If you think about the evolution of consumer technology, you will notice a trend that has been in play since the very beginning. The goal of humanity with the numerous tools at its disposal, has been to decrease that distance between itself and those tools it uses to enhance life.

Every year, our various devices become more easier to use, more powerful, while at the same time feeling more and more ubiquitous. Take for example the era of desktop PCs. You had to turn it on, wait for it, then log onto the internet, then do whatever you wished to.

Now, it's just a matter of saying something verbally to your phone or smart watch, and it is done. This increasingly intimate connection between us and our many devices can only head towards one direction. A merger.

Whenever the idea of merging humans and machines is discussed, it is usually met with much skepticism and fear even, but based on the history of technological evolution, it seems inevitable at this point. The only question how long before we accept it?

Humans 2.0

I would argue that any such merger would result in an entirely new species and for a lack of a better term, I am using 'Human 2.0'. The union would not result in loss of anything from our human side but a gain of a range of capabilities from the machine side, if we do it properly.

We would be able to access any information in the world within our minds at speeds that are as fast as thought and talk to anyone in the world with just our thoughts! These are magic-like, science fiction capabilities of the highest order.

Using artificial parts, we would also do away with dependence on our natural parts and organs that have a tendency to be damaged due to various reasons. The artificial parts/organs could have any number of enhanced functions and features we so desired. For example, bionic eyes could come with a zoom feature just like in our smartphones!

All of this may sound totally bizarre right now and I agree, it is! But the process has already started, albeit on an experimental basis and with minimum integration of technology with our bodies. One might think that we will never accept such a merger but a few decades down the road, I think the future generations are going to readily accept it.

I mean, look at our way of life now. A century ago, if someone had asked whether humans would accept our current way of life, anyone from then would have screamed in the negative. And yet, this is our reality. And then, there is always that looming threat that AI will become ever so smart and we might just have to integrate with some form of it to ensure our survival. Whatever leads to it, I think Human 2.0 is bound to happen.