# Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance **Entity class:** Research report / workshop proceedings **Date:** June 2002 **Editors:** Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge, National Science Foundation **Sponsors:** National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Commerce **Workshop:** Arlington, Virginia, 3–4 December 2001 **Scope:** Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science (NBIC) ## Definition *Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* is an NSF/DOC-sponsored volume that assembles a 2001 workshop's research proposals, essays, and future scenarios. Its Overview, signed M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge, sets out twenty potential 10–20-year benefits, including direct brain–machine interfaces, and discusses longer-horizon questions of collective cognition and possible machine transfer of **aspects** of consciousness. These are forecasts and research questions, not evidence that the envisioned capabilities were achieved. The title page expressly says that individual authors' opinions, conclusions, and recommendations do **not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government**. It also reserves copyrights to individual authors or assignees and records only a nonexclusive U.S. Government licence under NSF Grant CTS-0128860 to the World Technology Evaluation Center. “Federal report” describes the sponsorship and archival provenance; it does not make the volume public domain or convert every statement into official policy or a scheduled deployment milestone. ## Source and attribution - [Complete report in the White House OSTP archive](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/bioecon-%28%23%20023SUPP%29%20NSF-NBIC.pdf). Front matter identifies the editors, sponsors, workshop, grant, and disclaimer; the relevant Overview occupies printed pp. 1–26. - The four-line “think/build/implement/monitor and control” formulation is attributed by the Overview to workshop participant **W. A. Wallace**, not to the editors as his original speech. - Table 3 ends with the row **“n — Evolution transcending human cell, body, and brain?”** The left-hand value is symbolic *n* generations, not a calendar date or a committed milestone; the question mark is part of the row. ## Relationships - **Institutional relationship:** [[wiki/National Science Foundation|National Science Foundation]] co-sponsored the workshop and report with the U.S. Department of Commerce; neither sponsorship nor archiving erases the front-matter disclaimer. - **Technical trajectory:** [[wiki/Neural Interfaces and Continuity Architecture|Neural Interfaces and Continuity Architecture]] develops the brain–machine interface route; [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] and [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] distinguish present capabilities from the 2002 scenarios. - **Continuity question:** [[wiki/Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] and [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] examine what transferring an aspect of consciousness could and could not establish about a particular person's persistence. - **Collective-cognition analogy:** [[wiki/Collective Intelligence|Collective Intelligence]] relates to the Overview's distributed-brain metaphor without asserting a single conscious subject. - **Machine-control contrast:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] distinguishes the Overview's assurance of human control from a demonstrated guarantee. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "Fast, broadband interfaces directly between the human brain and machines will transform work in factories, control automobiles, ensure military superiority, and enable new sports, art forms and modes of interaction between people." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, “Overview,” Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Brain Machine Interfaces Could Transform Work and War by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Brain Machine Interfaces Could Transform Work and War by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] > "It is hard to find the right metaphor to see a century into the future, but it may be that humanity would become like a single, distributed and interconnected ‘brain’ based in new core pathways of society." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, “Overview,” Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Planetary Mind/Humanity Could Become a Distributed Brain by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Humanity Could Become a Distributed Brain by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] > If the Cognitive Scientists can think it > the Nano people can build it > the Bio people can implement it, and > the IT people can monitor and control it > **— W. A. Wallace**, *quoted in the 2002 Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Cybernetics/Who Will Think Build Implement and Control Convergent Technology by W. A. Wallace|Who Will Think Build Implement and Control Convergent Technology by W. A. Wallace]] > "It would be revolutionary to see if aspects of human consciousness could be transferred to machines (Kurzweil 1999) in order to better interact with and serve humans." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, “Overview,” Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Mind Upload/Consciousness Transfer to Machines Was Proposed as a Research Question by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Consciousness Transfer to Machines Was Proposed as a Research Question by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] > "In the same way in which machines were built to surpass human physical powers in the industrial revolution, computers can surpass human memory and computational speed for intended actions. The ultimate control will remain with humans and human society." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, “Overview,” Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/AI Control/Computers Can Surpass Human Powers but Humans Will Retain Control by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Computers Can Surpass Human Powers but Humans Will Retain Control by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The Overview opens its convergence program by spanning matter from nanoscale structure to the brain. > "We stand at the threshold of a new renaissance in science and technology, based on a comprehensive understanding of the structure and behavior of matter from the nanoscale up to the most complex system yet discovered, the human brain." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/A New Scientific Renaissance Begins at the Human Brain by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|A New Scientific Renaissance Begins at the Human Brain by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] This is one of the report’s envisioned benefits, not a statement that aging was solved in 2002. > "The human body will be more durable, healthier, more energetic, easier to repair, and more resistant to many kinds of stress, biological threats, and aging processes." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Preservation/The Human Body Could Become Easier to Repair by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|The Human Body Could Become Easier to Repair by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The authors project both genetic control and future ethical consensus; neither is presented here as an achieved consensus. > "The ability to control the genetics of humans, animals, and agricultural plants will greatly benefit human welfare; widespread consensus about ethical, legal, and moral issues will be built in the process." