A cyborg is a human-machine hybrid; "cyborg" is a contraction of "cybernetic organism." In the strictest sense, anyone with a medical implant (such as an artificial pacemaker or cochlear implant) or prosthesis (even including contact lenses or a walking stick), falls into this category. But the term is usually reserved for speculative creatures that might exist in the future on Earth or already elsewhere. The concept of a human-cybernetic synergy was popularized in David Rorvik's As Man Becomes Machine (1971).¹ For more about the Star Trek variety of cyborg, the Borg (as illustrated), see hive intelligence.

 

Reference

1. Rorvik, David M. As Man Becomes Machine: The Evolution of the Cyborg. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co. Inc (1971).