by Lifeboat Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member Michael Anissimov. Science fiction, computer games, anime cyborgs are everywhere. Transhumanists are philosophers who believe that one day, cybernetic upgrades will be so powerful, elegant, and inexpensive that everyone will want them. This report lists ten major upgrades that I think will be adopted by 2050. The List 10. Disease Immunity Between 20 and 40 years into the future, we will become capable of building artificial antibodies that outperform their natural equivalents. Instead of using chemical signaling that relies on diffusion to reach its target, these antibodies will communicate with rapid acoustic pulses. Instead of proteins, they will be made using much more durable polymers or even diamond. These antibodies will move through the bloodstream more quickly than other cells in the body, and will take up less space and resources, meaning that there will be room for many more. Using super-biological methods for identifying and neutralizing foreign viruses and bacteria, these tiny robots will still function in harmony with our own bodies. They will probably be powered either by glucose, ATP (like natural antibodies), or acoustically. There are already bloodborne microbots today which are not rejected by the immune system these are the precursors of tomorrows nanorobotics. Through their presence and continued operation, they will eliminate all susceptibility to disease in those who have them running through their veins. This will not make people immortal, but it will allow them to walk into a room contaminated with a flesh-eating virus in nothing but a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. For more on artificial antibodies and other body-integrated nanites, see Nanomedicine. 9. Telemicroscopic, Full-Spectrum Vision There are microscopes that weigh one tenth of an ounce. Some birds of prey have vision so sharp that they can spot a hare a mile away. We have compact devices that can scan the electromagnetic spectrum from x-rays to radio waves, and everything in between. Our eyes in their current form can do none of these things. But in time, they will be upgraded. There are already prosthetic retinas that can provide low-resolution artificial vision for blind people. Its simply a matter of time until better prosthetic eyes are created, and their sharpness, contrast, and resolution is superior to what evolution gave us. The biggest challenge may end up not actually being about building a superior artificial eye, but remodeling the visual cortex so that it can process the info and relay it to the rest of the brain in such a way that its not overwhelmed. 8. Telepathy/Brain-Computer Interfacing Ever wanted to send someone a message with nothing but your mind, or have a neural implant that gives your brain direct access to Google? Hundreds of corporate and academic labs across the world are working on projects that generate progress in this area. Check out the Berlin Brain-Computer Interface, which lets you move the cursor around on a screen with only your EEG waves and 20 minutes of training. Miniature fMRI will allow us to continue increasing the bandwidth between brain and computer, eventually allowing for a mental typewriter that converts thoughts into text. A tiny transmitter could send this to a bone-conduction device on the receiving person, letting them hear the message without sound. NASA is also working on a device to transcribe silent, subvocal speech. Like many transhumanist upgrades, these will probably start as efforts to help people who are handicapped, then evolve into powerful tools that can be used by anyone bold enough to adopt them. 7. Super-Strength Early in 2006, scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas, led by Dr. Ray H. Baughman, developed artificial muscles 100 times stronger than our own, powered by alcohol and hydrogen. Leonid Taranenko, the former Soviet weightlifter, holds the world record for power lifting a 266 kg (586 lbs) dumbbell. If Leos natural muscles were replaced with Dr. Baughmans synthetic polymer muscles, he could lift 26,600 kg, or about 30 tons. Thats equivalent to this yacht, the Nova Spirit. Super-strength is an interesting area in that the technology to do it has already been invented the only step remaining is actually weaving the fiber into a human body which, today, would be complicated and messy, not to mention probably illegal. However, that doesnt mean that it wont be done, probably within the next couple decades. Further improvements to the process could make it safe for normal people, numerous ethics questions notwithstanding. One benefit of improved muscles is that wed be far less vulnerable to unfortunate accidents. They could also provide armor against bullets or other forms of attack. One downside is that people could use them to bully others around. Guess the good guys will need even bigger muscles. 6. Improved Appearance In general, there is a lot of agreement as to who is attractive and who is less so. Numerous experiments have shown that while there are slight subjective differences in who we want to get with, we are biologically programmed to look for certain facial and physical features that correlate with increased fitness. For the time being, this is unavoidable. The only way to change it would be to reach inside our neural circuitry and start severing connections. Until we choose to do that, we can improve our own lives and the lives of those who have to look at us by looking as pretty or handsome as possible. We brush our teeth, keep fit, take showers, and all that other great stuff that helps us score. Some of us even visit the plastic surgeon, with mixed results. Surveys show that certain procedures, like liposuction, have very high patient satisfaction rates. As the safety and precision of our body modification technologies improves, well be able to change our faces and bodies with minimal fuss, and maximal benefit. Everyone will be able to be stunningly attractive. And the really great thing? Well always be able to enjoy it. If