Would You Transfer Your Consciousness into a Robot to Live Forever?

ImageForArticle_193(1)A company called Humai is seeking a way to transfer your capacity to think a non-biological equivalent. It’s the stuff of science fiction, but they’re really trying to do this, and I think it’s pretty cool.

This isn’t the first time a person or company has tried to retain their consciousness post-death, but all of them included freezing your brain and trying to reinvigorate it later. Humai is trying to both digitally capture the way you think and freeze your brain (just in case?). Here’s how they put it:

“We’re using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to store data of conversational styles, behavioral patterns, thought processes and information about how your body functions from the inside-out.”

I can only imagine how jarring this would be. Imagine if you signed up for this service, you have a heart attack, and you wake up (from your perspective) a few minutes later, but really it’s 30 years in the future when Humai has figured out the process.

Or maybe it wouldn’t feel like a few minutes–maybe we do retain some aspect of our consciousness when we’re dead. Imagine being in some sort of euphoric, heavenly state for 30 years, and then suddenly you’re ripped back to earth in a robotic body. That might be quite unpleasant.

Would you sign up for this? If you did sign up for it, what if you had the option to choose how long into the future you’d like to be reborn? Instead of choosing the 30-year option, how about 300 years? It would feel a bit like time travel–close your eyes one minute, open them in 2315 the next.

All of that said, I have my doubts that this is scientifically possible. Sure, you might be able to simulate brain power in a digital device, but to actually transfer consciousness? That seems highly unlikely.

7 thoughts on “Would You Transfer Your Consciousness into a Robot to Live Forever?”

  1. This is super weird timing of this blog. Jeff and I watched the movie Self/Less last night with Ryan Reynolds and it basically had this exact premise but you get transferred into another human body through a process called “shedding”. And a lot of problems come throughout the movie because of it. You should see it. But we were talking about it after the movie if it would actually be possible. We figured at some point maybe, but we’re not there yet.

    Heck no I wouldn’t do it. That’s messing with God’s will right there. When I’m gone I want to be in Heaven with Jesus, and other friends and family, not wake back up to be in the future as a robot. That sounds horrible compared to eternity with Christ. There’s no way they could transfer your soul into a robot, if that’s what you’re referring to as “consciousness”. Science can try all they want but it’s still up to God. ?

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  2. While I love the idea of this, and I would probably do it, I do worry “consciousness” wouldn’t actually carry over. The machine-brain might act like me to some degree, but would “I” be there to feel like myself anymore. I mean, I’d be dead at that point, but there would be some android carrying on in my place.

    I’d probably want to double down and have the cyborg machine-brain along with the frozen-brain-in-a-clone-body version of myself so the two of us can argue over which is real.

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  3. This would be a great episode for Black Mirror! I know they did a similar one where someone was replicated from their online and social media presence, but this kind of takes it a step further. They could also write it from the perspective of the person that’s brought back, instead of from their family’s point of view. Super creepy.

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  4. Leandra: That’s good timing! I’ll check out that movie. 🙂

    Andrew: I agree, I don’t see it as possible to transfer over actual consciousness unless (maybe) your actual organic brain was moved to a new body.

    Katie: Good thing Black Mirror is coming back with more episodes! 🙂

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  5. The movie Chappie dealt with this premise, and to a lesser extent so did Season 2 of Hemlock Grove (on Netflix). In Hemlock Grove, it was slightly interesting because both versions of the same person existed, at least for a while, simultaneously. I’m not quite sure what I hold true about consciousness–we simply don’t understand it enough for me to hold firm viewpoints–but at times I like to think that our consciousness exists outside our body. There is a lot of science to support this. Also, what if Carl Jung is right and there is a Collective Unconscious?

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  6. Thank you for sharing! I was excited about Chappie until I read some reviews. Is it worth watching? I share your hunch that our consciousness exists outside of our body…I’m just not sure how that works. 🙂

    Reply

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