Homo Translator: Concretizing the Human-in-the-Loop in Bio-Inspired Technologies

Abstract In this paper, I argue that the images of the human as homo faber and homo depictor are insufficient for comprehending the human role in technoscientific production if we examine how knowledge is produced in emerging bio-inspired disciplines. By looking at biorobotics, as one paradigmatic bio-inspired discipline, I propose the notion of homo translator for understanding human activity in bridging technology and biology together. To develop my argument, first I will examine the collapse of the distance between subject, object, and representation in technosciences; second, I will analyze how this dynamic has led to the emergence of the notions of homo faber and homo depictor ; third, by looking at the production of bio-inspired drones, I will briefly examine the specific epistemic practices of bio-inspired disciplines to show how they necessitate a function of translation between nature and technology. Finally, I will propose the notion of homo translator , and I will show how this definition better reflects the human role in the production of technoscientific and bio-inspired knowledge. As a result, this paper contributes to philosophical anthropology and the philosophy of new emerging technologies by offering a dynamic and process-oriented view of human activity in these disciplines.