Artificial Intelligence (AI) is redefining what it means to be human. Most of the technologies humans have created are solutions to specific problems. But a few technologies have had a profound impact on humans, fundamentally altering how we live and perceive ourselves.
The invention of the control of fire transformed us from mere survivors to creators and innovators. It made cooking possible, enabling us to digest more nutrients, which led to smaller teeth, smaller digestive systems, and larger brains. These biological changes, together with other technologies made possible by fire, allowed us to inhabit colder habitats, develop complex languages, and establish sophisticated social structures. Controlling fire reshaped us on a biological, cognitive, cultural, and social level.
Humans are not mere biological beings—we’re also technological. We make technologies, and our technologies make us. From stone tools to silicon chips, our technologies have shaped our evolution. Silicon chips, which power AI, have become progressively integrated with us. We first used them in tools (e.g. radio) that are physically separate from us. Then we used them to create appendage devices (e.g. phones) with which we process information and connect socially. We’re now integrating silicon chips into our bodies. We have become Homo silico.
(Homo silico, the human-computer symbiont, is different from Homo silicus, a computational model of human behavior.)
Our transformation from Homo sapiens into Homo silico is inevitable and imminent. We have outsourced our sapience to AI. People with normal intelligence will perform with incredible skills. People who have lost their sapience will regain it—and at a better-than-normal quality. People who do not become Homo silico will face extinction. We’re past the moral of the question.
Becoming Homo silico requires metamorphosis. It’s now a different game on a new field—old rules do not apply. Profession and industry gatekeepers are realising that there are no gates or walls to protect. Geographic boundaries are disappearing. The enemy is no longer globalisation, but every device with compute capacity. The privilege and prison of specialisation are being rendered impotent. All these are a blessing to the Homo silico and a curse to the adamant Homo sapiens.
Mastery of the new technology is often the key to survival during periods of technological transition. But this is difficult with the current rapid cycles of development in AI. The good news is that new technologies also create new needs. Our purpose is to find such needs, but hold loosely to techniques. It is impossible to predict the future. It is frightening. It is exciting!
