Transcript Human Computers - Glacier Peak High School

Human Computers
Cormac.Power
Whole brain emulation
• Mind uploading or a consciousness transfer is the
very possible process of copying or transferring a
human conscious mind from a their biological
brain to a non-biological substrate.
• This process is done by mapping and scanning the
brain and making a full digital copy of its state
along with all its chemical and electrical activity,
into a computer system or a different
computational device.
• Mind uploading has been seen by Futurists as a
“logical endpoint of the neuro-informatics and
computational neuroscience fields.
• It is also discussed in artificial intelligence
research publications as the start to a strong AI. (
AI that matches or exceeds human intelligence)
• Also the trans-humanist movement has proposed
it as a for of life extension technology, used to
extend the human life longer than its natural
lifespan.
Its possible
• Mind uploading is widely seen as a futuristic
but possible technology , although many
mainstream researchers remain skeptical.
• But the question that a emulated brain is still
human is debated by philosophers and can be
seen as impossible by those who have a
dualistic view of the human mind or “soul”
witch is common in many religions
What are the benefits of Mind
Uploading?
Massive Economic Growth
• Mind Uploading can be a huge help on our
population. If our brain can work with
computer power we can see by 2050 the
intelligence and robotics increase greatly.
Intelligence Enhancement
• A fast mind doesn’t mean its smarter. With
mind uploading we can run step by step over
such minds that just might make them more
efficient
Escape from direct governance by the
laws of physics
• Mind uploading can be much clearer in a
virtual world of their own. Mind uploading will
be the master of a virtual environment called
SecondLife. Today it can be done in a limited
fashion.
Lifespan
• In the near future, if mind uploading can be
possible, then it could lead to immortality.
Immortality can be a huge deal, better than
life extension therapies of biological bodies.
Current Research
• The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne along with
IBM, launched the Blue Brain project in 2005, this projects purpose
is to create a computer simulation of a mammalian cortical column
down to the molecular level.
• In 2007 at the University of Nevada a research team ran a artificial
neural network “ as complex as half of a mouse brain” on a IBM
blue gene supercomputer. The researchers had seen “biologically
consistent” nerve impulses that flowed through the virtual cortex.
But lacked the structures seen in a real mouse brain. This was the
out come of the blue brain project, now that it has been proven
possible to simulate a mind, as future progress is made , it wont be
long till mind uploading.
• IBMs Blue gene design (as mentioned before) is to simulate the
electrical behavior of neurons based upon their synaptic
connectivity, along with the complement of intrinsic membrane
currents in the brain.
Early Science fiction examples
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The theme of Mind up loading has been seen in countless different works of
science fiction
The first example of mind uploading in fiction is in Frederick Pohl’s story “The
Tunnel Under the World” a story about a Chemical factory that uses Human brains
that have been put into robotic body's, but in this example instead of the brain
being scanned of a living human and extracted into the computer, the minds were
of the dead workers of the original chemical factory. A whole different idea that
mind up loading could be used to bring one back from the dead or prevent them
from dyeing. Written in 1955
Other novels that the idea of mind uploading was used are Arthur C. Clarke’s novel
“ The City and the Stars” or Isaac Asimov’s short story “The Last Question “ both
written in 1956
One of the greatest and best “Multiverse” ideas of science fiction that includes the
idea of mind up loading was the book “Detta ar Verkligheten” written by the
famous and renowned philosopher and logician Bertil Martensson. In his book
people are uploaded into computers to control overpopulation are believe that
they are “alive” but the reality is that they are playing elaborate and extremely
advanced fantasy games. This leading into the idea that maybe being uploaded
could have diverse and negative effects on the human consciousness
film examples whole brain emulation
• The idea of whole brain emulation or mind uploading has become very
popular in not only the TV and film industry , but the video game industry
as well.
• The TV show Red Dwarf the massive mining ship has a crew of over 2,000.
To keep this 5 mile long ship operating at maximum , in the deep reaches
of space it has to have a specialized and skilled crew. When someone of
major importance dies on the ship there brain in transferred into the main
ships computer and them they themselves are projected around the ship
as a hologram, keeping them alive but not allowing them the ability to feel
anymore.
• The film Tron is amazing example of not only mind uploading but full body
digitization. The human programmer Fynn is digitized by a artificial
intelligence that already existed inside of the computer, but not
integrating his mind with the computer but projecting it into a virtual
world, like a videogame.
Modern examples of mind
uploading
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As science fiction branches out from novels and film into the videogame genre, Mind uploading wasn’t
left behind.
In the PC game “Portal” a Rouge AI forces a human named Chell to complete and survive a system of
complex and deadly tests, all based around the portal gun (a gun that makes two interlocking
quantum space holes ), as the game progresses the AI now known as Gladous , mocks you and treats
Chell as if she was nothing more then a lab mouse, but in the end is is realized that Gladous herself
was originally human and that having her mind uploaded into the computer system and being
programmed with the purposes of the computers that have now become her desires has driven her
insane. This is a outcome that many scientists have taken into consideration that if the mind is
uploaded could it be controlled or edited like a computer program? And what effect will that have of
what was originally human?
Another Idea in the anime series “ Ghost in the Shell” is that not only have the human downloaded
their brains into computers , but that each person is now a android , a completely robotic body
capable of living forever and sustaining mass amounts of damage and be able to survive in the most
hostile of environments. Humans that still have body's that resemble humans, with skin blood, but
underneath are a cold robotic system, would these people still be considered human?
End
• So in conclusion , mind uploading is possible
and isn't very far off , scientists are working on
it every day and soon it will no longer be a
possibility but a reality, But in the end the
repercussions that can occur are still
there(insanity, hacking , computer related
viruses), and the possibility that when
uploaded that you no longer are human still
exists , so the choice is yours , when I comes
along will the benefits out weight the risks?
Works sited
• Michael Anissmov at AcceleratingFuture.com
• Wikipedia Article “Whole brain emulation”
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_uploading
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_uploading
_in_fiction