Mind uploading and digital Immortality explore the potential of AI technology to enable human live forever by transforming consciousness to machine.
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00:00We are living in the creepiest times the humanity has ever seen, period.
00:05Technology has thrown us into the most uncharted territories,
00:08and our decision-making is now molded by the powerful AI.
00:12The only known species that were able to reverse its own life cycle and keep on infinitely
00:16is the Turritopsis dohrnii, sometimes known as the immortal jellyfish.
00:21But invertebrates are not the ones causing us to consider our own death.
00:25It is no sort of spiritual epiphany.
00:28The real opportunities of artificial intelligence and the great question,
00:31can technology offer the solution for immortality, therefore allowing us life after death?
00:37This is generating some existential crises right now.
00:40Scarily, the big question has a yes or sort of answer.
00:49Though the technology to come rather quite close to it currently exists,
00:52digital eternal life is obviously not the same as physical immortality.
00:57Even more frightening is the fact that the first person to encounter digital immortality
01:01most likely already was born.
01:03Alright, Noel Gallagher most likely had artificial intelligence
01:06not in mind when he penned live forever.
01:11But our current digital footprint might be the secret to keeping present in the
01:14life of our loved ones even after we pass death.
01:18Combining our social media posts, Instagram photos, videos, voice recordings, and so on
01:23will produce an artificial intelligence anthropomorphic cyborg version of ourselves
01:27that replicates our subtleties, twists of phrase, facial expressions, and so on.
01:31Maybe even our actual ideas.
01:33Science fiction and fantasy no longer define this as the stuff to dream of.
01:37Based on several sources, this is a rather realistic possibility that might start very soon.
01:42Those pushing this technological advancement would contend that by creating digital copies
01:47or extensions of ourselves, so preserving our history and identity,
01:51and enabling us to live and interact even long after our physical death.
01:56Audio and visual cloning would thus help us to keep this heritage.
02:00But the moral questions about the consequences of creating and using these digital clones
02:04cannot be disregarded such, when we die, who exactly owns our digital footprint?
02:09How can we control future use of our data?
02:12Will we finally have to mention in our wills details about our digital immortality?
02:16And naturally, is it essential to do something only because we can?
02:21Imagine for a moment, in 2060, a director dreams of creating a Hollywood blockbuster
02:25with Tom Hanks, one of the most venerable actors of all time.
02:29The narrative, however, requires a 30-year-old Hanks,
02:32but the actual actor disappeared many years ago.
02:35The answer is, just make use of the next best thing,
02:3730-year-old digital Tom Hanks driven by artificial intelligence.
02:41And that is already under progress.
02:42I'm not referring to hologram performances like to ABBA, Michael Jackson, or Tupac.
02:47We have already seen several deepfake videos,
02:50including Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman,
02:52as well as a remarkably convincing Bruce Willis,
02:55appear in a Russian advertising for mobile phone carrier Megafon.
02:59Late Robin Williams seemed to foresee the approaching problems of artificial intelligence,
03:04acting legally to fiercely guard his image from being used in media companies.
03:09Many more stars might be doing the same.
03:11Should any one of us not in the limelight worry?
03:14What moral ramifications then follow from digital immortality?
03:18Concerned about the future of artificial intelligence are Elon Musk,
03:22Steve Wozniak, and others quite rightfully.
03:25Ethical questions persist,
03:27even as we travel farther into the unknown seas of artificial intelligence.
03:32Though it's great to imagine that, like our old friend, the immortal jellyfish,
03:35we might one day live indefinitely,
03:37we have to keep in mind that we are redefining what it means to be human
03:41in addition to using fascinating technology.
03:44We have to think about the need of justice and privacy
03:47when creating digital copies of ourselves.
03:49Who has access to these technologies counts,
03:52but so does how and by whom they are applied.
03:55After all, only we know how to really portray who we are.
03:58It's one thing to sound and look like us.
04:00What is to stop others from changing or altering our digital personas
04:03after we are gone without unambiguous laws?
04:06When considering our present level of artificial intelligence,
04:09the well-known comment from Ferris Bueller usually occurs to me,
04:13life flows really fast.
04:15Look around once in a while, else you might miss it.
04:18Though life does fly by,
04:19artificial intelligence seems to be moving even faster.
04:23Indeed, digital immortality is a fascinating idea,
04:26but we might find ourselves with far less control
04:28over what happens to our digital selves following death
04:31unless artificial intelligence slows pace soon.
04:34And that bothers me greatly as well.
04:40All right.
04:41So although our mind is caught in mortal machines formed of flesh,
04:46we live in an eternal universe controlled just by physical rules.
04:50Specifically, what will we be uploading?
04:52First, of course, defining the mind is challenging.
04:54Most people agree that your consciousness and intelligence
04:57taken together enable you to dream, see, and imagine.
05:01Mind uploading is a theoretical idea,
05:04whereby our inner experience is replicated and sent to a machine
05:07to generate simulation of consciousness.
05:10Three presumptions guide this idea.
05:12First, your cognition is in line with the biology
05:14and architecture of your brain.
05:16Physicalism holds that the brain can reveal
05:18all there is to know about the mind,
05:20so restricting our discussions to natural laws.
05:23Second, one day we will have a complete knowledge of the brain
05:27and the means to copy all its components,
05:29so building a digital clone of the mind.
05:32Third, computer programs imply that the mind is something
05:35that can be computed as they can regulate your mental state.
