This article discusses the issue of whether humans should “upload” our brains to electronic computers. The article argues that while there might be substantial benefits to uploading our brains this way, the technology would create new risks as well. While it may be decades or even centuries before we have the technical ability to emulate human brains, we should begin to consider those risks now.
The article begins as follows:
The human brain is, by some accounts, the most complex and powerful object in the known universe. The product of billions of years of evolution, it is an advanced network of neurons, neurotransmitters, and other biological matter. It enables us to understand the universe and perform the complex tasks through which humanity has come to dominate the planet.
Someday, it may become possible to “upload” the content of our biological brains into electronic computers, just as we now upload attachments to emails. Your uploaded, computerized brain would—if all goes well—process information just as your biological brain does now. It would have all your memories, your ideas, and your ways of thinking. It would, in a sense, be “you”.
If we upload our brains, what would happen next? This is the theme of a new book The Age of Em: Work, Love, and Life When Robots Rule the Earth by Robin Hanson , an economist at George Mason University. The book provides vivid descriptions of the world of uploads, or “ems,” which is short for brain emulations. It covers a wide range of details, from the size of their cities to the types of music they might listen to.
The remainder of the article is available in Scientific American.
Image credit: Oxford University Press
This blog post was published on 28 July 2020 as part of a website overhaul and backdated to reflect the time of the publication of the work referenced here.