It still strikes me as hubris to think we can out-engineer a few billion years of evolution - which is the ultimate A-B testing regime.
The economy of using robots will prevail in limited situations, but that’s a far leap from surpassing biologic systems in general. Having worked around folks who are working on biologic computing (MSR Cambrige, Computational Sciences Group), I am going to place my bet on bio-engineered systems that look nothing like the robots we’re kicking around here.
And who knows, maybe the bio work going on now will allow us closer integration with electro-mechanical systems. Instead of outright replacing ‘us’ with ‘them’, we will begin (continue?) to merge. I say this as a fellow with electronic (bluetooth-enabled!) hearing aids, lasik-treated eyes, and prosthetic-assisted legs.
How’s that for off-topic?