everyone becomes attractive, we wont regard the slightly less attractive of the lot as ugly our brain doesnt work that way. An attractive person is attractive, whether or not others are around. A planet full of attractive people could do a lot to improve our quality of life. 5. Psychokinesis In the real world, psychokinesis is a bunch of wishful thinking and pseudoscience. Despite the roughly 30% of people who think that its possible to affect objects through the mind alone, history and evidence make it clear that this is total nonsense. There are no psychics and there never have been. However, that doesnt mean that we cant create technopsychics artificially. By 2030, well be cranking out utility fog swarms of tiny machines that fly through the air and interlock with robotic arms. By combining brain-computer interfaces, like the type used by Claudia Mitchell to move her prosthetic arm, with utility fog, we will have direct-thought connections with powerful external robotics, allowing non-fictional psychokinesis. Utility fog, once all the necessary software for it is developed, will be capable of cooperating to perform practically any physical task or simulate a wide range of materials. Because utility fog could be distributed at low density and still accomplish a lot, a room filled with utility fog would look empty, and people in it could move and breathe normally. They would only notice once the fog is activated either by a central computer, or a neural interface. Once a connection is achieved, practically anything could be accomplished with the proper programming. Throwing objects through the air, hovering over the ground, cracking an egg from across the room, materializing orbs of energy all the antics weve always wanted to perform, but never had the means to. 4. Autopoiesi
s/Allopoiesis Autopoiesis is Greek for self-creation. Allopoiesis is other-creation. Our body engages in both all the time we start as a fetus that creates itself until it becomes an adult, then, essentially stops. Our body produces things external to itself, but usually involving an extended process of cooperation with thousands of other human beings and the entire economy. In the future, there will be cybernetic upgrades that allow for personal autopoietic and allopoietic manufacturing, probably based on molecular nanotechnology. Using whatever raw material is available, complex construction routines, and internal nanomanufacturing units, well be able to literally breathe life into dirt. If our arms or legs get blown off, well be able to use manufacturing modules in other parts of our body to regenerate them. Instead of building robots in a factory, well build them ourselves. The possibilities are quite expansive, but this would require technology more sophisticated than anything discussed thus far in this list. 3. Flight Human flight, outside of an airplane this was recently achieved by former military pilot Yves Rossy, who flew 7,750 ft above the Alps in his 10 ft wide, self-designed aerofoil. You can see a video of it here. The airfoil weighs only 110 lbs and cost just under $300,000. Over the next few decades, the weight will come down, the strength and flexibility will go up, and eventually it will be difficult to distinguish between people in aerofoils and people that can just fly whenever they want. Using high strength-to-weight materials like fullerenes, we will fly using wings that weigh only a fraction of our own weight and fold into our clothing or body when not in use. Rossy achieved speeds of 115 mph, but with superior materials and greater tolerance for acceleration and wind, our cybernetic flight speeds are more likely to top 500 mph. To take off from the ground, well simply use our super-muscles to jump to the highest object around and begin our flight from there. With personal flight, commercial airliners will become obsolete. The only problem left will be dodging each other. 2. Superintelligence When we think of superintelligence, we tend to think of the ways it is portrayed in fiction the character able to multiply 6 fifty digit numbers in his head, learn ten languages in a month, repeat the catch phrase Thats not logical, and other tired cliches. True superintelligence would be something radically different a person able to see the obvious solution that the entire human race missed, conceive of and implement advanced plans or concepts that the greatest geniuses would never think of, understand and rewrite its own cognitive processes on the most fundamental level, and so on. A cybernetic superintelligence would not just be another genius human, it would be something entirely superhuman something that could completely change the world overnight. For the same reason that we cant write a book with a character smarter than ourselves, we cant imagine the thoughts or actions of a true superintelligence, because theyd be beyond us. Whether it is developed through uploading, neuroengineering, or artificial intelligence, remains to be seen. 1. Immortality The ultimate upgrade would be physical immortality. Everything else pales by comparison. Today, there are already entire movements based around the idea. Realizing the possibility of immortality requires seeing a human being as a physical system composed of working parts that cooperate to make up the whole, some of which have the tendency to get old and break down. Cambridge biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey has identified seven causes of aging, which are believed to be comprehensive, because its been decades since a degenerative process has occurred in the body with an unknown cause. Defeating aging, then, would simply require addressing these one by one. They are: cell depletion, supernumerary cells, chromosomal mutations, mitochondrial mutations, cellular junk, extracellular junk, and protein cross-links. A few pioneering researchers are looking towards solutions, but accepting the possibility requires looking at aging as a disease and not as a necessary component of life. Well then, that just about wraps up our list. See you in 2050, alright?