05:39Though it requires a lot of code,
05:41there is no physical attribute in the brain,
05:43including consciousness, that cannot be sufficiently replicated.
05:47Though still hotly debated,
05:48scientists and intellectuals put forward these presumptions.
05:52Given the several unresolved basic issues,
05:54it is challenging to address the topic
05:56without triggering emotional reactions.
05:58Whatever your view,
06:00any debate on mind uploading starts with the brain.
06:03Given its most complex known biological construction,
06:06the brain merits its own video.
06:08The brain consists in roughly 100 billion neurons
06:11that interact via a million billion connections,
06:14sending hundreds of impulses each second
06:16to produce quadrillion events every moment of your life.
06:19And it's not only neurons.
06:21Each of the billions of supporting and immune cells
06:23of various kinds has a particular role.
06:26Larger scale, the brain is split into sections
06:28with particular purposes,
06:29ranging from controlling respiration and heartbeat
06:32to coordinating movement and involuntary responses.
06:35Our memories and skills to plan,
06:37think, imagine, hope, and dream
06:39are found in more evolved areas
06:41like the neocortex or outermost layer of the brain.
06:44It is currently uncertain
06:45where exactly the U-component of the brain is found.
06:48Although locations like the precuneus cortex
06:51have a significant influence on human awareness,
06:53several areas work together to finish tasks
06:56none could have done by themselves.
06:58The building components of the brain are very sophisticated.
07:01Neurons are more than just information processing,
07:03transmission wires.
07:05Having receptors for hundreds of chemical signals,
07:07the synapses, which transmit impulses
07:09from one neuron to another,
07:11are sensitive to outside stimuli.
07:13Although our basic understanding of their mechanisms
07:16is clear cut,
07:16and we can somewhat predict their activity
07:18on a limited scale,
07:19the brain is more than just nerve signals.
07:22Additionally crucial are hormones like histamine,
07:24which promotes learning,
07:26and serotonin, which affects our mood.
07:28Furthermore, influencing the brain
07:30are other components of our bodies,
07:32including gut flora and the neurons in the heart.
07:36As we learn more,
07:37what looks to be a quite complicated system
07:39gets more challenging.
07:40We would need a model,
07:41or a scan we could replicate in our virtual world,
07:44to upload this jumble of cells,
07:46meat, and molecules onto a computer.
07:48Sadly, fMRI scanners and other scanning devices
07:52lack advanced capability to attempt this.
07:54Still another strategy seems bright.
07:56We can create a precise map
07:58of all the cells and connections
07:59by breaking a brain into small pieces
08:02and scanning them
08:03under high quality electron microscopes.
08:062019 saw researchers effectively map
08:09a cubic millimeter of a mouse brain
08:11the size of a large grain of sand.
08:13It featured four kilometers of neural fibers,
08:16one billion synapses,
08:17and 100,000 neurons.
08:19There are 25,000 components to the brain fragment.
08:22Operating continuously for five months,
08:24five electron microscopes
08:26captured over 100 million images.
08:28Over three months,
08:29the images were turned into a 3D model.
08:31The final data set needed
08:33two million gigabytes of cloud storage.
08:35Easily mentioned,
08:36millions of repetitions of the process
08:38would be required to scan a whole human brain.
08:41Worse even,
08:42we could have to map even smaller building elements
08:45like billions of underlying proteins
08:47or perhaps individual molecules
08:49responsible for all the observed biological activities
08:52in order to faithfully replicate the brain.
08:55So essentially,
08:56more data could result from this
08:57than from all the combined storage capacity on Earth.
09:00Transposing the brain's static design
09:02into something active
09:03presents the primary difficulty.
09:05We would still need rules and principles
09:07to bring this stationary structure to life,
09:09energizing the circuitry
09:11with different chemical bonding laws of electrodynamics
09:13to generate a dynamic active organism
09:16that thinks, sees, and acts
09:17from one microsecond to the next,
09:19even if we could scan down to the synapse level.
09:22Actually, we have no idea whether it's feasible.
09:24We doubt whether our technology could create real brains.
09:28The character of the situation determines everything.
09:31Do we have a lot of work to do,
09:32yet it is controllable?
09:34Is the brain and mind
09:35simply too complicated to understand?
09:38Human awareness at least
09:39could be more than the total
09:40of already unidentified brain areas.
09:43This would complicate matters
09:44more than we could manage with decent scans.
09:47A decent conscience cake cannot be created
09:49with a list of ingredients alone.
09:51Right now, we have clear scientific findings
09:53and a strong basis for our final goal,
09:56but the road to actual simulation is uncertain
09:59and calls for much imagination and research.
10:01People have not been very good historically
10:03at projecting the pace of development.
10:05At best, it will be enough to finish the work
10:08and point out the right responses.
10:10Not every cell down to the last atom
10:12is something we might need to replicate.
10:13Rather, the components might be reduced
10:16into probability models
10:17able to replicate brain activity
10:18in a more under control manner.
10:20To upload the human mind,
10:21we really do not know
10:22how well we should understand
10:24our brain and consciousness.
10:25Still, science is real and worth looking into.
10:29At least, at least,
10:30we will learn a lot about ourselves
10:31and produce several fresh innovations.
10:34Mind uploading could be feasible
10:35given the fast advancing
10:36computer technology of today.
10:38Huge, horrible, and amazing
10:40are the consequences for mankind
10:42and our fate in this planet.
10:43Functional immortality would follow
10:45from a successful mind upload.
