Jean Laval Chue HimDirector| Stella Aurorae Accountants Pty LtdSydney, Nsw, Australia
Extending human life infinitely using technology is a topic that has been making rounds lately. But is it possible? According to a recent article from a reputable organization by a contributor, technology will soon allow the personality, knowledge, and everything that makes a person to be uploaded into a computer and then downloaded into a new body. However, some experts believe that this is simply hype. They argue that a computer is just a collection of electrical circuits that cannot understand human emotions, thoughts, and knowledge. Even with AI programs, it is unlikely that a computer will ever fully comprehend human feelings, emotions and life experiences. What do you think? Is extending human life through technology a possibility or just a myth? Share your thoughts. Saving Changes...
Is it possible in the next few years - unlikely. Might it be possible further down the line - possibly. I'd suspect ethical hurdles might slow down or prevent the necessary experimentation required to develop such capabilities as they would likely need to be first tried on higher vertebrates before moving to humans.
Fiction such as Altered Carbon or the Old Man's War & Lock In series of books by John Scalzi already present some of the challenges with such innovations...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Jean, lots is being said of which what you've mentioned is one of them. I don't know the answer to that, because it's too early to tell but if we reach to that stage, then kiss goodbye to the word "Human Beings" because we will become very similar to robots. Saving Changes...
PMO Leader | Speaker & Mentor | Content Leader – PMOGA Latin America
Hub| Catholic University of UruguayMontevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
Questions to Consider About Extending Human Life Infinitely Using Technology: Scientific and Technological Feasibility:
What are the biological limits of human aging? Can we overcome them through technology? What scientific and technological advancements are needed to achieve indefinite life extension? Are they feasible and realistic? What are the potential risks and challenges associated with these technologies? Can we mitigate them safely and ethically? Ethical and Social Implications:
Is extending life indefinitely desirable from an ethical standpoint? Could it exacerbate social inequality and overpopulation? Who would have access to these life-extension technologies? Would they be affordable for everyone or only for a privileged elite? How would indefinite life extension affect our relationships, values, and social structures? What impact would it have on the definition of death and mortality? Philosophical and Existential Considerations: What does it mean to be human if we can live forever? How would it change our perception of life, death, and meaning? Does indefinite life extension go against the natural order or is it a natural progression of human evolution? What role does death play in the human experience and the search for meaning? Could we live meaningful lives without the prospect of death? Other Important Questions:
How would we define "infinite life"? Does it mean living forever in a physical body, transferring consciousness to a digital substrate, or something else? What role would artificial intelligence play in extending human life? Could it help us develop new technologies and therapies, or could it pose an existential threat? How would we address the psychological and emotional issues of living forever? How would we cope with boredom, loss, and constant change? These are just some of the questions we must consider when contemplating the possibility of extending human life infinitely using technology. It is a complex and challenging topic that requires careful analysis from multiple perspectives.
It is important to remember that, at this point, indefinite human life extension is still a hypothetical idea. Much more research and technological development is needed before it becomes a reality. However, the questions it raises are profound and important, and it is worth starting to consider them now.
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1 reply by Jean Laval Chue Him
Apr 25, 2024 1:39 AM
Jean Laval Chue Him
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great expose Fabian. Thanks
Saving Changes...
Jean Laval Chue HimDirector| Stella Aurorae Accountants Pty LtdSydney, Nsw, Australia
Apr 24, 2024 2:46 PM
Replying to Fabian Crosa
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Questions to Consider About Extending Human Life Infinitely Using Technology: Scientific and Technological Feasibility:
What are the biological limits of human aging? Can we overcome them through technology? What scientific and technological advancements are needed to achieve indefinite life extension? Are they feasible and realistic? What are the potential risks and challenges associated with these technologies? Can we mitigate them safely and ethically? Ethical and Social Implications:
Is extending life indefinitely desirable from an ethical standpoint? Could it exacerbate social inequality and overpopulation? Who would have access to these life-extension technologies? Would they be affordable for everyone or only for a privileged elite? How would indefinite life extension affect our relationships, values, and social structures? What impact would it have on the definition of death and mortality? Philosophical and Existential Considerations: What does it mean to be human if we can live forever? How would it change our perception of life, death, and meaning? Does indefinite life extension go against the natural order or is it a natural progression of human evolution? What role does death play in the human experience and the search for meaning? Could we live meaningful lives without the prospect of death? Other Important Questions:
How would we define "infinite life"? Does it mean living forever in a physical body, transferring consciousness to a digital substrate, or something else? What role would artificial intelligence play in extending human life? Could it help us develop new technologies and therapies, or could it pose an existential threat? How would we address the psychological and emotional issues of living forever? How would we cope with boredom, loss, and constant change? These are just some of the questions we must consider when contemplating the possibility of extending human life infinitely using technology. It is a complex and challenging topic that requires careful analysis from multiple perspectives.
It is important to remember that, at this point, indefinite human life extension is still a hypothetical idea. Much more research and technological development is needed before it becomes a reality. However, the questions it raises are profound and important, and it is worth starting to consider them now.
If we see historic data modernization and development has increased human average age from 31-32 years in 1900 to around 73years in 2020. To extend this average life to an indefinite period seems not possible in near future but it can be improved by more advancement in fields of agriculture, medicine, working on climate change, stopping wars, spreading more harmony across all communities Saving Changes...
