The value people give to their information has changed radically in the last couple of decades. Nowadays people have their lives linked to not one but several media accounts, we are becoming increasingly dependent on the internet and have already reached a point of no turnaround. The important question though is, what lies ahead? Will this connectedness continue to increase forever?
There are several paths that have been discussed by tech giants and futurists such as Elon Musk, Ray Kurzwell and even Stephen Hawking. Some theorise that we will become cyborg-like organisms and constantly be connected with every other human in the planet. Ray Kurzwell (director of engineering at Google) stated that we will become increasingly non-biological and sync gradually through technology becoming something one could call a superhuman.
Similar to a computer, our brain is essentially (in a very simplified manner) a set of electrical connections that make sense of reality through our senses. In essence, our brain turns data into information in a similar way computers do. This opens the possibility, as Mr Hawkings explains, “to copy the brain onto a computer and so provide a form of life after death”. Although computers are still far behind the capabilities of a brain, their growth is (as Moore’s Law states) exponential making the possibilities infinite.
In the case this ever occurs, then data and information will not be valued as they are now, they will be valued as life. Life will become bits, 0s and 1s travelling through an electrical circuit. This is where the value of information changes completely its direction.
The ethical, moral and psychological issue here comes with the concept of self-awareness. If you pay close attention to Mr Hawkings claims, it is important to note that he uses the word “copies” instead of transfers. So you do not transfer your consciousness, you merely make a copy of it in a computer such as making a copy of a word document. So, what does this imply? Well, following up on the metaphor, making a copy of the document leaves you with 2 copies and even if there was only one, how can you prove that you are self-aware?
In this case, one biological and one non-biological, the tough question here is, who is the real one? Is the one inside the computer really conscious or is it just a set of commands following protocols through hardware? Will we ever even reach this moment?
Sources:
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/can-an-uploaded-brain-live-forever–1329189
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35786771
http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/661470/EXPLAINED-How-we-will-soon-be-able-to-upload-our-MINDS-to-computers