10:47Your presence could remain
10:48as long as a duplicate is preserved
10:50somewhere safe and not erased or destroyed.
10:53In fact, your mind could also be contaminated
10:56in many different ways
10:57if your scan comes out tainted.
10:59You can wind up in relentless pain,
11:01paranoia, or recurrent psychotic episodes.
11:04Whether this synthetic mind is really you
11:06begs fresh questions about morality.
11:08Right now, we'll assume
11:09the digital mind thinks it's you.
11:11What changes in your perspective of life
11:13depending on mind uploading?
11:14Knowing that death isn't the end
11:16would make one feel more safe.
11:18Alternatively, would you be more wary,
11:20trying to prevent passing death
11:21before your mind uploaded?
11:23Alternatively, would you grow more careless
11:25knowing that your thoughts
11:26might be uploaded before you die?
11:28Mind uploading begs basic problems
11:31about our awareness,
11:32feeling of identity,
11:33and what it is to be human.
11:35Would your uploaded self
11:36be a copy of your memories
11:37and characteristics or indeed you?
11:40Alternatively, would you start
11:41to act more carelessly
11:42knowing that your mind
11:43could be uploaded before death?
11:46Mind uploading begs basic problems
11:47about our awareness,
11:48feeling of identity,
11:49and what it is to be human.
11:51Would your uploaded self be really you
11:53or merely a copy of your personality
11:56and memories?
11:57Furthermore, mind uploading
11:58has ethical consequences of great extent.
12:01Who could use this technology?
12:03Will it be only for a small number of people
12:05or open to everyone?
12:07How will society handle the prospect
12:09of always digital life?
12:10Regarding the hazards, what?
12:12A system breakdown might lead
12:13to unimaginable suffering,
12:15locking the psyche into a state
12:16of perpetual agony or lunacy.
12:18Mind uploading begs issues
12:20about the nature of life and the soul.
12:22Should human awareness be digitized?
12:24Does this mean the soul
12:25is only a complex series of algorithms
12:28or is there something more
12:30the code cannot adequately depict?
12:32This idea would subvert intellectual
12:34and theological traditions.
12:36While some would see it
12:37as a dangerous overreach,
12:38an attempt to play God,
12:39others could consider it
12:40as a method of immortality.
12:42The social effects are
12:43likewise really profound.
12:45A society in which mind uploading
12:47is feasible would produce
12:48a new kind of inequality
12:50between those who can pay
12:51to live forever and those who cannot.
12:53It might also lead to a loss
12:55of what it means to be human
12:56when people start to resemble machines,
12:58hence possibly losing empathy,
13:00compassion and other qualities
13:01unique to us.
13:02If people could live endlessly,
13:04would relationships lose significance?
13:06Would the fear of death,
13:08which drives much human ambition
13:09and creativity be lessened
13:11or eliminated?
13:12These are not only speculative queries
13:14regarding the far future.
13:15As artificial intelligence,
13:17neurology and computers advance,
13:19mind uploading is growing practical.
13:21It invites us to really consider
13:23our values in life,
13:24what it is to be human
13:25and how we wish to shape our future.
13:32Ralph Waldo Emerson
13:33had a flash insight on July 13th, 1833
13:37while touring the Jardin des Plantes
13:39in Paris's Cabinet of Natural History.
13:42Examining the museum's collection,
13:43butterflies, hunks of amber and marble,
13:45carved seashells,
13:47he was impressed by the interdependence
13:49of nature and human place in it.
13:51Along with the transcendentalists,
13:53the experience motivated him
13:55to write the uses of natural history
13:57and to express a philosophy
13:58that placed naturalism
13:59at the core of intellectual life
14:01in a technologically chaotic age,
14:04therefore guiding him
14:05to a new spiritual belief system.
14:07Emerson believed that everyone
14:09may become a definier and map maker
14:11of the latitudes and longitudes
14:13of our condition,
14:14discovering agency, uniqueness
14:16and wonder in a mechanized society
14:18by scientific study of the natural world.
14:21During those years,
14:22America was bursting with ideas
14:24and everything seemed
14:25to be happening quicker.
14:27Factories and sugar mills
14:28grew like dandelions,
14:30steamships hurried
14:31to and from American ports,
14:32trains tore across the continent,
14:34the telegraph connected people together
14:35like never before.
14:37The first image was created,
14:39irreversibly altering
14:40mankind's view of itself.
14:42The country was feeling excitement,
14:44anxiety and terror.
14:46Emerson's vision in Paris
14:47was not a rejection of change,
14:49but rather a means
14:50of redefining human potential
14:52as the earth seemed
14:53to spin off its axis.
14:54Examining Emerson's response
14:56to the scientific rebirth
14:57of the 19th century
14:58will help us to better understand
15:00the major technical revolution
15:02of the 20th century,
15:03that of artificial intelligence.
15:05Artificial intelligence
15:06has long troubled
15:07the informational seas we sail in
15:09even before its current developments.
15:12Early disturbances came
15:13from the ranking algorithms
15:14that define the modern web,
15:16that is the opaque code
15:18telling Google which results to show you
15:20and that organizes and personalizes
15:22your feeds on social platforms
15:24like Facebook and Instagram
15:25by slurping data about you
15:27to decide what to spit back out.
15:29Imagine the same
15:30internet infrastructure,
15:32but with programs that interact
15:33with a veneer of authority
15:35on any topic,
15:36the capacity to create
15:37sophisticated original text,
15:39audio and video,
15:40and the capacity to convincingly
15:42impersonate people
15:44such that people would not know
15:45what is real.
