2032: The End of Biological Limits — Ray Kurzweil [INTERVIEW] (YouTube Video Transcript)

(00:00:00) Your YouTube transcript will appear here (00:00:00) As we emerge with AI in this way, we (00:00:03) will become a hybrid species. We're (00:00:05) going to find solutions to diseases and (00:00:08) aging. Around 2032, (00:00:11) people who are diligent with their (00:00:13) health are going to reach what we call (00:00:16) longevity escape velocity. We'll be free (00:00:19) to live life without limits. Our (00:00:21) intelligence won't be limited by the (00:00:24) small size of our skulls and ultimately (00:00:26) it will expand a millionfold. Let me (00:00:29) start by explaining how we're going to (00:00:32) connect our brains to the cloud. (00:00:36) I think most people fear death as I do. (00:00:42) It's an incredibly (00:00:45) lonely concept. And it's tragic when our (00:00:48) loved ones die. (00:00:50) Even 20, 30, 40 years after they've (00:00:53) died, we still want them back. (00:00:56) Death is not something to celebrate. (00:00:59) But we've lived in a world where people (00:01:01) just accept it. You hear it all the (00:01:03) time. Oh, life's short. You have to make (00:01:06) the most of it. Some people say they (00:01:09) don't want to live past 100. But I'd (00:01:12) like to see them say that when they are (00:01:14) 100. We've convinced ourselves that (00:01:17) death is a good thing and gives life (00:01:20) meaning. But when we get a (00:01:22) life-threatening illness, we become (00:01:24) desperate to find a cure. When faced (00:01:27) with a choice, people will choose to (00:01:29) live. It's only those who are in (00:01:32) unbearable (00:01:33) physical, mental, or spiritual pain that (00:01:37) choose death. We are the species that (00:01:40) transcends biology. (00:01:42) We have not done that. Our life (00:01:44) expectancy would still be 20, which it (00:01:47) was a thousand years ago. (00:01:50) So overcoming the limitations of biology (00:01:53) is not a new story. It's for why I want (00:01:57) to live indefinitely. (00:01:59) It again comes down to living one day at (00:02:01) a time. I want to live to see tomorrow (00:02:05) because I want to see my loved ones and (00:02:08) I want to continue working on my (00:02:09) creative projects. I don't see a time (00:02:13) when I would not feel that way. You (00:02:15) spend a lot of time pointing out that (00:02:17) the humanity will one day achieve (00:02:19) immortality. You pointed out that our (00:02:21) brain will go to the cloud. They will be (00:02:24) able to live there forever. I wonder if (00:02:28) we can then talk about immortality. (00:02:31) Shouldn't we ask a different question? (00:02:33) For example, can such a state be called (00:02:37) life? (00:02:39) As AI (00:02:41) merges with medicine, (00:02:44) we're going to find solutions to (00:02:46) diseases and aging. (00:02:49) At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, (00:02:52) MADNA use a range of AI tools to help (00:02:55) design and optimize mRNA sequences and (00:03:01) discovered the sequence of its (00:03:02) successful vaccine in just two days. (00:03:06) They also used AI to speed up the (00:03:08) manufacturing and testing process which (00:03:12) saved many lives. (00:03:14) Bio simulations like these aren't going (00:03:16) to be limited to viruses like CO. With (00:03:20) the exponential growth of computation, (00:03:23) we'll soon have the ability to rapidly (00:03:25) test billions of possible molecular (00:03:28) sequences to find cures ultimately for (00:03:31) all diseases. (00:03:34) By around 2032, (00:03:36) people who are diligent with their (00:03:38) health are going to reach (00:03:40) what we call longevity escape velocity. (00:03:46) This is when scientific breakthroughs (00:03:48) will add more time to our remaining life (00:03:50) expectancy than is going by. Right now, (00:03:54) as you live through a year, you get back (00:03:57) about four months of life from (00:03:59) scientific progress. So you're only (00:04:01) losing about eight months of your life (00:04:04) expectancy for each year that you live. (00:04:07) But as I've said, medicine is advancing (00:04:10) exponentially. (00:04:13) So by around 2032, (00:04:15) we'll be getting back a whole year of (00:04:18) life as we live through a year. And (00:04:21) after that, we'll get back more than a (00:04:23) year back for each year that we live. So (00:04:26) we'll be going backwards in time as far (00:04:28) as our health is concerned. (00:04:30) As we merge with AI in this way, we will (00:04:34) become a hybrid species. We'll still be (00:04:37) human, but we'll be enhanced by AI. (00:04:41) Do you consider people who have cockar (00:04:43) implants or pacemakers or prosthetic (00:04:47) limbs to be less alive? Of course not. (00:04:51) These are early examples of merging with (00:04:53) machines. Our machines are going to (00:04:56) continue to shrink in size and gain in (00:04:59) power to the point where they are (00:05:02) invisible and inside our bodies. As we (00:05:05) emerge with technology, we will no (00:05:08) longer be limited by our biology. We'll (00:05:11) be free to live life without limits. (00:05:14) People will have own cerebral cortex and (00:05:18) an artificial cerebral cortex. Thanks to (00:05:22) this artificial cortex, will they be (00:05:25) able to search for information just like (00:05:29) we do today using Google? (00:05:31) >> Well, let me start by explaining how (00:05:34) we're going to connect our brains to the (00:05:36) cloud. Nanotechnology is an emerging (00:05:39) field that's manipulating materials (00:05:43) measured in nanometers. (00:05:46) One nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter. (00:05:49) For perspective, the head of a pin is (00:05:52) about a million nanometers wide. (00:05:55) Scientists are in the early days of (00:05:57) figuring out how to build nano robots (00:06:00) the size of cells that will function (00:06:02) like today's robots. (00:06:04) Sensing data, processing information, (00:06:08) taking action, (00:06:10) communicating with each other, all on a (00:06:13) molecular level. (00:06:15) This idea might sound futuristic, but my (00:06:18) research shows a steady trend, (00:06:21) leading to a nanotechnology revolution (00:06:23) in the next 15 years. The amount of (00:06:26) computation that once took up an entire (00:06:28) floor of a building now fits on a (00:06:31) smartphone in your pocket. And soon, (00:06:34) what now fits in your pocket will fit (00:06:36) inside a blood cell and will be far more (00:06:39) powerful. (00:06:40) In the 2030s and 2040s, (00:06:43) nanobots will swim in our bloodstream. (00:06:46) Uh they'll perform medical tasks with (00:06:49) precision, deliver drugs straight to the (00:06:52) source, (00:06:54) drill through clogged arteries. (00:06:56) Ultimately, they will go into our brains (00:07:00) non-invasively (00:07:02) through our capillaries, (00:07:04) provide wireless communication between (00:07:06) our neoortex, (00:07:08) which is the top layer of our brains, (00:07:11) and additional digital neurons hosted in (00:07:14) the cloud. Think of it like having your (00:07:16) phone, but in your brain. If you ask a (00:07:20) question, your brain will be able to go (00:07:21) out to the cloud similar to the way you (00:07:24) do on your phone. now only will be (00:07:27) instant. There won't be any input or (00:07:29) output issues and you won't realize it (00:07:32) has been done. The answer just will (00:07:34) appear in your brain like it is part of (00:07:37) you. Some people say they don't want (00:07:40) nanobots in their body, but lots of (00:07:43) people didn't want to use early cell (00:07:44) phones either. Yet today they take them (00:07:47) everywhere and never leave home without (00:07:50) them. Once we connect our brains to the (00:07:52) cloud, our intelligence won't be limited (00:07:56) by the small size of our skulls and (00:07:59) ultimately it will expand a millionfold. (00:08:02) >> Have you ever wondered whether AI will (00:08:06) be able to feel pain? (00:08:08) >> The lines between AI and biology are (00:08:12) going to blur (00:08:14) uh as we merge together. (00:08:17) So it will be difficult to determine (00:08:20) whether our pain is felt biologically or (00:08:24) digitally. (00:08:26) This is similar to the question of (00:08:27) consciousness. (00:08:29) Will AI be conscious? (00:08:31) There's no definitive scientific test to (00:08:34) confirm or deny consciousness (00:08:37) is a philosophical question. (00:08:40) We assume that each of us is conscious (00:08:43) if we seem conscious. But that shared (00:08:46) human assumption breaks down as we start (00:08:49) to move away from humanity. (00:08:52) Some people share the idea that animals (00:08:54) are conscious, but not everybody does (00:08:57) this. And that's where the whole issue (00:08:59) of animal rights comes from. Are insects (00:09:03) conscious? (00:09:04) There's really no way to prove it. (00:09:08) In the future, AI will act as though it (00:09:11) is conscious and therefore we will treat (00:09:13) it as though it