Cybernetics is the space where human faculties can be augmented with electronic devices that enable them to perform better. Elon Musk‘s Neuralink brain implant chip to cure neurological disorders is a good example.
AI is about robots that can process big data, quickly detect patterns to solve problems and derive new algorithms on their own. In a not-so-distant future, our streets will be policed, cars will be driven, patients will be treated and our borders will be guarded by artificially intelligent robots without human intervention.
Genetic engineering, on the other hand, is centuries old. We have been breeding cattle for more milk, dogs as better guards, faster horses and plants to yield better crops. But it took time, and success was by trial and error. Now, we have learnt the science of gene editing. This process can help us breed, in a single generation, more intelligent scientists, braver soldiers and more caring nurses. We shall soon have better babies, made to order.
But there is one thing that no one will ever be able to change – our soul that bears the spark of divinity. This is the one indestructible thing we possess that will, hopefully, help the inherent goodness in mankind overcome the mad rush based on greed and fear.
