Mind uploading
Mind uploading (also known as "mind copying" or "mind transfer" ) describes a hypothetical process of transferring mental content to an external medium. The media used simulate functions of the brain , whereby they should achieve a "virtual consciousness".
Methods
The human brain consists of around 100 billion nerve cells that can communicate with one another through synapses . According to the established neuroscientific consensus, consciousness is an emergent property of the brain in the course of information processes. Important functions of the mind such as learning, remembering and thinking are based on purely physical and electronic processes in the brain that are regulated by valid laws. The concept of consciousness transfer is based on a mechanistic view of the mind, whereby the process of "mind uploading" can be divided into three different methods:
- The first is the replacement or bridging of parts of the brain. The idea behind this is that the human brain is represented by neuroprostheses . This method has already been intensively researched and is used occasionally. The input and output channels of the nervous system are replaced in order to enable normal functioning of the sensory organs and extremities.
- In the second method is a method by means of a scans a reconstruction performs. Theoretical approach is that a copy or a perfect model of the brain is made and transferred to another medium (“whole brain simulation”).
- The third method deals with the reproduction of behavioral patterns . In doing so, information on personal behavior is collected. On this basis, an attempt is made to “create” people in another medium.
Theoretical implications
immortality
With the possibility of outsourcing brain functions, a person's consciousness and spirit would no longer be bound to the body and its restrictions. All information could be stored on different digital media. At the same time, the risk of information loss would be eliminated. The idea of using “mind uploading” to make people immortal can be traced back to George M. Martin (1971).
Economy and population
With sufficient computing power, brains could also be duplicated. This could lead to an exponential population growth if the duplicated brains were to be viewed as separate individuals. As a result of this growth, the economy could also grow, although the consequences ( superorganism etc.) cannot currently be assessed.
intelligence
Faster and computer-based brains would not automatically be better or more intelligent after “mind uploading”. Due to the requirements for the copying process, the intelligence of the original brain would be transmitted as precisely as possible. This could lead to “weak superintelligences” in which the performance of the simulated brain would theoretically be greater than the copied information. With the help of programs that enable the compression of the data and an improvement in performance, the weaker brains could be turned into “strong superintelligence” brains, which would lead to an increase in average intelligence.
communication
Interactions and communication with people are currently limited by the possibilities of speech, facial expressions and gestures. The outsourcing of the brain could make it possible to understand cognitive processes more precisely, which could make a more diverse exchange of ideas and emotions possible than before. Normal speaking would possibly become less important due to this new way of exchanging information.
research
In the past twenty years, various projects with the aim of precisely simulating a brain or part of it have been carried out in the field of mind uploading :
- 1993: Open Wurm Project
- 2005: Blue Brain Project
- 2010: Fruit Fly Project
- Brain Activity Map Project
- Human Brain Project
Science fiction
literature
- The Tunnel Under the World (1955) - Frederik Pohl
- The Seven Suns (1956) - Arthur C. Clarke
- Simulacron-3 (1964) - Daniel F. Galouye
- The fifth head of Cerberus (1974) - Gene Wolfe
- The Resurrection Machine (1980) - Stanisław Lem
- Neuromancer (1984) - William Gibson
- Otherland Series (1998-2002) - Tad Williams
- The Immortality Program (2002) - Richard Morgan
- Accelerando (2005) - Charles Stross
- Glass House (2008) - Charles Stross
- Void Trilogy (2007-2010) - Peter F. Hamilton
- Android Dreams - The Android's Dream (2009) - John Scalzi
- Boy in a White Room (2017) - Karl Olsberg
- Hologrammatica (2018) - Tom Hillenbrand
- Bobiverse (2018) Denis E. Taylor
- Cryonium. The experiments of memory (2019) - Matthias AK Zimmermann
Movies
- The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)
- Wired World (1973)
- The Lawnmower Man (1992)
- The 13th Floor - Are you what you think? (1999)
- The 6th Day (2000)
- Avatar: Departure for Pandora (2009)
- Inception (2010)
- Transcendence (2014)
- Chappie (2015)
- Source Code (2011)
- Self / less (2015)
Series
- Upload (Amazon Prime) (2020)
- Black Mirror - San Junipero (2016)
- Altered Carbon - The Immortality Program (2018)
- in the foreign body (2017)
- Travelers (2016)
- sense8 (2015)
- The 100 (Seasons 6 & 7, 2019/2020)
comics
Video games
literature
- Wiley, Keith: A Taxonomy and Metaphysics of Mind-Uploading . Humanity + Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-692-27984-7 .
- Hanson, Robin: The Age of Em . Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0-19-881782-6 .
Web links
- Sally Adee - Reverse engineering the brain (2008). In: IEEE Spectrum 45/6, pp. 51-55
- Transhumanist writings on uploading from the Foresight Institute
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bernd Vowinkel : Machines with Consciousness - Where Does Artificial Intelligence Lead? . In: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co . 2006.
- ↑ Christof Koch: Can machines be conscious? . In: IEEE Spectrum . 2008.
- ^ Sim Bamford: Framework For Approaches To Transfer Of A Mind's Substrate . In: Complex Systems Modeling Group, Istituto Superiore di Sanità . 2012.
- ↑ Klaus Mathwig: Mind Uploading - New Substrates for the Human Mind? . In: Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics Halle . September.
- ^ GM Martin: Brief proposal on immortality: an interim solution. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine . 1971.
- ^ Carl Shulman - Whole Brain Emulation and the Evolution of Superorganisms , 2010. In: The Singularity Institute, Journal, San Francisco
- ^ Robin Hanson - Economics of the Singularity , 2008. In: IEEE Spectrum, pp. 45-50. ISSN | 0018-9235
- ↑ a b Kaj Sotala: Advantages of Artificial Intelligences, Uploads, and Digital Minds . In: University of Helsinki, MIRI Research Associate . 2012.