Artificial Intelligence: the ability of computers to perform functions that normally require human intelligence—Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999
Cyborg: a fictional being that is part human, part robot—Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999
Michio Kaku, author of “Visions: how science will revolutionize the21st Century”, predicted that sometime beyond 2050, AIs would acquire consciousness and self-awareness. MIT artificial intelligence guru and transhumanist, Ray Kurzweil, agreed in his 1999 book “The Age of Spiritual Machines” that sentient robots were indeed a near-term possibility: “The emergence of machine intelligence that exceeds human intelligence in all of its broad diversity is inevitable.” Kurzweil asserted that the most basic vital characteristics of organisms such as self-replication, morphing, self-regeneration, self-assembly, and the holistic nature of biological design can eventually be achieved by machines.
