Elon Musk sees himself as a visionary, aiming to transform civilization with his companies, including Tesla. One of the others, Neuralink, is an artificial intelligence company that designs and installs brain-machine interfaces. The goal is to strengthen our cognitive abilities through direct interactions with our brains.
During Tesla’s AI Day last September, the billionaire promised to create a “future of abundance” with AI by producing a machine, Optimus, a humanoid robot, that can replace humans.
“We could download things that make us unique”
“This means a future of abundance, a future where there is no poverty, where people can have whatever they want, in terms of products and services. It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it,” he said at the time.
Neuralink makes a machine into which we can download our memories and emotions.
“We could download the things that we think make us so unique. Now, of course, if you’re not in that body anymore, it will definitely make a difference, but as far as preserving our memories, our personality, I think we could do that.” Musk said in April 2022.
In November, he claimed that the first human implant of a brain interface was six months away: “We’ve been working hard to get ready for our first human,” Musk said. “We’ve submitted most of our paperwork to the FDA, and we think probably in about six months we should be able to have our first Neuralink in a human.”
However, their ambitions to push the frontiers of technological innovation and what is possible have limits.
The billionaire has just taken a position in the very sensitive debate about immortality, or the extension of life expectancy without end.
For the tech magnate, extending life expectancy is not good for civilization, especially when this is not accompanied by an improvement in the cognitive abilities of the elderly.
His opinion, which is sure to provoke debate, came in a comment to a message from the socialist magazine Jacobin on Twitter.
In this article, Jacobin deplores what the platform calls the quest for immortality among the richest and claims that it harms the rest of humanity.
Jacobin sees an effort toward long-term control
“Living well beyond 100, or even forever, would allow the wealthy to accumulate wealth and wield compound power for extraordinary periods of time, meaning even more control over the lives of many short-lived ones,” Jacobin wrote. January 1st. . fifteen.
“This is a rare case where I agree with Jacobin,” Musk said. “Increasing the quality of life for the elderly is important, but longer life expectancy, especially if cognitive decline is not addressed, is not good for civilization.”
“We are already ruled by a gerontocracy!”
This latest comment echoes the criticism that the billionaire has launched against US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. He had advocated for an age limit for candidates who want to run for office.
“It didn’t occur to the founders of the US that people would live that long, so they set age minimums (for wisdom), but no age maximums (for… 😴),” the billionaire posted on Twitter. last may.
Musk believes that Biden and Trump are too old to lead the US. He believes that they should not run for president in 2024. Biden turned 80 in November and will turn 82 shortly after Election Day 2024. Donald Trump turned 76 last June and will turn 78 in the next White House elections.
Musk’s stance on life extension generated many comments from sharply divided Twitter users.
Some point out that the science of antiaging is not to create immortality but to maintain a healthy life.
“Anti-aging science is not about creating immortality, it’s about living a healthier, richer life, the by-product of that is longer life cycles,” one Twitter user commented.
“Aging is a medical problem, we know that now,” said the SENS Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to applying regenerative medicine to aging.
“Our work is about healthier lives. Being healthier IS what will make our lives longer, it is not about creating insane, immortal human beings. Medicine today still prolongs life in poor health and we are working to change that. Check it out!”