15:46Every encounter should help
15:47these self-teaching
15:48artificial intelligence models
15:50to get better.
15:51Sometimes they create,
15:52manipulate and have hallucinations.
15:54One cannot predict
15:55what or why they will do.
15:56Should Google's search engine
15:58be the contemporary
15:59library of Alexandria,
16:00the next artificial intelligence
16:02will be volatile profit.
16:04Almost every field and industry
16:05will benefit from the fast-evolving
16:07generative artificial intelligence,
16:09Alphabet, which owns Google,
16:10Amazon, Meta, which owns Facebook,
16:12and Microsoft are all vying
16:14to include artificial intelligence
16:16into current products,
16:17including maps, email,
16:18social networks and photo software.
16:20The technocultural standards
16:21and behaviors that have engulfed us
16:23across the internet, smartphone
16:24and social web revolutions
16:26call for major change.
16:27Too many people have let
16:29these technologies to pass by them.
16:31Correcting current errors
16:32would be wise,
16:33and we should also foresee
16:35and actively shape
16:36what the far more radical technologies
16:38that are already under development
16:40would mean for our lives
16:41and how they would
16:42transform our society.
16:44Companies who want to make money
16:45from this new technology
16:46are already learning the cliches
16:48required to discount the rival ideas.
16:51Though these are as shallow
16:52as they are abstract,
16:54they will use appealing language
16:55like human enhancement
16:56and human-centered
16:57artificial intelligence.
16:59The internet, the personal computer
17:00and the nuclear bomb,
17:02what's coming will transcend
17:03any technical innovation
17:04in live memory,
17:05perhaps the most significant technology
17:07of human history.
17:08People are usually reluctant
17:10to acknowledge a revolution,
17:11especially if one
17:12is already under progress.
17:14They are also quite poor
17:15in foreseeing the future.
17:16Still, the gap between the arrival
17:18of new technologies
17:19and the development
17:20of standards and norms
17:21is usually somewhat small.
17:23Stated differently,
17:24the Wild West is only temporary.
17:26Eventually, the railroads
17:28standardized time, arc lamps
17:30are replaced with incandescent bulbs
17:32and the open web dream dies.
17:34In the field of artificial intelligence,
17:36the window of influence
17:37is still open.
17:38Many of those who have labored most
17:40to create protections
17:41for this new technology,
17:42however, are dismayed
17:43that the opportunity
17:44is practically closed.
17:46Like search engines, telephones
17:47and trains before it,
17:49generative artificial intelligence
17:50will allow humans
17:51to complete jobs
17:52with such amazing efficiency
17:54that it will seem magical.
17:56Whole types of employment,
17:57indeed, whole industries
17:58could disappear
17:59astonishingly quickly.
18:01The utopians among us
18:02will see this as an opportunity
18:03to assign routine chores to machines
18:05so they may pursue
18:06the higher aim
18:07of human self-actualization.
18:09Deeper searches for knowledge,
18:10faster routes to scientific discovery
18:12and more time for leisure and family,
18:14all of which are increasingly
18:15essential to us,
18:16may all be accessed
18:17with this new magic.
18:18As a more competent
18:20artificial intelligence
18:21looks over our shoulders,
18:23it could also lead
18:24to a loss of professional confidence
18:26and widespread unemployment.
18:31By now, we should be aware
18:33that neither the government's control
18:35of new technologies
18:36nor self-regulation by tech behemoths
18:38can keep up with Silicon Valley's capacity
18:41to pursue profit and scale
18:42at the expense of society
18:44and democratic health
18:45or the rate of scientific advancement.
18:47Starting with an individual,
18:49what characterizes the next phase
18:51of human existence?
18:52We now need a cultural
18:54and intellectual revolution,
18:56just as the Industrial Revolution
18:57inspired transcendentalism
18:59in the United States
19:00and romanticism in Europe,
19:02both of which questioned conformity
19:04and valued truth,
19:05nature and individualism.
19:08This new movement should challenge
19:09the limits of what technology
19:11can accomplish best
19:12and give people above machines
19:14top priority,
19:16redefining human interactions
19:17with environment and technology.
19:19Surely, artificial intelligence
19:21will enable humans
19:22to make amazing,
19:23life-saving discoveries.
19:24The risk is in giving our humanity
19:27to this technology without discipline,
19:29particularly when it surpasses us
19:31in perception.
19:32We need a human renaissance
19:33in this age of intelligent machines.
19:36With the power of today's tech barons
19:38so concentrated,
19:39ordinary people may feel helpless
19:41to affect the robots
19:42that might soon be
19:43cognitively superior
19:44to us all the face
19:45of world-changing discovery.
19:47Still, articulating ideals
19:49has great power,
19:50even if they are finally unattainable.
19:53Given all that is online,
19:54we have to at least try.
19:55Transparency should be
19:56the guiding concept
19:57in the new human interaction of ideas.
20:00People should expose
20:01any time an artificial intelligence
20:02is present or used in communication.
20:05This ground rule could inspire
20:07less anonymous web
20:08as well as discipline
20:09in building more human
20:10and human-only spaces.
20:12Any journalist will tell you
20:14that anonymity should only be used
20:16in rare cases for the public interest
20:18and as a last resort.
20:19Cultural norms requiring people
20:22to express not only their ideas
20:24but also their actual names
20:25would help us.
20:26This is also the time
20:28to redouble your will
20:29to grow closer to others.
