The Cyborg’s Brain: Artificial Intelligence and Transhumanism

Transhumanism, which has emerged from digital technology, has become the dominant ideology in Silicon Valley. It argues that digital innovations will save humanity from an imminent disaster by merging humans with machines. Through advanced tools such as genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology, humans can enhance their physical and mental abilities, aligning more closely with technology. However, these promises depend on successful progress in AI: Will AI perform as expected? What could block technological progress and halt the transhumanist journey? Is it realistic to expect AI to succeed within the next few decades, making the transhumanist vision possible? Can it address the social issues that arise from its deployment? Without AI, addressing today’s problems is unlikely, and future solutions seem even more out of reach. Supporters of transhumanism often claim that machines could fully replace human jobs, new technologies will lead to immortality, and the need for work would be eliminated. However, they do not provide strategies for reorganizing or managing the social concerns that would follow. Additionally, our technology is inherently flawed. A significant obstacle to technological progress is the increasing frequency of glitches and failures in digital systems, which is a direct result of their growing complexity. This issue marks a divide between science and technology, which has not received enough attention so far. Containing eight chapters, this book demonstrates how machines cannot fully repair themselves, and this is the current limit of technology, which risks hindering the achievement of full automation—a key transhumanist goal. Technology often relies on bricolage, meaning improvised and makeshift solutions.