In his article, Icarus 2.0, Michael Bess argues that as more inventions hit the mainstream population, it will be hard for the public to resist these temptations because there is a fine line between science that heals people and science that enhances their abilities.[i] This delicate balance is seen in the rise in demand for performance enhancing drugs. High profile athletes use steroids to improve their athletic ability and healthy students search out medication like Adderall to improve their academic standing. As the science of replicating and improving humans becomes more sophisticated, it will be hard to combat the demand from healthy people who want to improve their natural abilities.
“The enhancements of the mid-twenty-first century will be far more potent than anything witnessed thus far in human history. They will affect the qualities we deem most centrally and deeply human.” — Michael Bess
As humans increasingly rely on artificial enhancements to alter their natural state, it becomes harder to distinguish how much is still human. Each individual discovery does not seem threatening, however if you look at the advancements together, over time, it demonstrates startling differences in humanity and a foreboding look into the future of what it means to be human.[iii] The idea of strengthening a natural heart with a pacemaker is a miracle when looked at on the individual level. However, it foreshadows a trend of adding artificial parts to human bodies. If physicians can already regulate a heartbeat with a mechanical contraption, there is no limit to what else they can replace in the human body. Men and women have always been focused on improving their traits, but now discovery is moving at an alarmingly accelerated rate and the result will mean a change in the essence of what it means to be human.
[i] Bess, 2008, 114-126
[ii] Bess, 2008, 114-126
[iii] Bess, 2008, 114-126
Artificial Intelligence in the Media 