The geing was cured. The death was conquered. The work was done. The human brain is changed by artificial intelligence. There are babies outside of the uterus. There are virtual children and non- human partners. If we get the transition right, the future of humanity could be completely different by the end of the 21st century. If we don't get it right, that's fine.
The young philosopher-macrohistorian-futurist has a smile on his face. I have to tell you that. In ten years time it will all look different, and in another ten years it will be a total event horizon for me.
Is transhumanism encroaching on domains that religion has traditionally held? I think yes.
Bohan is speaking from a sunny apartment where she is looking after plants. It is far away from the place where she grew up, where it was difficult to be a smart child. She is a member of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University.
She is in Australia to promote her book Future Superhuman: Our Transhuman Lives in a Make-or- Break Century. The subtitle isn't a ploy. She said she believed that. The future of humankind is defined by the century.
What Bohan calls the "tragedies of reality" are aging, sickness and death. She writes that it is a project that aims to make us more than humans.
She says that the project has begun and will transform our world within our lifetimes. She says that this transition is necessary if we are to survive forever.
Bohan doesn't want to think that a baby born in 2030 will have its entire genome mapped at birth, that data will be uploaded to a central health record, and that it will be cross-referenced at any medical appointment. There is no doubt that artificial intelligence will be the most powerful force of the century. Human consciousness could be transferred into a technological sphere. If we get it right, the rise of artificial intelligence and automation may leave more time for leisure, big thinking, and connection.
Bohan is certain that when artificial wombs are viable, women will be happy to be free from the shackles of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
She writes that the book is a love letter to humanity but hers is a tougher love. A love that sees a future for humans but not necessarily for them.
Bohan first encountered transhumanism when she was 21 years old. Science fiction is what it is. It is a long way out. She says it's strange. How fascinating.
The comfortable version is: we have really good health care and everyone’s rich
The documentary Transcendent Man is about the birth of transhumanism. He thought they would find it funny, but it introduced Bohan to the idea of technological singularity, a theoretical point at which the force of technological change becomes out of human control and can affect human civilization.
She was obsessed with poetry and the written word when she was a college student.
It was a point of sadness for me as a young person when I realized that I wouldn't live long enough to see all of the wonderful things that had been written.
As she became more interested in transhumanism, she began to write fiction. There was a tragic repetition if fiction was all about exploring the human experience. She wrote, "We work, we learn, we love, we lose, we die." Something better was offered by transhumanism.
She wrote the world's first book-length history of transhumanism when she was 28. They have a lot of interest in cult-like things.
Achieving human immortality is a preoccupation of transhumanism. A deathless life is not easy to understand. Does the fact that our time on earth is finite affect our value? What is it about death that makes it so sad?
It's the loss of everything that's important to me. She says it's a loss of all things.
She says that if humans could go on in a state of robust health, they would have a cumulative effect. Things that our species could do with that. There are mysteries in the universe. We were able to solve the problems. The depths of each other's souls.
She admits that the word "souls" is a loaded one. She is willing to use spiritual language if there is an alternative vocabulary for what makes consciousness.
Is transhumanism encroaching on the domain of religion? I believe so.
They happen to be very, very clever little boy fantasists who also have engineering degrees and ... reusable rockets
She gave her first big paper when she was a PhD student. A Biologist came up to her and gave her a compliment.
He whispered to her that they were building God. I looked at him and said that I knew.
She says they knew they didn't mean it in a religious way. There is a lot of talk about omniscience, omnipotence, hopefully omni-benevolence, and we are at least getting closer to that.
The question is who controls the force. Power and wealth have been concentrated among a small group of white men because of the rapid growth of technology. Transhumanists still cling to the sci-fi that fascinated them as children.
Many of them are probably little boy fantasists. They are very clever little boy fantasists who have an engineering degree and can build rockets. I don't think we can dismiss the projects they're actually in charge of.
Bohan doesn't think that regulating technology is a good idea.
She wants to know if she would rather have a politician rule the nuclear powers of the nation states or someone with a PhD from MIT who understands the technological systems as best as a human being can. It would be better if it was the tech nerd.
I would rather it not be a person at all. She says that a technological solution to regulation would free decision-making from biases. That might not happen.
She thinks of the worst case scenario from science fiction novels. There is a future where the values of human beings are not shared by ruling Artificial Intelligence.
There is a best case scenario for the end of the century. Bohan expects to live to be at least 112. Humans are done by the end of the century, according to my honest answer. Correct, but humanity is not done. She says intelligence keeps going on.
The ideal of being incredibly intelligent, being able to see farther than any intelligent human being has ever seen, is associated with a utopianism.
She believes that the imagining is beyond the capacity of most mortals. There are some notes for them.
We have good health care and everyone is rich. There is a lot of equality.
I don't think that's where we're going to be I think we are going to be in a better position.
Future Superhuman is a book by NewSouth.
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