This archive report was first published on 12 July 2019.
July 12, 2019, marked a thought-provoking moment at the Fast Company European Innovation Festival, where Professor Yuval Noah Harari, a historian at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, shared his insights on the merging of humans and machines.
According to Professor Harari, humans are becoming so dependent on technology that it's becoming increasingly hard to tell where we end and where the computer begins. He envisioned a future where smartphones are embedded in our bodies or brains, constantly scanning our biometric data and emotions.
Professor Harari highlighted how humans have manipulated their environment over time, suggesting that now may be the time to manipulate themselves. He noted that despite developing sophisticated tools, humans remain the same animals, with the same emotions and minds.
However, he believes that the coming revolution will change this, not just our tools, but the human being itself. This could potentially open the door to setting up civilizations beyond Earth, allowing life to break out of planet Earth and no longer be confined to this flying rock.
Professor Harari's claims are not isolated; Elon Musk shared a similar vision in 2017, suggesting that humans should merge with machines to avoid becoming 'irrelevant.' He envisioned a future where humans and machines achieve a symbiosis, solving the control problem and the usefulness problem.
