It is not so difficult. At the beginning of the movie, monkeys interact with the monolith and become "humans". So they become something that they could not comprehend. At the end of the movie, it is the same for Dave. He becomes something the we (as humans) cannot comprehend.

The "human zoo" may make sense for the aliens that built the monolith. However, I do not think that Dave, after this process, becomes "Superman". Superman character is concerned about humanity destiny. Dave becomes something that could be not interested at all in us.

They should test if this also happens with persons. Maybe is an evolutionary behavior. For instance, a nomad group, leaded by a pathfinder can benefit from this behavior. The pathfinder only focuses on "directions" while the followers can focus on the surroundings, dangers, etc.

What if the steps are performed by different processes that communicate between them?