It wont be possible to make someone live physically forever, but with the evolution of generative AI, I would argue that the feelings, emotions could also be digitized in the future. What I mean is: The AI models would only need a good, representative training data to reproduce or predict what will be coming next. If you show the generative AI model a digital diary of what your day looked like, what were the problems you were faced with, how you went about solving them, and you feed it the data for a number of years, you will be close to obtaining a digital clone of yourself. The model can then predict how you would react to a certain situations in the future. So, digitally you will be alive forever. Sounds scary? ;) You will still have to work hard to be a ditially-immortal :)
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2 replies by Jean Laval Chue Him
Apr 25, 2024 5:51 PM
Jean Laval Chue Him
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Hi Hrishikesh, good point you raise, but as George noted this AI representation of our emotions, feelings, intelligence and consciousness will be a mimicry of us when alive as it will be based on previous data encoded into logical codes. But the deep thoughts of our heart, our subconscious will we be able to digitise it? So then the question will be can we have our Real human being (I mean our Real self) back into another body to ensure eternal living on earth? The good thing is that if possible this will allow us to escape diseases in one body and change to a new body. And continue to live ourselves in a new body younger version of ourselves without suffering. What I also would like to know is if we encode the actions and feelings we keep in a diary how will we represent emotional pain, joy, Love and other subconscious of our mind, into logical AI codes based lets say on a mathematical model? Also, these will differ from person to person. Love means different things to different individuals. How will we be able to make the machine generate the correct electrical pulses or at a higher abstraction, binary codes to represent Love for each individual?
Apr 25, 2024 9:44 PM
Jean Laval Chue Him
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Yes Hrishikesh well said we could maybe mimic a person digitally although not completely, but the person will be dead even if his memory or digital copy will live for his loved ones. It's like preserving islands that are sinking due to climate change digitally. We cannot reproduce the smell of the island or its sandy beaches or winds but we can save a mimic of the island's beauty. But the island will no more be there.
Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Jean,
An interesting question to pose in a community of project professionals, but as we know, our profession touches all industry sectors in some way, shape, or form—so, why not?
Here’s my philosophical take on your question:
Our essence of being resides in our mind and interfaces with the tangible through the “nervous tissue-filled” organ we know as the brain, which provides us the capacities we associate with human existence/life, e.g.: [1] Abstraction and Logic [2] Learning, Reasoning, and Planning [3] Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Problem-Solving [4] Understanding, Self-Awareness, and Consciousness [5] Emotional Knowledge, Sensations, and Feeling
Thus, to state it plainly, the seat of earthly human existence resides in brain tissue made up primarily of neuronal cells and their protector, glial cells. Unfortunately, and to the point, although glial cells have regenerative qualities, neuronal cells, the “message bus” of our brain, do NOT, and since all cells demand fulfillment of their lifecycle, they have an expiration date and die—otherwise stated, the bus has a final stop.
So, what are we left with regarding the question: “Is human life infinitely extendable through technology?”
My answer:
As we recognize it, human life is NOT infinitely extendable through technology. However, an “ever-increasing in feature and function” dynamic caricature of ourselves “is and” will continue to be an offering for our loved ones (and ill-advisedly, others). Unfortunately, I see this becoming an obsession for those so-minded and furthering the digital demise.
George Saving Changes...
Jean Laval Chue HimDirector| Stella Aurorae Accountants Pty LtdSydney, Nsw, Australia
Apr 25, 2024 6:42 AM
Replying to Hrishikesh Deshpande
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Depends on how do you define "infinite life".
It wont be possible to make someone live physically forever, but with the evolution of generative AI, I would argue that the feelings, emotions could also be digitized in the future. What I mean is: The AI models would only need a good, representative training data to reproduce or predict what will be coming next. If you show the generative AI model a digital diary of what your day looked like, what were the problems you were faced with, how you went about solving them, and you feed it the data for a number of years, you will be close to obtaining a digital clone of yourself. The model can then predict how you would react to a certain situations in the future. So, digitally you will be alive forever. Sounds scary? ;) You will still have to work hard to be a ditially-immortal :)
Hi Hrishikesh, good point you raise, but as George noted this AI representation of our emotions, feelings, intelligence and consciousness will be a mimicry of us when alive as it will be based on previous data encoded into logical codes. But the deep thoughts of our heart, our subconscious will we be able to digitise it? So then the question will be can we have our Real human being (I mean our Real self) back into another body to ensure eternal living on earth? The good thing is that if possible this will allow us to escape diseases in one body and change to a new body. And continue to live ourselves in a new body younger version of ourselves without suffering. What I also would like to know is if we encode the actions and feelings we keep in a diary how will we represent emotional pain, joy, Love and other subconscious of our mind, into logical AI codes based lets say on a mathematical model? Also, these will differ from person to person. Love means different things to different individuals. How will we be able to make the machine generate the correct electrical pulses or at a higher abstraction, binary codes to represent Love for each individual?
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1 reply by George Freeman
Apr 25, 2024 9:02 PM
George Freeman
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Jean,
I’m not an expert in this area, but based on my observations and studies in domains that touch on these ideals, I have strong opinions. So, let me address your last paragraph.
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What we “Know” and what we “Feel” as humans are two different things; when they align, we should say, “Wow, it happened.” However, the idea that such a logical partition exists is heretical for many, as what they feel is what they know, so many would disagree with this premise (a topic for another time).
That said, the emotional components of our brain operate on a different plane (i.e., set of rules) than the rest of our conscious being. I’m stating this to say that what we “know” (i.e., our thoughts) is structurable and persistable knowledge, but what we “feel” is disjunctive and lacks the qualities that allow persistence.
Hence, an intelligent agent can legalistically describe emotions and present a mimicry of them by logically forecasting an outcome based on previously learned patterns. But in all cases, emotions as humans understand them are beyond the reach of AI.
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