I have to disagree with him a little bit. I think "merging" is already happening and will continue to accelerate. AI/Human feedback loops are easy to conceptualize. AI does its own thinking, when it is unsure it consults an array of humans for their opinion. Repeat ad infinitum. Maybe a second array of humans proofread AI decisions, watching for conclusions they disagree with. It might not be a matrix plug in the back of your head, but data centers and human-arrays stuck in a feedback-loop, (communicating bidirectionally with screens, cameras, and eye movements) probably offer a scenario that out performs either the machines or humans in isolation. Each augments the others limitations.
Are machines faster by themselves, or with a human co-processor to consult at their discretion? Can a machine go "hey im not great at this task yet, but humans seem to accelerate at it"?