Read more:
Top Ten Cybernetic Upgrades Everyone Will Want
- The Great AI Race: Forecasts Diverge on the Arrival of Superintelligence - elblog.pl - April 14th, 2024 [April 14th, 2024]
- ASI Alliance Voting Opens: What Lies Ahead for AGIX, FET and OCEAN? - CCN.com - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Revolutionary AI: The Rise of the Super-Intelligent Digital Masterminds - Medium - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- AI, arms control and the new cold war | The Strategist - The Strategist - November 16th, 2023 [November 16th, 2023]
- The Best ChatGPT Prompts Are Highly Emotional, Study Confirms - Tech.co - November 16th, 2023 [November 16th, 2023]
- 20 Movies About AI That Came Out in the Last 5 Years - MovieWeb - November 16th, 2023 [November 16th, 2023]
- Can You Imagine Life Without White Supremacy? - Dallasweekly - November 16th, 2023 [November 16th, 2023]
- Will Humanity solve the AI Alignment Problem? | by Enrique Tinoco ... - Medium - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- The Tesla Trap; Ellison Going Nuclear; Dont Count Headsets Out - Equities News - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Future Investment Initiative emphasizes global cooperation and AI ... - Saudi Gazette - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- AI systems favor sycophancy over truthful answers, says new report - CoinGeek - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- What "The Creator", a film about the future, tells us about the present - InCyber - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- Invincible's Guardians Of The Globe Team Members, History ... - Screen Rant - October 31st, 2023 [October 31st, 2023]
- From streaming wars to superintelligence with John Oliver & Calum ... - KNEWS - The English Edition of Kathimerini Cyprus - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Reckoning with self-destruction in Oppenheimer, Indiana Jones, and ... - The Christian Century - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- How Microsoft's CEO tackles the ethical dilemma of AI and its ... - Medium - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Managing risk: Pandemics and plagues in the age of AI - The Interpreter - October 22nd, 2023 [October 22nd, 2023]
- Artificial Intelligence Has No Reason to Harm Us - The Wire - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Fischer Black and Artificial Superintelligence - InformationWeek - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- OpenAI Forms Specialized Team to Align Superintelligent AI with ... - Fagen wasanni - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- 10 Best Books on Artificial Intelligence | TheReviewGeek ... - TheReviewGeek - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- The Concerns Surrounding Advanced Artificial Intelligence and the ... - Fagen wasanni - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Decentralized AI: Revolutionizing Technology and Addressing ... - Fagen wasanni - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- An 'Oppenheimer Moment' For The Progenitors Of AI - NOEMA - Noema Magazine - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- The Implications of AI Advancements on Human Thinking and ... - Fagen wasanni - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Focusing on Tackling Algorithmic Bias is Key to Ethical AI ... - Fagen wasanni - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Discover This SUPER Early AI Crypto Gem - Altcoin Buzz - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Biden meets with AI leaders to discuss its 'enormous promise and its ... - KULR-TV - June 20th, 2023 [June 20th, 2023]
- VivaTech: The Secret of Elon Musk's Success? 'Crystal Meth' - The New Stack - June 20th, 2023 [June 20th, 2023]
- AI meets the other AI - POLITICO - POLITICO - June 20th, 2023 [June 20th, 2023]
- Squid Game trailer for real-life reality contest prompts confusion from Netflix users - Yahoo News - June 20th, 2023 [June 20th, 2023]
- Our Future Inside The Fifth Column- Or, What Chatbots Are Really For - Tech Policy Press - June 20th, 2023 [June 20th, 2023]
- Elon Musk refuses to 'censor' Twitter in face of EU rules - Roya News English - June 20th, 2023 [June 20th, 2023]
- AI alignment - Wikipedia - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- Are We Living In A Simulation? Can We Break Out Of It? - December 28th, 2022 [December 28th, 2022]
- Amazon.com: Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies eBook ... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- What is Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)? - GeeksforGeeks - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Literature and Religion | Literature and Religion - Patheos - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Why AI will never rule the world - Digital Trends - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Why DART Is the Most Important Mission Ever Launched to Space - Gizmodo Australia - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- 'Sweet Home Alabama' turns 20: See how the cast has aged - Wonderwall - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Research Shows that Superintelligent AI is Impossible to be Controlled - Analytics India Magazine - September 24th, 2022 [September 24th, 2022]
