th I will try to
cover a way of looking at the future

Bringing together all that we have learned
in the last two months in this course

It will only be my view of your future

In 2050 you will all be looking at 70 + or -
Movie Quiz:
From X2 to Replicants

Metropolis

Clones

Multiplicity

Drones

Bladerunner

Simones

Simone


Terminator
Modern
Prometheus

Cyborgs

Frankenstein
Movie Quiz:
Artificial Humans




Edward
Scissorhands
Austin Powers
Buckaroo
Bonzai in the 8th
Dimension
AI

Clones

Drones

Simones

Combinations:
Frankenstein
Monster and
Cyborgs
Movie Quiz:
Send me more examples