The beginnings of direct memory outsourcing and augmentation? Not soon enough-

Just think - in a decade or 2 most of the sort of work bring done by the guys in the picture above, will be done by robots. Safer, much cheaper. Obamacare will allow this to happen.

What will doctors do then? Robot repair won't pay nearly as much-

@Otto: I'm not sure what that has to do with the article, but nevertheless, I'm afraid you're being overly optimistic. Brain surgery - or any surgery, for that matter - is an activity that require complex on-line thinking and great flexibility. Since that makes it impossible for surgery to be a priori automatised, what you're saying is that within a decade or two we will have created a true artificial intelligence. While that would be awesome, I have my doubts that will actually be the case.

@Otto: I'm not sure what that has to do with the article, but nevertheless, I'm afraid you're being overly optimistic. Brain surgery - or any surgery, for that matter - is an activity that require complex on-line thinking and great flexibility.

This is what they were saying about self-driving vehicles only a few years ago. Robots have unwavering concentration and instant access to unlimited info, including human consultants.

Their senses and motor skills are far superior to those of any human, and they are not susceptible to fatigue, illness, aging, emotion, or greed.

Brain surgery may be more an art for humans because of their inherent limitations. Machines will be able work much faster in much more detail. They will respond to multiple sensory input instantly, unlike humans who are limited to one point of view. Robots cannot help but replace us.

Since that makes it impossible for surgery to be a priori automatized

What you are saying is that ad libbing and winging it cant be automated. Machines wont need to do these things. The human body is a machine and it can be repaired as such.

what you're saying is that within a decade or two we will have created a true artificial intelligence. While that would be awesome, I have my doubts that will actually be the case.

Kurzweil and many others see the singularity by 2020. But it really doesn't take much intelligence to follow directions.

"In September 2010, the first robotic operation at the femoral vasculature was performed at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana by a team led by Borut Geršak. The robot used was the first true robot, meaning it was not simply mirroring the movement of human hands, but was guided by pressing on buttons."

Look what clumsy humans can do that computer control will be able to do in real time:
http://www.youtub...N0ej9P8E