Neurotechnology and the 2045 Initiative
Below is quoted a mainstream media piece on Dmitry Itskov's 2045 Initiative, an exemplar of that section of the futurist community who look forward to non-biological strategies for extending life. The underlying goals of reverse engineering the brain, building brain simulations, and integrating technology with neural tissue and functions are very much in the air these days, and a number of large US and European projects are underway in this space.
At the tender age of 32, Dmitry Itskov is not yet a billionaire, although a lot of respected news outlets think otherwise. He is a millionaire many times over - a survivor of the dot-com bubble who made his fortune building a media empire in Russia. Like many people who become extremely rich very quickly, he has decided to invest some of his money in innovative, forward-looking endeavors. But his idea is more ambitious than most: radical life extension.In 2011, Itskov founded the 2045 Initiative, which is named for the year when he intends to complete the project's ultimate goal: to outwit and outrun mortality itself. His "avatar" project is a four-stage process, beginning with the development of androids directed by brain-computer interfacing - mind-controlled robots, in other words. It would culminate in a computer model of a person's brain and consciousness, which could be uploaded into a machine for posterity. An eternal problem, solved.
To achieve cybernetic immortality and turn what he calls his "science mega-project" into a reality, Itskov's 2045 Initiative is funding labs around the world; Itskov is both investing his own money and raising external capital, building support among entities ranging from Ivy League universities to large corporations to even the Dalai Lama. Even if Itskov doesn't reach his final goal of radical life extension via avatars, the amount of attention he's bringing and money he's investing in neurotech research have many people excited. And Itskov is just one in an increasingly crowded field.
While I don't agree that the end goal here is useful from a practical standpoint - a copy of you is not you - the next few decades are certainly going to be a very interesting time in applied neurotechnology.