May 20, 2019, 3:46 PM ETFireside Chat, Interview, Conference Presentation

Hugh Herr: Co-Director of MIT Center for Extreme Bionics

Hugh Herr defines disability as a failure of technology and environment, stating, "There is no such thing as a broken person, there's only broken technologies."
Herr rejects the term "disability," referring to his condition as having an "unusual body" rather than a broken one.
Historical medical advice dismissed his recovery potential, stating, "This is as good as it gets," and provided non-technical limbs made of foam and wood.
Herr advocates for a future where basic physiological functions are a human right and humanity ends disability within this century through augmentation.
Current technology fails to match advancements in other fields like cars, space shuttles, and the internet, driving the need for advanced prosthetics.

Herr distinguishes "bionic" from "cyborg" based on bi-directional communication; current prosthetics allow him to move but not feel touch.
A true cyborg requires synthetic parts to become part of the self, where the nervous system views mechatronics as its own.
Cyborg technology would allow humans to sculpt their own morphology and dynamics, fundamentally changing human design.
Herr predicts humans will be "unrecognizable" in 100 years, expanding narrow views of beauty, intelligence, and power.
Risks include the potential for external control of the human brain, such as manipulating mood or inducing delusions via direct neural interfaces.

Within 50 years, high-fidelity input/output to the human nervous system is expected to be realized.
Future sophistication in artificial intelligence may lead to machine consciousness within the next half-century.
Herr considers the scenario of AI agents controlling human systems "truly terrifying" and calls for robust policy to govern this pathway.
He anticipates general acceptance of humans informing and controlling AI, but views the reverse direction with significant apprehension.

As a key expert witness in the 2012 Olympics, Herr helped overturn the ban on Oscar Pistorius, proving the athlete did not have a net advantage.
Current data suggested science was not mature enough to prove Pistorius had a net advantage across the totality of the 400-meter race.
Herr predicts gold-medal-winning athletes with bionics will appear very soon, challenging the primacy of innate biological bodies.
He foresees the Olympic spectator count shrinking while Paralympic attendance increases as bionic feats surpass innate limits.
The future will likely see new sports categories emerge, such as "bionic climbing," "bionic running," and "bionic swimming," similar to how the bicycle invented cycling.

Following his accident and amputation, Herr experienced a 24-hour period of intense grief after being told he could never climb or ride a bicycle again.
He overcame this by rejecting his doctor's negative assessment, citing his own persistence and the rapid pace of technological innovation.
His parents instilled a core lesson of resilience: "Never, ever give up," "Never say that you cannot," and "Whatever you do, do well, do beautifully."
Herr asserts that many people fail to achieve their potential because they embrace negativity and limitations that do not actually exist.

Herr defines creativity, invention, and innovation as an "emotional phenomenon" rooted in emotional intelligence rather than just intellectual capability.
Fearlessness is identified as a common trait among great historical innovators, who were willing to try anything regardless of ridicule.
Thomas Edison's experiment of linking his ear to a pendulum to see if he could move it via thought exemplifies the fearless nature of true innovation.
Herr criticizes the education system for creating students who are "locked up" by emotional shackles and fear of experiments contradicting their ideas.
He argues that fearlessness in experimentation is essential to science and that these traits can be taught to children.