20:31Though it is a poor substitute
20:32for in-person contact,
20:34especially in cases
20:35where creative collaboration
20:36or learning is vital,
20:38live video chat can overcome
20:39time and distance.
20:41The epidemic brought
20:42this terrible clarity.
20:44Especially when artificial intelligence
20:46undermines our sense
20:46of what is real,
20:48relationships cannot
20:49and should not be kept
20:50just in the digital sphere.
20:52Tapping the like button
20:53is a data point,
20:54not a friendship button.
20:55And a one-sided conversation
20:57with an artificial intelligence
20:59fosters connectivity.
21:00A child might have
21:01more AI friends than human ones
21:03someday not too far off.
21:05These friends will be meant
21:06to encourage involvement and profit
21:08as much as to keep an eye
21:10on the people who use them.
21:11Such incentives redefine
21:13the nature of cooperation.
21:15Years of warning about doppelgangers
21:17who threaten our humanity
21:18by copying a person's likeness
21:20have come from fiction writers
21:21such Fyodor Dostoevsky,
21:23Rod Serling,
21:24and Jose Saramago.
21:25Our new planet is a doorway
21:27into the uncanny valley.
21:29The first algorithmic revolution
21:30use personal data
21:32to reorganize the planet
21:33for individuals.
21:34The second will utilize
21:36our personal data
21:37not only to split
21:37our shared perception of reality,
21:39but also to generate
21:40synthetic replicas.
21:42The profit-driven
21:43music studio executive
21:44will be thrilled by the prospect
21:46of an artificial intelligence
21:47generated voice
21:48accompanied by AI-generated tunes
21:50unrelated to a human
21:51with intellectual property rights.
21:53Writers, musicians,
21:54and artists should expect
21:56and fight large-scale
21:57imposter campaigns.
21:58Therefore, every one of us
21:59should do as well.
22:00One computer scientist
22:01recently told me
22:02that she plans to create
22:03a secret code word
22:04only known to her
22:05and her elderly parents
22:06so that should they ever
22:08hear her voice
22:08on the other end of the phone
22:10begging for money or assistance,
22:12they will know whether
22:13it is produced by an AI
22:14trained on her publicly
22:16available lectures.
22:17So, sounding exactly like her
22:19and scamming them.
22:21Elementary school pupils of today
22:22are already learning
22:24not to think everything
22:25they come across
22:26on a screen is accurate,
22:27but they merit a modern,
22:29technological,
22:30and informational environment
22:32grounded in enlightenment values
22:34including reason,
22:35individual autonomy,
22:36and the peaceful exchange of ideas.
22:38Not everything should be
22:39documented or shared.
22:40One has personal freedom
22:42in embracing ephemerality.
22:43More personal contacts
22:45should take place
22:45just between the relevant people.
22:47Our humanity depends
22:48on our privacy.
22:50At last,
22:50a more existential component
22:52calls for our attention.
22:53How far the search of knowledge
22:55guides us either inside or outside?
22:58Near future artificial intelligence
23:00will improve our empirical skills,
23:02yet it could also stifle our curiosity.
23:04We run the danger
23:05of losing our capacity
23:06to gaze into the future
23:08with real wonder or inventiveness
23:09as we become so enthralled
23:11with the synthetic worlds we create,
23:13all data sets, duplicates,
23:15and feedback loops.
23:16We should rely less on tools
23:18that dull our own aesthetic
23:19and intellectual acuity,
23:21and more on human originality
23:22and creative intuition.
23:24Emerson said famously
23:25that Isaac Newton
23:26used the same wit
23:27to weigh the moon
23:28he used to buckle his shoes.
23:30Newton, I'll add out,
23:31also employed same wit
23:33to build a reflecting telescope,
23:34the beginnings of a potent technology
23:36allowing mankind
23:37to peep into the origins
23:38of the universe.
23:39Emerson's theory spirit
23:40is still crucial though.
23:42A required exercise
23:43on the path to wisdom
23:45is viewing the surroundings
23:46and absorbing it through our senses.
23:49Technology tools
23:50can and should be used
23:52to assist us in this quest.
23:53However,
23:54never at the price of seeing,
23:56feeling,
23:56and finally comprehending
23:58for ourselves.
23:58Not only is a future
23:59in which overconfident machines
24:01seem to have the solutions
24:02to all of life's great challenges
24:04dangerously incorrect,
24:05but it also eliminates
24:06what makes people human
24:08in a day of hasty decisions,
24:09fury, and apparently
24:10all-knowing artificial intelligence.
24:13We should pay more attention
24:14to contemplation as a way of life.
24:16We should welcome
24:17an incomplete state of mind,
24:19constantly question our past opinions,
24:21hunt out people we disagree with,
24:23and occasionally not know.
24:25Being mortal people,
24:26we yearn for knowledge
24:27beyond what we will or can acquire.
24:30Time has the ability
24:31to wipe human knowledge.
24:32Whole languages vanish,
24:33and explorers lose their
24:35sense of direction across oceans
24:36by fixating on the stars.
24:38Technology is continuously
24:40changing our intellectual capacity.
24:42We only have so much time
24:44to pursue knowledge,
24:45truth, and beauty on this planet.
24:47These are what remain.
24:49Our own experience
24:50cannot be replaced by any book,
24:52photo, TV broadcast,
24:53tweet, meme, augmented reality,
24:55hologram, artificial intelligence
24:57generated blueprint,
24:58or fever dream.
