As AI disrupts industries including healthcare, and by those seeking to extend human life, the concept of transhumanism has increasingly moved from the realm of science fiction and the dystopian futures of The Matrix and Cyberpunk 2077 to companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink. Moving towards reality. Implants, open bionic robotic limbs, and longevity medicine.
Popularized in 1957 by biologist Julian Huxley — brother of “Brave New World” author Aldous Huxley — transhumanism is the provocative theory that the human condition can be transcended using technology.
“It's not that transhumanists don't like being human. It's just that we want humanity to evolve beyond what it historically meant,” said Ben Goertzel, founder and CEO of decentralized AI network SingularityNET. Decrypt in an interview. “This leads to certain possibilities such as conquering death, expanding your body, and your brain combined with a computer to achieve a superhuman intelligence.”
Goertzel also serves as chair of the transhumanist organization Humanity +which defines transhumanism as an intellectual and cultural movement primarily devoted to the practical improvement of the human condition—specifically, antiaging and human intellectual, physical, and psychological improvement. By developing and sharing technologies to enhance capabilities.
Transhumanism and AI
Although AI has exploded into the mainstream relatively recently, it has always been an important element in the debate about transhumanism. As applications now proliferate in industries such as science, medicine and technology, Goertzel says AI aligns with the goals of transhumanism because of the movement's reliance on advanced technologies to create significant change.
“We have more data about different levels of the human body and different organisms than any human mind can comprehend, and the struggle for biological data, the struggle for standard machine learning,” Goertzel said. said “So the more advanced your AI becomes, the better you can gather data from all the different organisms out there, and then you can use AI to generate a hypothesis.”
Goertzel pointed to nanotechnology as an area in which AI could outpace humans.
“AI is much better than humans at designing things at the nanoscale, or beyond, at the femto scale,” he said. “We have a lot of practical knowledge about how to hammer and nail things at a scale where we intuitively understand the physics, but we don't have a good intuition for nanoscale or femtoscale physics, and AI can also deal with the scale we're at right now.
Transhumanism in action
Look at brain computer interfacing; How do you decode signals from the brain? AI can be very helpful in coding the basic coding language in the different parts of the brain used to describe things,” Goertzel said, adding that AI is being optimized for retail and manufacturing.
A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a technology that enables direct communication between the brain and an external device, often through neural signals to allow a computer or prosthesis to be controlled. Companies currently working in this area of neuroscience and biotechnology include San Francisco-based Neuralink, Emotive, and Hello Neuroscience.
“There are many different applications that can be enhanced by AI,” he added. “Then of course, once you get to AGI, you can have AI integrating all these different specific AI applications.”
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) refers to a type of AI that has the ability to perceive, learn, and apply knowledge in the same way that a human can.
Is transhumanism only for the rich?
Opponents of transhumanism argue that the movement is “God's game” or a substitute for religion, and that only the wealthy and elite will benefit from humanity's integration with technology. To be sure, the value of longevity and transhumance research is high.
Goertzel said that won't always be the case, and said more efforts should be made to provide broad and equitable access.
“These little mobile supercomputers that we all carry around have not only benefited the rich,” said Goertzel, whose organization works with software developers in Ethiopia.
“We have 50 software developers working for SingularityNET, and every one of the kids coding for us has a smartphone. Even if you go to a rural village in sub-Saharan Africa, everyone has one. There are feature phones. They use them to keep in touch with their families and to check the city prices of various agricultural commodities that they sell.
Goertzel also emphasized the role of blockchain and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the upcoming Artificial Super Intelligence Alliance ASI token in reducing costs and accessing human-augmenting technology.
“In theory, the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency could help combat these problems by creating a parallel economic system that is not tied to legacy economic systems,” he said. “In practice, this is a challenge, as many governments currently outlaw crypto.”
Another issue that Goertzel highlighted is groups and institutions that store cryptocurrency.
He said that the crypto markets are dominated by the token wheel itself, its own emerging elite. “So that's an important thing to worry about and work against. But so far, it's not clear that transhumanist technologies make this phenomenon any worse than it is now.
Looking to the future.
Despite being a champion of transhumanism and artificial intelligence, Goertzel acknowledges that there must be limits to what can be researched.
He said that we cannot say that no restrictions should be imposed on research. “Clearly, there's a line beyond which, as a society that cares that not all of its members are being killed—there's some research that you want to slow down or not allow. “
Noting that laws are already being drafted with such limitations in mind, Goertzel said the best way forward is to determine how to apply these technologies for the common good as AI. And cybernetics are becoming more advanced and common.
“I don't think efforts to ban AI are going to help because AI is providing a lot of useful value to a lot of people, a lot of businesses,” he said. “There's no precedent for a free society that bans what's useful to everyone. And I think that, eventually, the same will happen with transhuman-based technologies.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.