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Selection/Genetic Control Was Cast as a Path to Human Welfare by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Genetic Control Was Cast as a Path to Human Welfare by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] This is the report’s optimistic century-scale possibility, not an outcome it could guarantee. > "The twenty-first century could end in world peace, universal prosperity, and evolution to a higher level of compassion and accomplishment." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Civilization/A Century of Technology Could End in Peace and Compassion by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|A Century of Technology Could End in Peace and Compassion by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The 2002 “next two decades” forecast documents ambition; it should be evaluated against actual later mapping work. > "Reverse engineering of the human brain may be accomplished in the next two decades that would allow for better understanding of its functions." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Connectomics/Reverse Engineering the Brain Was a Twenty Year Goal by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Reverse Engineering the Brain Was a Twenty Year Goal by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The Overview states a possible longevity outcome from converging technologies. > "An active and dignified life could be possible far into a person's second century, due to the convergence of technologies." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Preservation/An Active Life Might Reach a Second Century by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|An Active Life Might Reach a Second Century by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The report lists brain-to-brain, brain-machine-brain, and group communication among proposed 10–20-year paradigms. > "New communication paradigms (brain-to-brain, brain-machine-brain, group) could be realized in 10 to 20 years." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Brain to Brain Communication Was a Twenty Year Vision by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Brain to Brain Communication Was a Twenty Year Vision by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The phrasing proposes transmission of thoughts and biosensor output rather than a demonstrated thought-reading device. > "Neuromorphic engineering may allow the transmission of thoughts and biosensor output from the human body to devices for signal processing." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Neural Interfaces/Neuromorphic Systems Might Transmit Thoughts by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Neuromorphic Systems Might Transmit Thoughts by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The DNA metaphor expresses a hoped-for coupling of cultural and physiological change. > "Human culture and human physiology may undergo rapid evolution, intertwining like the twin strands of DNA, hopefully guided by analytic science as well as traditional wisdom." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Evolution/Culture and Physiology Could Evolve Together by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Culture and Physiology Could Evolve Together by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The Overview compares a possible future watershed with earlier civilizational transitions. > "Scientific convergence may be a watershed in history to rank with the invention of agriculture and the Industrial Revolution." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Civilization/Scientific Convergence Could Rival Agriculture by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Scientific Convergence Could Rival Agriculture by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The authors distinguish near-term change from a much larger hypothesized late-century transformation. > "The profound changes of the next two decades may be nothing compared to the utter transformation that may take place in the remainder of the 21st century." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Civilization/The Rest of the Century Could Dwarf Its First Decades by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|The Rest of the Century Could Dwarf Its First Decades by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] This is a complexity comparison, not a claim that billions of people share one phenomenal mind. > "A networked society of billions of human beings could be as complex compared to an individual human being as a human being is to a single nerve cell." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Planetary Mind/A Networked Humanity Could Exceed Any Individual by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|A Networked Humanity Could Exceed Any Individual by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The Overview places implants, robots, and the meaning of death together as subjects for future ethics. > "Perhaps wholly new ethical principles will govern in areas of radical technological advance, such as the acceptance of brain implants, the role of robots in human society, and the ambiguity of death in an era of increasing experimentation with cloning." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Personhood/Brain Implants Could Force New Ethical Principles by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Brain Implants Could Force New Ethical Principles by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The authors pose predictive social science and corrective intervention as possibilities, not documented deployments. > "It may be possible to develop a predictive science of society and to apply advanced corrective actions, based on the convergence ideas of NBIC." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Capture/Convergent Technology Could Make Society Predictable by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Convergent Technology Could Make Society Predictable by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The Overview imagines space pioneers descended from Pathfinder and the Voyagers; “descendents” is the printed spelling. > "Several participants in the workshop noted the potential for intelligent machines of the future to take on progressively more human characteristics, so we can well imagine that the first pioneers that take 'humanity' far into space will be descendents of Pathfinder and the Voyagers that will be endowed with intelligence and communication capabilities reflecting human behavior." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Space Survival/Intelligent Machines Could Carry Humanity into Space by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Intelligent Machines Could Carry Humanity into Space by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]] The 2002 Overview asserts a technical opening for improving performance; it does not claim every imagined enhancement had been achieved. > "At this unique moment in the history of technical achievement, improvement of human performance becomes possible." > **— M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge**, *2002, Overview of Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance* [[reminders/Civilization/Human Enhancement Became a Technical Possibility by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge|Human Enhancement Became a Technical Possibility by M. C. Roco and W. S. Bainbridge]]