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Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater (www.newscientist.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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[–] 9 points 2 months ago* (1 child)

I know it sounds pedantic, but stuff like this shouldn't use the term cyborg. They are bio-robots at best (really it's just a hijacked bug). Similar for dead bugs.

Scientifically and legally for usage of the term I think it should be clear that the organism controls and benefits from the technology, not the other way around (or anything that blurs the lines on autonomy).

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago

    As for calling it a cyborg...

    We do need to better define these terms now that they actually affect our lives and not just games and books for nerds.

    Entities with artificial minds in biological bodies are typically categorized as androids, bioroids, synths, or biological robots, depending on the franchise or context. I already see "reverse centaur" for AI driven human labor, bit that is not quite what we are talking about.

    I remember the old game Star Control (1991) using a new word "Psytron" for the mode where AI controlled the strategic layer and a human controlled the ship (opposite of Cyborg mode, which did the opposite) so as a kid I used that for years without knowing they just made it up... I suspect the term "Psytron" is a portmanteau likely derived from "Psychic" or "Pilot" and "Electron," mirroring the "Cyborg" (Cybernetic Organism) naming convention.

    Let's keep working on this, as a society... Lol.

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