25:00You travel for this reason.
25:01You cross the seas,
25:02see the sunset,
25:03listen to the crickets,
25:04and note the moon phase.
25:06You thereby touch the arm
25:07of the person next to you
25:09as you laugh.
25:09And it is the reason
25:10you find wonder
25:11in the Jardin des Plantes
25:13when the universe
25:13shows you its hidden code.
25:16As we contemplate
25:17the fleeting nature
25:18of human experience,
25:19where time erases memories,
25:21and even the most profound moments
25:23can slip away,
25:24we find ourselves driven
25:26by the desire to preserve
25:27what makes us who we are.
25:29This yearning for permanence
25:30is fueling the pursuit of technologies
25:32that promise to transcend
25:34our biological limitations.
25:36At the heart of this quest
25:37lies mind-uplifting knowledge.
25:39It is the knowledge
25:40that will allow us to
25:42understand the world
25:44lies mind-uploading,
25:45a concept that could
25:46fundamentally alter our relationship
25:48with time and existence.
25:51By capturing the essence
25:52of our consciousness
25:53in digital form,
25:54we may not only defy
25:55the boundaries of life and death,
25:57but also create a new paradigm
25:59where our experiences
26:00and identities
26:01are no longer confined
26:02to the physical world.
26:04First, we have to scan the brain
26:06at a high resolution
26:07to compile pictures
26:08of the cross-sections,
26:09then create a computer model
26:11from these images.
26:12This model will run
26:13on a strong supercomputer
26:14and a digital copy of me
26:16will remain contentedly married
26:18ever after.
26:19This is known as mind-uploading
26:20and can be somewhat confusing
26:22as like what Neuralink
26:23is working on,
26:24it seems that we must create
26:26a high bandwidth connection
26:27between the brain and the machines.
26:30Actually though,
26:30the objective is to produce
26:32a digital model of the brain
26:34that is somewhat like
26:35the real brain.
26:36This technology excites me personally
26:38since it would enable us
26:39to not only live indefinitely,
26:41but also create and manufacture
26:42things without regard for time,
26:44therefore freeing us
26:45from the limitations
26:46of our physical bodies.
26:48Of course,
26:48one approach many think of
26:50as reaching substrate independence
26:51and therefore a longer lifespan
26:53is mind-uploading.
26:55Beyond that,
26:55this is really the question
26:56that mankind as a whole faces,
26:59our capacity to transcend
27:00our current limitations
27:01beyond where we have evolved.
27:03Living in spaces like space,
27:05virtual reality,
27:06or other planets for instance
27:07where humans did not evolve,
27:09being digital instead
27:10than biological
27:11clearly has some advantages
27:13in my opinion.
27:14Though they might not
27:15be appealing to everyone,
27:16take some fundamental note
27:17of the digital substrate.
27:18First of all,
27:19you may readily create backup copies.
27:21You can save it as a file,
27:22same like with any other program.
27:24That is challenging
27:25given a biological brain.
27:26Being living entities,
27:28we are prone to mistakes.
27:29Even if you could halt aging,
27:31you might finally run across
27:32a bus or whatever.
27:34On the other hand,
27:34you would lose no more than 24 hours
27:37if you just stored
27:38a backup copy every day.
27:40Starting with physically
27:41scanning the brain,
27:42we are fascinated in its structural
27:44as well as functional aspects.
27:46We have to do a really thorough scan
27:48covering all of the neurons
27:49and their connections
27:50as well as the momentum
27:51that is the pulse frequency.
27:53One can approach this
27:54from several angles.
27:55One of these is fMRI scanning,
27:57which uses a strong magnetic field
27:59to get finely detailed pictures
28:00of your brain under active state.
28:02For medical purposes,
28:03fMRI technology is quite useful,
28:05but for mind uploading,
28:06it is not that great.
28:08Resolution provides
28:09the straightforward justification for this.
28:12The smallest voxel size on an fMRI
28:14at a Tesla level
28:15that isn't too high to survive
28:17is so rough and big
28:19that it just records
28:20highly broad brain activity.
28:21Nowadays, electron microscopy
28:23is somewhat common unlike fMRI.
28:25It is carried out
28:26under a powerful microscope
28:27that magnifies brain anatomy
28:29using electrons instead of light.
28:31This year, scientists took a major step
28:33by finely detailed scanning
28:34an entire mouse brain.
28:36All right, therefore,
28:36we are already really good
28:38in compiling the relevant data.
28:40Evaluating this information
28:41and then building a digital model
28:43depending on it
28:44presents the main difficulty.
28:45This clearly will take some time.
28:47For this reason,
28:48the startup Nectome
28:49is creating technologies
28:50meant to preserve human brains.
28:53Saving them for the future
28:54will help us to scan and upload them
28:56once mind uploading technology
28:57becomes possible.
29:04Right now, the whole mind uploading process
29:06seems to be rather challenging.
29:08So I pondered,
29:09what if there was a whole fresh approach
29:11to achieve it?
29:12Suppose there was a shortcut.
29:14What if a neural network
29:15can learn to duplicate the brain,
29:17that is, deduce the function
29:18from all of the outputs
29:20even without a complete knowledge
29:21of the brain?
29:22Neural networks learn anything
29:24precisely this way.
29:25They essentially reverse engineer
29:27the function based on observations
29:28of a lot of output data
29:30from a black box.
