Scientists have been working to design robots/machines that are so ‘smart’ they are actually able to build other machines. This idea of the self replicating machines is not new and with the advances in technologies like nanotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence, U.S. researchers have created the first self-replicating robot. Robotics technology has huge implications for the human future. Can you imagine a robot, so small, and so smart that has been built and programmed to go into the human body to repair or replace damaged organs or cells? But what about the difference of putting a machine into your body to repair something, vs. putting a machine into your body to give you super (or non) human abilities. Much for us to be thinking about moving forward.

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.