- Eight best books on AI ethics and bias - INDIAai - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- AI Art Is Here and the World Is Already Different - New York Magazine - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Would "artificial superintelligence" lead to the end of life on Earth ... - September 14th, 2022 [September 14th, 2022]
- Instrumental convergence - Wikipedia - September 14th, 2022 [September 14th, 2022]
- The Best Sci-Fi Movies on HBO Max - CNET - September 14th, 2022 [September 14th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Shares a Summer Reading Idea - TheStreet - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Bullet Train Review: Brad Pitt Even Shines in an Action-Packed Star Vehicle that Goes Nowhere Fast - IndieWire - August 2nd, 2022 [August 2nd, 2022]
- Peter McKnight: The day of sentient AI is coming, and we're not ready - Vancouver Sun - June 20th, 2022 [June 20th, 2022]
- SC judges should have minimum of seven to eight years of judgeship tenure: Justice L Nageswara Rao - The Tribune India - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- WATCH: Neuralink, mind uploading and the AI apocalypse - Hamilton Spectator - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Artificial Intelligence And the Human Context of War - The National Interest Online - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Elon Musk and the Posthumanist Threat | John Waters - First Things - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Eliminating AI Bias: Human Intelligence is Not the Ultimate Solution - Analytics Insight - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- If You Want to Succeed With Artificial Intelligence in Marketing, Invest in People - CMSWire - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- Here Are All The TV Shows And Movies To Watch Featuring The Cast Of "Atlanta" - BuzzFeed - April 15th, 2022 [April 15th, 2022]
- What2Watch: This week's worth-the-watch - Review - Review - March 31st, 2022 [March 31st, 2022]
- Top 10 Algorithms Helping the Superintelligent AI Growth in 2022 - Analytics Insight - March 29th, 2022 [March 29th, 2022]
- AI Ethics Keeps Relentlessly Asking Or Imploring How To Adequately Control AI, Including The Matter Of AI That Drives Self-Driving Cars - Forbes - March 18th, 2022 [March 18th, 2022]
- What to watch next on Showmax - News24 - March 18th, 2022 [March 18th, 2022]
- Does Kimi deliver the goods? Thriller aims to capitalize on Alexa, Siri and Seattles tech cachet - GeekWire - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- 'Downfall' follows chain of bad decisions that led up to Boeing 737-Max crashes - Lewiston Morning Tribune - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Maybe it is Not Too Late to Buy Bitcoin! BTC has a Long Way to Go - Analytics Insight - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Giving an AI control of nuclear weapons: What could possibly go wrong? - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - February 7th, 2022 [February 7th, 2022]
- Meet the cast of The Afterparty - Radio Times - January 27th, 2022 [January 27th, 2022]
- 8 big threats to human stability and even existence in 2022 - AMEinfo - January 27th, 2022 [January 27th, 2022]
- Artificial Intelligence in Cardiology | AER - January 17th, 2022 [January 17th, 2022]
- Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? Artificial Superintelligence Could Provide the Answer - BBN Times - January 17th, 2022 [January 17th, 2022]
- Movie Review: The 355 - mxdwn.com - January 9th, 2022 [January 9th, 2022]
- AI control problem - Wikipedia - December 10th, 2021 [December 10th, 2021]
- REPORT : Baltic Event Works in Progress 2021 - Cineuropa - December 5th, 2021 [December 5th, 2021]
- Top Books On AI Released In 2021 - Analytics India Magazine - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- Inside the MIT camp teaching kids to spot bias in code - Popular Science - November 27th, 2021 [November 27th, 2021]
- 7 Types Of Artificial Intelligence - Forbes - November 17th, 2021 [November 17th, 2021]
- The Flash Season 8 Poster Kicks Off Five-Part Armageddon Story Tonight on The CW - TVweb - November 17th, 2021 [November 17th, 2021]
- Nick Bostrom - Wikipedia - November 15th, 2021 [November 15th, 2021]
- Cowboy Bebop; Ein dogs were really spoiled on set - Dog of the Day - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]
- Inside the Impact on Marvel of Brian Tyree Henry's Openly Gay Character in 'Eternals' - Black Girl Nerds - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]
- The funny formula: Why machine-generated humor is the holy grail of A.I. - Digital Trends - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]