Google's chief futurist: Humans will begin to achieve immortality in 2029

On April 22, according to the American technology blog Geekwire, Ray Kurzweil, a writer, inventor, computer scientist, and chief futurist at Google, recently accepted an exclusive interview with Playboy magazine, sharing more of his insights on technology and the huge impact that technology will have on human life span. Kurzweil said that in the near future, technology will make us smarter and healthier. In the interview with Playboy, he also talked about the impact of technology on the way humans have sex.

1. Technology helps humans become smarter

Kurzweil says our brains have limited capacity and are at least a million times slower than computing electronics. The part of the brain that controls thinking is called the cerebral cortex. By around 2030, we will be able to use nanorobots to enter the brain harmlessly through capillaries and connect our cerebral cortex to the cloud. By then, we will create more profound ways of communication, more profound music and funnier jokes than what we are familiar with today. We will be funnier, sexier and more expressive of love.

Kurzweil compares this change to the process of human evolution, as our ancestors developed the use of their frontal cortex 2 million years ago. He thinks the benefits will be huge.

2. Technology helps people become healthier

Kurzweil claims that we are beginning to reshape the outdated "life software," the 23,000 "little programs" in the human body called genes. By reprogramming, we will help keep humans away from disease and aging. By around 2020, we will begin using nanorobots to take over the immune system. By 2030, nanorobots in the blood will be able to destroy pathogens, remove debris, blood clots, and tumors, correct DNA errors, and even reverse the aging process.

Kurzweil firmly believes that the "Singularity" absolutely exists, and with the help of technology, humans will achieve immortality. Kurzweil believes that humans will achieve immortality in 2045. Because according to his speculation, the creativity of non-biological intelligence will reach its peak that year, exceeding the sum of all human intelligence today by 1 billion times. But before 2045 arrives, Kurzweil believes that we can start the "journey to immortality."

"I think we're going to reach a tipping point around 2029 where medical technology will allow us to add a year to our lifespan for every year that passes," Kurzweil said. "Lifespan will no longer be based on the date you were born, but we'll be adding more lifespan than we've already lived."

3. Technology helps change the future of sex

Kurzweil said that in the future, people will not only be able to have remote sex in different places, but you can even change your own and your partner's identities. In virtual reality space, you don't have to continue using the same body as in the real world. For example, couples can swap bodies and experience sex from each other's perspective. You can also show your partner a more idealized version of yourself, and he/she may also be modified to look like you want. If you get tired of your partner, you can change him/her into someone else, or of course, you can change yourself.

4. Kurzweil’s two theoretical bases

Kurzweil points to two major advances that support his future argument. The first is the speed of technological progress. The Android phone he currently uses is getting smaller and more powerful, and is much cheaper than the $11 million computer he used at MIT in the 1960s. And as time goes by, technological progress will make mobile phones smaller, more powerful, and cheaper.

Second, the Joslin Diabetes Center in Connecticut, USA, is using biotechnology to turn off the fat insulin receptor gene in animals, which allows the animals to eat more food without developing diabetes or gaining weight. After biotechnology is applied to humans, we can discard old genes that have not been used for thousands of years and significantly extend lifespan.

It is still too early to prove whether Kurzweil's predictions will come true, but he does not want to die before the "singularity" arrives. For this reason, Kurzweil follows a strict diet, hoping to live until 2045 so that he can live forever.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.