Many prominent people in the technology industry have spoken about the increasing convergence between humans and machines in the coming decades. For example, Elon Musk has reportedly said he wants humans to merge with AI “to achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.”
His company Neuralink wants to facilitate this convergence so that people are not “left behind” as technology advances in the future. While people with disabilities would be the short-term recipients of these innovations, some believe that these types of technologies can be used to improve the skills of everyone.
These goals are inspired by an idea called transhumanism, the belief that we should use science and technology to radically enhance human capabilities and attempt to determine our own evolutionary path. Disease, aging and death are all realities that transhumanists want to end, in addition to dramatically increasing our cognitive, emotional and physical capabilities.
Transhumanists often advocate the three “supers”: super intelligence, super longevity, and super happiness, the latter referring to ways to achieve lasting happiness. There are many different views within the transhumanist community about what our continued evolution should look like.
For example, some advocate uploading the mind in digital form and regulating the cosmos. Others think we should remain organic beings but rewire or improve our biology through genetic engineering and other methods. A future of designer babies, artificial wombs and anti-aging therapies appeals to these thinkers.
This may all sound futuristic and fantastic, but rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology have led some to argue that we are on the cusp of creating such capabilities.
God-like role
Tech billionaires are among the biggest proponents of transhumanist thinking. It’s not hard to see why: they could be the central protagonists at the most important moment in history.
Creating so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI) – that is, an AI system that can perform all the cognitive tasks that a human can do and more – is a current focus within Silicon Valley. AGI is seen as essential in enabling us to take on the divine role in designing our own evolutionary future.
That’s why companies like OpenAI, DeepMind and Anthropic are rushing towards the development of AGI, despite the fact that some experts warn that it could lead to the extinction of humanity.
In the short term, the promises and dangers are likely to be exaggerated. After all, these companies have a lot to gain by making us think they’re about to develop a divine power that can create a utopia or destroy the world. Meanwhile, AI has played a role in fueling our polarized political landscape, with disinformation and more complex forms of manipulation made more effective by generative AI.
AI systems already cause many other forms of social and environmental damage. However, AI companies rarely want to address these harms. If they can force governments to focus on potential long-term “security issues” related to possible existential risks rather than actual social and environmental injustices, they can benefit from the resulting regulatory framework.
But if we lack the capacity and determination to address these harms in the real world, it is difficult to believe that we will be able to mitigate the larger-scale risks that AI could hypothetically enable. If there was a real threat that AGI could pose an existential risk, for example, everyone would bear those costs, but the profits would be largely private.
A well-known story
This issue within AI development can be seen as a microcosm of why the broader transhumanist imagination may appeal to billionaire elites in an era of multiple crises. It speaks of the refusal to engage in grounded ethics, injustices and challenges and offers a grandiose story of a bright future to distract from the present moment.
Our misuse of the planet’s resources has triggered a sixth mass extinction of species and a climate crisis. Moreover, ongoing wars with increasingly powerful weapons remain part of our technological evolution.
There is also the pressing question of whose future will be transhuman. We currently live in a very unequal world. If transhumanism is developed in our existing context, it is likely to greatly increase inequality and could have catastrophic consequences for the majority of people.
Perhaps transhumanism itself is a symptom of the kind of thinking that has created our perilous social reality. It is a story that encourages us to accelerate, to expropriate nature even more, to keep growing and not to look at the destruction in the rearview mirror.
If we are truly about to create an improved version of humanity, we need to start asking some big questions about what being human should mean, and therefore what an improvement in humanity should entail.
If man is a striving God, he claims dominion over nature and the body, making everyone receptive to his desires. But if man is an animal embedded in complex relationships with other species and nature in general, then “improvement” depends on the health and sustainability of his relationships.
If man is seen as a threat to the environment, then improvement is certainly what gives a new twist to his exploitative lifestyle. Perhaps becoming more-than-human should create a much more responsible humanity.
One that shows compassion and awareness for other life forms on this rich and wonderful planet. That would be preferable to colonizing and expanding ourselves, with great hubris, at the expense of everything and everyone.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Alexander Thomas does not work for, consult with, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.