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Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science (NBIC) are a set of technologies sometimes referred to as “converging technologies for improving human performance.”
They are considered to be interrelated fields of study that often overlap and impact each other.
Techopedia Explains Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science
Various research groups look at the implications of developing these technologies in tandem. For example, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Commerce have looked at combining these four fields in order to improve the application of technology to human cognition, human health, and even community and social applications.
Each type of technology involved in NBIC plays a role in the bigger picture:
- Nanotechnology is important because organic structures develop from the nanoscale.
- Biotechnology involves the application of advanced technology to biological organisms.
- Information technology represents a specific sector of these types of applications.
- Cognitive science applies in various ways to IT-related research and the pursuit of items such as technologies that map the brain.
Proponents of this kind of development argue that using converging technologies, or NBIC principles, can enable the human populations of the future to be stronger, healthier and more capable overall. These ideas often relate to the idea of “singularity” which posits the emergence of artificial intelligence, and a point where technologies approach the human mind in terms of simulation, collaboration or other outcomes.