29:31If you had enough of that,
29:32like a couple of decades of everything
29:34the particular individual did,
29:36then you could have a super intelligence
29:38looking at all that information
29:40and trying to infer from that
29:41what the brain would have been like
29:43to produce this data set
29:44even without looking inside the brain,
29:45but just looking at the output traces
29:47of, say, a human,
29:49the text they have produced,
29:51maybe video feed and recordings.
29:53But if we could use this
29:54for mind uploading
29:55to solve the primary modeling barrier,
29:57then another group, for instance,
29:58is trying to launch a company
30:00similar to the well-known NextUp Neuro
30:02with an emphasis on using LLMs,
30:05long language models,
30:06and comparable machinery tools
30:08to work on whole brain simulation.
30:10And that's not incorrect either.
30:12That is, in my view,
30:12a wise path to investigate
30:14as LLMs and other machine learning methods
30:16will surely be crucial
30:17in enabling neuroscience
30:19to become faster,
30:20more methodically, and better.
30:22Evaluating a digital model,
30:24possibly with help
30:24from artificial intelligence,
30:26will prove to be the next big difficulty
30:28when we finally arrive at one.
30:30Assume a neural network
30:32has developed in the brain
30:33to carry out a function,
30:34but a neuroscientist
30:35is not sure what that function is.
30:37It is just some kind of neuronal activity.
30:39The important question
30:40is how you verify
30:41what you find incomprehensible.
30:43Still, these generative transformer models
30:45are quite helpful
30:47in filling in missing data
30:48since they know what to do.
30:50For instance,
30:51if you do an electron microscope scan
30:53and discover an area of the tissue
30:54where there was noise
30:55or something went wrong,
30:56it can help to fill in the blanks
30:58with most likely present.
30:59That is rather handy.
31:00But depending on the LLM
31:01to generate inferred output
31:03for a whole brain
31:04or draw conclusions
31:05becomes dangerous.
31:06This is so precisely
31:08what you do not want.
31:09The LLM has a propensity
31:10to eliminate personally
31:12unique data features.
31:13You want to replicate
31:14that particular human brain,
31:16not a broader likely human brain.
31:18You want that unique human brain.
31:20Then raising the temperature
31:21will cause this LLM
31:22to become more creative
31:24to start to hallucinate.
31:25What it generates
31:26might thus not be
31:27what you had in mind.
31:28Thus, even if this looks
31:29like a great shortcut,
31:31we are not quite there yet.
31:32We have to first define
31:33the unique characteristics
31:35of the human brain
31:36before we may talk
31:36about mind uploading.
31:43Maybe we can just build
31:44digital brains and assume
31:45that one consciousness
31:46lives inside,
31:47not only for our technology,
31:48but also for mankind as a whole.
31:50This is among the most ancient
31:52and important philosophical questions.
31:54Understanding the difference
31:55between a person and a robot
31:57and how they could coexist
31:59depends on knowing
32:00what the mind is,
32:01what generates our consciousness.
32:03I think this will be
32:04as important a turning point
32:06as mind uploading itself
32:08if we eventually solve
32:09the challenging issue of awareness.
32:11There might, however,
32:12another approach
32:13to handle this topic.
32:14What if we are not obliged
32:15to consider if a digital mind
32:17is really conscious?
32:18Suppose it's sufficient
32:19for this digital mind
32:20to act as though it were conscious.
32:22We are constantly using
32:23the so-called behaviorist method.
32:25When we talk to one another,
32:26we overlook whether
32:27the other person
32:28is really conscious or not.
32:29We just assume from their actions
32:31that the other person is conscious.
32:33With digital minds,
32:34we could apply this similar approach.
32:36Maybe the tough topic of awareness
32:38is not something
32:39we should discuss at all.
32:40Maybe all we need
32:41is for computer minds
32:42to act as though they are conscious.
32:45And this would be plenty
32:46to let us label them
32:47as aware entities.
32:49Should we be able
32:50to overcome these obstacles,
32:51we would reach digital immortality.
32:54Imagine a society in which aging,
32:56illness, or even death
32:57are not causes of concern anymore.
32:59We could live forever,
33:00travel the cosmos,
33:01and keep learning,
33:02developing, and changing.
33:04Mind uploading aims
33:05ultimately towards this.
33:06Although it still seems
33:07to be science fiction,
33:08technology is developing rapidly,
33:10and we are getting closer
33:11to bring it to pass.
33:13Mind uploading is still divisive,
33:14and many ethical, philosophical,
33:16and technical obstacles
33:17have to be overcome.
33:19Still, I am sure that
33:19with constant study, ingenuity,
33:22and teamwork,
33:22we may realize this ideal.
33:29Now, consider if it would be possible
33:31to watch every neuron
33:32in our brains interacting.
33:34Track the relationships
33:35in real time.
33:37That's the wild hypothesis
33:38underlying mind uploading.
33:40Ultimately, we might be able
33:42to move our awareness
33:43from our bodies
33:44to a synthetic brain.
33:45It is a component
33:46of the transhumanist movement,
33:48which advocates
33:49harnessing technology
33:50to raise human capacities
33:52and perhaps extend our lives.
33:54Among the important intellectuals
33:56backing it
33:56are neuroscientist Randall Cohn,
33:58philosopher Nick Bostrom,
34:00and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil.
34:03Mind uploading excites
34:04the transhumans greatly.
34:06They think it will enable us
34:07to live as long as we want
34:08and accelerate our minds
34:09to run faster
34:10than they do right now.
34:11The challenge is that
34:12simulating the human brain
34:14is not an easy coracle.
