A Letter from the Editor
From Artificial
Editor: Daniel Zeng,
University of Arizona and
Chinese Academy of Sciences,
zengdaniel@gmail.com
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Intelligence to
Cyborg Intelligence
Daniel Zeng, University of Arizona and Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhaohui Wu, Zhejiang University
O
ne of the primary and utilitarian goals of artificial intelligence ­research
is to develop machines with human-like intelligence. Great prog-
ress has been made since the start of AI as a field of study. Generations of
AI thinking, AI schools of thoughts, and AI engineering have given us e­ xpert
­systems, artificial neural networks, outstanding chess-playing programs such
as “Deep Blue,” autonomous vehicles such as “Stanley,” and human-level per-
formance question-answering systems such as “Watson.” However, realizing
human-like intelligent behavior, such as unguided learning, high-level reason-
ing and sense-making, and adaptability, still has a long way to go.
Biological and Machine Intelligence
One dominating research paradigm in AI has been based on the assumption
that various aspects of human intelligence can be described and understood well
enough to the extent that it can be simulated by computer programs through
smart representational frameworks and generic reasoning mechanisms. Despite
great progress enabled by this paradigm, its limitations have been well-recognized
by the research community. An alternative—or to a large extent, a complementary
paradigm (which has almost-as-deep roots and history)—is gaining tremendous
momentum lately and has attracted much attention. This perspective is based on
the realization that varying kinds and degrees of intelligence reside in humans, ani-
mals, and other kinds of biological systems. Mimicking and making use of such
biological intelligence at different levels—hardware design and algorithmic prin-
ciples, among others—in a more direct manner, could greatly influence the design
of AI systems, opening fresh pathways and application areas for AI.
Biological systems possess all kinds of sensory abilities—vision, hearing, ol-
factory, haptic, and gustatory senses, to name a few. They also adapt to changes
in external environments, and are capable of a range of cognitive functions.
AI systems could greatly benefit from biological intelligence, solving problems
that are still beyond the capabilities of the state of the art. For instance, image
understanding is a relatively easy job for humans, yet it still challenges even
the most sophisticated AI algorithms. The reCAPCHA approach, as an example
of collective intelligence, has demonstrated the power of integrating biologi-
cal intelligence and machine intelligence, “helping to digitize old printed mate-
rial by asking users to decipher scanned words from books that computerized
IEEE INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
Published by the IEEE Computer Society

optical character recognition failed to
recognize.”1 In such approaches, how-
ever, the linkage between human in-
telligence and machine intelligence is
loose, in the traditional sense of hu-
man-computer interaction. Recent years
have seen quantum leaps in research
dedicated to this linkage and the enor-
mous potential enabled by deeply
connecting and integrating biological
and machine intelligence.
Cyborg Intelligence
Biological beings and computer sys-
tems share some common physical
foundations. Communication in both
biological nervous systems and com-
puter systems, for example, depends
on electrical signals. Yet, the gap be-
tween these two classes of vastly dif-
ferent systems is obvious. Thanks
to new developments in neuroimag-
ing technologies, such as functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
magneto encephalography (MEG),
and positron emission tomography
(PET), however, the gap is no lon-
ger insurmountable. These technolo-
gies allow us to observe, in increasing
levels of resolution and fidelity, the
brain’s inner workings, and reveal the
brain’s structure and function. Fur-
thermore, progress in brain-machine
interfaces (BMIs) in the last decade
has made possible direct communica-
tion pathways between the brain and
man-made systems at the signal level.
These new developments represent
significant advances in cyborg intel-
ligence.2 Cyborg intelligence aims to
integrate AI with biological intelli-
gence closely and deeply by connect-
ing computer systems and biological
systems via BMIs, enhancing strengths
and compensating for weaknesses of
both systems by combining the bio-
logical systems’ ­ perceptive and cog-
nitive a­ bilities with the computer sys-
tems’ computational power. The term
cyborg was coined by Manfred C ­ lynes
september/october 2014 www.computer.org/intelligent 3
and Nathan Kline in 1960,3 to de-
scribe a being with both organic and
synthetic parts. More broadly, cyborgs
refer to symbiotic biological-machine
systems, consisting of both organic and
computing components. Cyborg intel-
ligence is a new research paradigm,
aiming to combine the best of both
machine and biological intelligence.
At the core of cyborg intelligence is
the closely-coupled connection of the
organic and computing parts. BMIs of-
fer a communication pathway in bridg-
ing this gap between the two. Such
technology is helping us decode think-
ing-related signals from the scalp, the
dural cortex, and even subcortical ar-
eas. It also helps connect the brain
directly to the outside world. Neural
­ Evan Butterfield
signals can control machine actuators,
and machine-coded sensory informa-
tion can be delivered into specific ar-
eas of the brain. Through bidirectional
BMIs, we can connect biological com-
ponents to machine components at
multiple levels, building a hybrid intel-
ligent system of great promises.
Recent cyborg intelligence research
areas have included the following topics:
• Animals as sensors—utilization of
animals as sensors; for example,
dog’s olfactory sense.
• Animals as actuators—using ani-
mals as actuators to complete cer-
tain actions.
• Mind-controlled machines—decod-
ing the human mind to control ex-
ternal devices.
• Neurochips—chips designed to
connect to neuronal cells; for ex-
ample, memory chips to replace
memory cortex for memory resto-
ration and enhancement.
• Intelligent prosthesis—devices re-
placing a missing or damaged body
part using the human nerve system
and brain interfacing to increase
precision and achieve comfort of
movements.
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 • Neuromorphics—analog, digi-
tal, and mixed-mode analog/digital
VLSIs and software systems that im-
plement models of neural systems
(such as perception, motor control,
and multisensory integration).
• Symbiotic cognition—integration of
biological cognitive functions with
computational models of cognition.
Of course, this is just a sample of top-
ics in this field. As we can see, cyborg
intelligence holds great promise in
many practical applications.
At the intellectual level, cyborg in-
telligence poses countless interesting
and important questions to AI research
and could fundamentally change the
landscape of AI in several dimensions.
This is one emerging area of study that
warrants close attention and active
participation from AI researchers.
References
1. L. von Ahn et al., “ReCAPTCHA: Hu-
man-Based Character Recognition via
Web Security Measures,” Science, vol.
321, no. 5895, 2008, pp. 1465–1468.
2. W. Zhaohui, G. Pan, and N. Zheng,
“Cyborg Intelligence,” IEEE Intelli-
gent Systems, vol. 28, no. 5, 2013,
pp. 31–33.
3. M.E. Clynes and N.S. Kline, “Cyborgs
and Space,” Astronautics, Sept. 1960,
pp. 26–27, 74–76.
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