Review: ‘Peter: The Human Cyborg’

Today I take a look at Channel 4’s heartbreaking documentary on Peter Scott-Morgan — half human, half robot, full hero.

I rarely come away from a film or TV show without a single complaint, but that’s exactly what happened after watching Peter: The Human Cyborg this weekend. If I had to name two minor quibbles about this new Channel 4 documentary, they’d be:

(1) I didn’t have a box of tissues large enough to soak up all the tears

(2) A 45-minute runtime wasn’t nearly long enough

Then again, neither was the short few years Dr. Peter Scott-Morgan had to prepare for rapidly advancing Motor Neurone Disease (MND) to lock his sharp mind into a dysfunctional body. But against all odds, the roboticist pulled it off at the eleventh hour, adapting himself and merging with cutting-edge technology, including Artificial Intelligence, before losing the power to breathe, eat, speak and express himself.

“I will continue to evolve,” he says with enthusiasm,” dying as a human, living as a cyborg.”

MND, known less commonly as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), is the progressive killer that eventually took Stephen Hawking in 2018, but an undaunted Peter was determined to take on his disease in a different way to the renowned physicist. After all, he recently celebrated a happy 40 years with his devoted husband Francis. And with many more years to come, what better to fight for than true love?

That love, and how it can survive in the cruel face of adversity, is one of several strong narrative threads woven throughout the fabric of this powerful documentary. In fact, it reminds me of Richard Glatzer’s stunning drama film Still Alice: Julianne Moore stars (in one of her most devastating performances) as a linguistics expert refusing to allow early-onset Alzheimer’s to erase her knowledge of love.

Another key theme pushed throughout this emotive and fleeting documentary is the idea of what it means to be human in an age where the ultimate fusion between man and machine inches closer by the day.

But make no mistake, this isn’t just big boys playing with expensive toys, indulging some lifelong dream of turning “science fiction into reality” — an accusation often levied against Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and other billionaires. This is tech at its finest, being used by some of the best brains in the world to help lively, intelligent people like Peter retain as much of their individual identity as possible.

Confined to a wheelchair, Peter seeks help from a mobility company, promising him a “self-drive vehicle that will hold him upright.” This brings him great joy, and moves him to tears, as it’s been quite some time since he was able to stand tall and “tower over purely flesh and blood humans.”

Following a spot of trial and error, speech experts develop a computerised voice based on Peter’s own, which sounds more realistic than it does electronic. I usually argue for AI to be recognisable as AI for the sake of trust, but when it comes to improving the lives of those with communication difficulties, I make a huge exception.

Sadly, this AI-powered system doesn’t permit the scientist the same control over his voice as Stephen Hawking commanded over his own. However, with a Brain-Computer Interface (like those in development at Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink) proving too slow to hold a meaningful conversation, relinquishing some control is as good as it gets for Peter.

A broad smile reveals the 62-year-old’s satisfaction when the system is up and running weeks after his tracheostomy — even as Francis quips that he was “getting used to the quiet after 40 years of Peter talking…a lot.”

But as someone more concerned with the possible than the impossible, Peter was never going to be anything but satisfied.

His one and only meeting with Hawking gave him a sound piece of advice on living with MND: always focus on what you can do and not what you can’t. And by golly, has this guy turned those sage words of wisdom to good use or what?

It’s a lesson we could all do with remembering as we repeatedly chastise ourselves over perceived failures. Watching Peter exploit every resource at his disposal, using some “really, really cool technology” to improve his quality of life and keep hold of his wonderful selfhood, is infinitely more inspiring than I’d expected.

Though, not quite as inspiring as Peter’s parting words to the audience:

“Now is when the fun begins.”

Can you believe that? A human whose bodily functions have been stolen by nature is excited about what the future holds. It’s incredible, but I guess it makes sense. If the natural world treats you so poorly, why wouldn’t you turn to technology for answers? I certainly would.

This, right here, is one of the main reasons I love tech so much, and it’s awesome seeing it harnessed in the right way — to enhance humanity, to bring out the human in humans. Much of the time, life feels very man-versus-machine, and we need a reminder of the power of both to work together for good.

I thank Peter for that reminder, and Channel 4 for its stirring delivery. But a subject like this deserves no less than an hour of screen time. And I wouldn’t argue with free tissues for every viewer next time!