Kurzweil's vision: Are we nearing the age of digital immortality?
The past few months have witnessed intense technological development, reminding us of Ray Kurzweil's predictions. According to this well-known futurist and computer scientist, the coming decade is set to bring humanity immortality, and artificial intelligence will successfully pass the Turing test. Kurzweil already has numerous fulfilled predictions in the realm of new technologies.
As early as 1990, Kurzweil predicted that by the year 2000, computers would be able to defeat world chess champions and simultaneously initiate the era of portable computers and smartphones. In 2010, the futurist reviewed his earlier predictions. His analysis showed that out of 147 predictions, 115 were completely fulfilled, 12 were only partially fulfilled, and merely three turned out to be incorrect – including the prediction that autonomous cars would be common by 2009. Now, Kurzweil claims that in the next seven years, humanity will achieve immortality.
What will change in human life in 5 years?
In one of his articles, Kurzweil suggested that by 2030, we will be able to extend the expected lifespan by more than one year annually, ultimately enabling us to avoid dying from natural causes. This is anticipated to be accompanied by changes that will impact our entire world.
The futurist envisions a future where nanobots in our veins repair our tissues and deliver medicines directly to infection sites. Thanks to technology, our minds will be connected to the cloud, allowing us to transmit thoughts, videos, or messages almost instantaneously and create backups of our own memories.
Will artificial intelligence surpass the limits of imagination?
Kurzweil sees 2045 as the moment when artificial intelligence will surpass our current limits of imagination. He does not view this future as dystopian, but as an opportunity to enhance human intelligence to levels never seen before. In his view, AI will multiply our intelligence, leading to a state that will make us "God-like".
Kurzweil bases his conclusions mainly on observing the current trajectory of technological development. As an example, he mentions paralysed individuals who, thanks to electrodes connected to the brain, can form sentences. This is becoming possible due to advances by companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink. We will see in seven years whether these predictions come to fruition.