34:16With around 86 billion neurons
34:18and trillion of connections,
34:20human brains are quite complex.
34:22In perspective,
34:23the Milky Way boasts
34:24only roughly 200 billion stars.
34:27Currently mapping simpler brains,
34:28including fruit flies,
34:29scientists plan to achieve
34:31the same with mouse brains
34:32over the next 10 years.
34:34Given that the human brain
34:35is 1,000 times more complex
34:37than that of a mouse,
34:38working it out
34:39will be quite difficult.
34:40Still, given the explosive speed
34:42at which technology is developing,
34:44mind uploading is probably
34:46going to become a reality
34:47in the lifespan of our children
34:49or grandkids.
34:50The difficult problem is
34:51that mapping the brain
34:52by itself is insufficient.
34:54Real-time observation
34:55of those neurons
34:56would be necessary
34:57to create a functional
34:58brain simulation.
34:59The big question then is,
35:01would consciousness still exist
35:03if we could replicate a brain?
35:06Most thinkers nowadays agree
35:07that our ideas are closely entwined
35:09with our physical brains
35:10and that we would be able
35:11to recreate consciousness as well
35:13if we could replicate
35:14the structure of the brain
35:15in a computer.
35:16Still, let's delve further.
35:18Should we be able to upload our minds?
35:20Would the resulting copy
35:21or indeed be you?
35:22This has bearing on
35:24a well-known philosophical
35:25conundrum on identity.
35:27Some individuals feel
35:28you are the same person
35:29if you are the same biological creature.
35:30Others believe that over time,
35:32memories and events link you.
35:33Imagine this,
35:34supposing your uploaded self
35:36and your biological self
35:37coexisted simultaneously.
35:40Who is your?
35:41While the upload
35:42is merely a mental clone,
35:45most people agree
35:46that the biological form
35:47is still the actual you.
35:50But supposing the only remaining
35:52was the upload,
35:53you would then be...
35:57The scary thing is that many companies
35:59are really stretching the bounds
36:00of artificial intelligence avatars.
36:02Justin Harrison,
36:04CEO of You Only Virtual, YOV,
36:06wants each time someone interacts
36:08with their avatars
36:09to offer a distinctive experience.
36:11Based on their digital footprints,
36:13messages, recordings, movies, etc,
36:15YOV educates these virtual personas,
36:18sometimes called as versonas,
36:20to replicate people's personalities.
36:22The amazing thing is that a versona
36:24doesn't just represent
36:25is that a versona
36:26doesn't just repeat past knowledge,
36:28its algorithm develops
36:29with every conversation,
36:30enabling it to retain specifics
36:32about the person
36:33with whom it is speaking.
36:34To keep current with events
36:36and debate films, news, and so forth,
36:38it can even start surfing the internet.
36:41The troubling point is that
36:42dead people have no say
36:44about their own versona.
36:46YOV does not call for authorization
36:48for construction.
36:49Harrison says there are
36:50no regulations prohibiting it.
36:52Once you message someone,
36:54they now own the information
36:55and could use it.
36:56Though this would have
36:57little legal weight,
36:58people may perhaps ask
37:00not to be digitally revived
37:01in their wills.
37:02YOV plans to get in touch
37:03with actual people
37:04whose conversations
37:05are being used right now
37:06and find out whether
37:07they wish to opt out.
37:09Harrison expects, therefore,
37:10that in this field,
37:11there will be many legal gray areas
37:13to negotiate.
37:19Harrison's first versona
37:20included his own mother, Melody.
37:22He simply wanted the gadget
37:24to act like her,
37:25including sending a million texts
37:27if he didn't answer fast enough.
37:29He was not bothered
37:30with copying her life story.
37:32Talking to this fursona
37:33has been somewhat
37:34consoling for him,
37:35not because of her great knowledge,
37:36but rather because
37:37it sounds like his mother.
37:39He intends to have dinner
37:40with her once more,
37:41utilizing augmented reality someday
37:43and questions where the line
37:44is between her real presence
37:46and her digital availability.
37:48Though imperfect,
37:49many find these artificial intelligence bots
37:51to be significant.
37:52Vlahos created the dad bot
37:53and still interacts with it sometimes.
37:55The bot makes clever, sarcastic remarks
37:57that shock Vlahos,
37:59even if it is not
38:00current events up to date.
38:01The times when he shows awareness
38:03of the outside world,
38:04like telling him
38:05he ought to get breakfast,
38:06are the ones that really make him amazed.
38:09People might be less lamenting mortality
38:11in the future.
38:12That person is still here for you.
38:14You could go on as usual,
38:15cracking jokes and consulting her.
38:18Referring to the dead
38:19in the present tense
38:20could start to feel natural.
38:21It is a world in which
38:22only the departed are immune to death,
38:25not quite the singularity
38:26with totally sentient machines.
38:28As we explore this mind-bending future,
38:31where uploading our minds
38:32could be a reality,
38:33it really makes you wonder,
38:34would you do it?
38:35If you had the chance
38:36to live on digitally,
38:38would you take it?
38:39Or does the idea freak you out a little?
38:41Maybe you're curious about
38:42how it would change your relationships
38:44or what it would feel like
38:45to exist in a computer.
38:46I'd love to hear what you think,
38:47so drop your thoughts
38:48in the comments below.
38:49If you enjoyed this video,
38:51don't forget to hit that like button
38:53and subscribe for more fascinating topics
38:55about where technology is taking us next.