How AI is paving its way to a transhumanist future.

As AI disrupts industries including healthcare and is embraced by those seeking to extend human life, the concept of transhumanism is moving from science fiction and the cyberpunk 2077 future to reality for companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink. Implants, Open Bionics Robotic Limbs and Longevity Medicine.

In the year 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 by technology.

“It's not like transhumanists don't like being human; “We want humanity to grow beyond meaning in history,” said Ben Goertzel, founder and CEO of decentralized AI network SingularityNet, in an interview with Decrypt. “This leads to possibilities such as defeating death, improving your body, and having superhuman intelligence where your mind is integrated with a computer.

Goertzel serves as the chairman of the Transhumanist Organization Humanity+It defines it as an intellectual and cultural movement applied to fundamentally improve the human condition for practical reasons, and especially by developing and sharing technologies to prevent aging and enhance human mental, physical and psychological capabilities.

Transhumanism and AI

Although AI has exploded into the mainstream relatively recently, it has always been a key element in the discussion around transhumanism. As applications are now proliferating in industries such as science, medicine and technology, Goertzel says AI aligns with transhumanist goals as it relies on advanced technologies to create significant change.

“We have more information about the human body and different organisms at different levels and the struggles of biostatistics, the struggles of normal machine learning, than any human mind can comprehend,” Goertzel said. “So the more your AI gets better, the better you can integrate all the different biological data, and then you can use AI for hypothesis generation.

Goertzel suggests that nanotechnology may advance AI as the environment beyond humans.

“AI is better than humans at designing things at the nano-scale or femto-scale,” he said. At the level of our intellectual understanding of physics, we have a lot of practical knowledge of how to hammer and nail things. Control the same with our current status.

Transhumanism in action

“Look at brain-computer interaction; how do you decode the signals coming out of the brain? AI can be very useful in making the basic coding language in different parts of the brain used to describe things,” Goertzel said, noting that AI is optimized for retail and manufacturing.

A brain computer interface (BCI) is a technology that allows direct communication between the brain and external devices, often allowing computers or prosthetics to be controlled by neural signals. Companies currently working in this area of ​​neuroscience and biotechnology include San Francisco-based Neuralink, Emotive, and Halo Neuroscience.

“There are many different applications that can be improved with AI,” he added. “Then once you get to AGI, you can have AI coordinating all these different AI applications.”

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) refers to a type of AI that has the ability to understand, learn, and apply knowledge in a human-like manner.

Is transhumanism only for the rich?

Arguing that only the rich and the elite benefit from merging humanity with technology, the anti-transhumanist movement claims it is “playing God” or a substitute for religion. Certainly, longevity and the value of transhuman research is high.

Goertzel said this will not always be the case, and more efforts should be made to provide broad and equal access.

“These little mobile supercomputers that we all carry around don't just benefit the rich,” said Goertzel, explaining that his company is working with software developers in Ethiopia.

“We have 50 software developers who work for SingularityNET, and the kids who code for us there each have a smartphone. Even if you go to a rural village in sub-Saharan Africa, everyone has a feature phone. They use them to keep in touch with their families and check town prices for the different agricultural products they sell.”

Goertzel emphasized the role of devaluing and leveraging human-enhancing technology like Bitcoin, Ethereum and the upcoming Artificial Superintelligence Alliance ASI token.

“In theory, the blockchain and cryptocurrency worlds could be helpful in combating those issues by creating a parallel economic system untethered from legacy economic systems,” he said. “In practice, this is challenging, as many governments ban crypto at the time.”

Another issue that Goertzel focuses on is groups and entities that store cryptocurrency.

“Crypto markets themselves will be controlled by token whales, which are their own emergent elites,” he said. “It's important to be concerned and protest about it. However, it's not clear that human transformation technologies will make this phenomenon any worse than it is now,” he said.

Looking ahead

While Goertzel champions transhumanism and artificial intelligence, he admits there are limitations to what research can be done.

“We can't say that there are no limitations to research,” he said. “Obviously, as a society, that wants its members not to be killed, there's a line beyond that, there's some research that you want to reduce or not allow.

Noting that laws are already being drafted with such limitations in mind, Goertzel said the best way is to determine how these technologies can be used for the common good as AI and cybernetic become more advanced and common.

“I don't think attempts to block AI will help because AI is delivering so much valuable value to so many people and so many businesses,” he said. “A free society has no such precedence as to forbid things that benefit all. And I think ultimately, the same thing will happen with human-centered technologies.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.