THE SUPERHUMAN BORN OUT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND GENETIC ENGINEERING: THE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN ONTOLOGICAL DIGNITY

Abstract

The quest for the perfect human being, on the one hand, and the perfect machine, on the other hand, constitutes the principal preoccupation of researchers around the world today. The desire is to offer humanity better options in the world and hence, enhance human wellbeing. These two patterns of techno-scientific research lead us to what we may call, the Superhuman. Ray Kurzweil thinks that the first version of the superhuman will surely be the product of a union between Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence (AI). This form of super intelligence will be able to genetically engineer humans, giving birth to the second version of the superhuman; a flawless being with none of the health and intellectual limitations of the natural human being. However, this perspective is not universally accepted; for while Kurzweil and his followers caution humanity to get ready for the singularity,[1]other scholars think that the current fear that surrounds radical human engineering is exaggerated. The objective of this paper is to enable us see beyond the contradictions that exist between these perspectives, in order to enable the human race decide its fate. The period of human evolution when Artificial Intelligence surpasses human intelligence. (Kurzweil, Ray, 2005, The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, Viking Penguin.)