Technological progress is pushing beyond the limits of human lifespan. Will artificial organs and artificial brains bring us eternal life? We explore the future unfolding after the Singularity.
Google engineer Ray Kurzweil believes that creating an artificial brain could give birth to the human mind. Kurzweil asserts that by 2045, we will be able to precisely replicate the human brain. Underpinning this radical belief is the ‘Singularity’ arriving in 2045. The Singularity is a point located on an asymptote in mathematics. A steeply increasing function approaches the asymptote infinitely close while simultaneously increasing towards infinity. The point where the asymptote lies is the singularity, and the value the function takes is infinity. Imagining a black hole, a singularity in space, makes it easier to understand. A black hole is like an infinitely deep well, into which stars and light fall. Kurzweil presented data proving that humanity’s nanotechnology and information technology develop exponentially according to the Law of Accelerating Returns. He states that when technology advances exponentially and reaches the singularity, humans will be able to control matter at the molecular level. Humans will gain alchemist-like abilities, enabling them to create artificial brains and organs. The challenge that creating artificial brains solves is overcoming the limits of human lifespan.
The limits of human lifespan have been scientifically researched multiple times, and it has been revealed that related substances exist. In 1961, Hayflick discovered the limit on the number of times human somatic cells can divide and estimated human lifespan to be 120 years based on the average lifespan of human somatic cells being 2 years. Following Hayflick’s discovery, telomeres were found in human DNA. As somatic cells divide, telomeres shorten; once they are completely depleted, human genetic information begins to disappear. When the brain, which holds an individual’s identity, completes its limited number of divisions, its lifespan ends. Kurzweil believes that by 2045, when the singularity arrives, artificial brains will be created, enabling extended lifespans. Alongside artificial brains, the development of artificial organs and highly advanced medical technology could increase human lifespan severalfold. He is known to take hundreds of nutritional supplements to survive until the singularity arrives in 2045.
Let’s envision the future society after the singularity Kurzwail anticipates arrives. In the future, technology will advance to the point where virtual reality becomes indistinguishable from reality. Furthermore, as Kurzwail predicts, artificial intelligence will develop to possess a billion times the intelligence of humans. Humans will connect to an AI cloud, indirectly acquiring this billion-fold intelligence. Highly developed AI will give rise to ‘superintelligence’—entities without specific purposes or frameworks, resembling humans. In this superintelligence society, new entities will emerge: strong AI born of technology and hybrid humans connected to AI. While Kurzweil views infinite life extension as a blessing granted to all individuals, in a superintelligence society, infinite life will instead hold humanity back. We will now examine how human immortality in a superintelligence society could negatively impact society through various scenarios. We will clarify why limiting artificial life extension is necessary, given its unavoidable detrimental effects.
Even after the Singularity, extending life will require replacing not only the artificial brain but also auxiliary organs. When the technology is first introduced, demand for artificial brains will be high. Immediately after reaching the Singularity, high demand will inevitably make life extension extremely costly. Developers like Kurzweil or those with economic means will benefit from the technology. Once a privileged few begin monopolizing this unprecedented privilege of life extension, the temptation to monopolize it further arises. In the worst case, a vicious cycle emerges where the gap widens between a privileged class enjoying longevity and a lower class facing shorter lifespans. The wealthy gain the opportunity to extend their lives, enjoy the extended lifespan, and accumulate more wealth. They gain more opportunities to accumulate more wealth and extend their lifespans further. The extended lifespan then provides more opportunities to accumulate wealth. Once this vicious cycle takes hold, class separation accelerates and the divided classes become entrenched. One counterargument here might be that rapid technological progress at the singularity point, leading to widespread adoption of life extension technology, would solve the problem. In the long term, if life extension technology becomes affordable, everyone could enjoy extended lifespans. However, universal life extension creates new problems.
First, let’s examine the micro-level issues arising from extended lifespans for the majority of humanity. If life extension becomes widespread, many may face their extended lives unprepared. Even in future societies, people will hold jobs and retire when they grow old at work. The amount of retirement savings accumulated by retirement age is finite. If lifespans simply double, additional funds are needed for this extra life. For many, the sudden extension of life creates a longevity risk of financial crisis. With insufficient funds, an individual’s quality of life inevitably declines severalfold. Here, individuals facing this risk must choose between living a long life of diminished quality or choosing death. One counterargument to this problem is that society’s retirement age will shift over the long term to resolve it. Society might delay retirement as everyone anticipates doubled lifespans and maintains exceptional physical abilities into old age. However, only those who avoid immediate retirement would solve the problem. Consequently, there would be an abundance of experienced, healthy individuals unable to find positions. The newly born generation would have significantly less experience than the generation previously in the workforce and similar health conditions. Ultimately, the new generation’s competitiveness in the job market will be relatively weaker, leading to severe employment difficulties. Consequently, the older generation will live longer but lower-quality lives, while the new generation struggles to find their place.
Let’s examine the macro-level problem of extended lifespans for everyone. If the majority of humanity enjoys longer lives, the population will inevitably increase. Looking back at human history, we can see that since the Industrial Revolution, increases in human lifespan have led to population growth. After the Industrial Revolution, life expectancy, which had stagnated around 20 years, began doubling. Within 130 years, the population grew from 1 billion to 2 billion. Another 30 years later, it surpassed 3 billion. Therefore, artificially extending lifespans severalfold will trigger explosive population growth. If resources cannot sustain this explosive population, there are essentially two ways to restore balance: Either resources must increase, or the population must decrease. Unfortunately, material resources within Earth are finite. A significant portion of the population must decrease. In this situation, some will live forever, while others will lose their lives. Deciding who gets eternal life is never a pleasant task. Competition among people to maintain life will be triggered and, in extreme cases, could escalate into war. One might counter that if population explosion leads to war, we can simply leave Earth and settle on other planets. However, this is physically difficult to imagine. The singularity is projected to arrive as early as 2045. The UN Future Report also predicts human lifespans will increase severalfold by 2130. Population explosion is expected within the next 200 years. Unfortunately, planets presumed to have abundant water and oxygen gas essential for human life are located more than 200 light-years away. Nearby planets like Mars and other solar system planets lack atmospheres capable of supporting hundreds of millions of people, nor do they possess lakes containing sufficient quantities of water. Since it is physically impossible to travel faster than light, reaching resource-rich planets within 200 years is unfeasible. Therefore, no matter how hard humans try, the overflowing population on Earth must be resolved on Earth itself.
Humanity’s response to solving Earth’s population explosion actually threatens humanity, so limiting lifespan extension is necessary first. By the time the Singularity arrives, virtual reality can be implemented to the point where it is indistinguishable from reality. Humans, feeling resource scarcity, can create infinite resources within Earth through virtual reality. Beyond the minimum resources needed for survival, virtual reality could provide humanity with surplus resources. Humans could connect their brains to virtual reality, living luxuriously while receiving only minimal actual nutrition. However, this raises issues of values and species preservation. Many people might not accept living in a fake world, connected only by their brains. Furthermore, because it is not actual reality, offspring cannot be produced within virtual reality. One might counter that artificially creating offspring solves this problem. However, artificially creating offspring in the real world cannot be connected to humans meeting and producing offspring in virtual reality. Offspring created for species preservation must be connected to virtual reality, but no link can be found.
Superintelligence emerges, enabling the connection of human brains to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence evolves far faster than humans and possesses superior predictive capabilities. Humans are limited to sugars and lipids as usable energy sources and are necessarily composed of proteins. In contrast, AI robots can survive on electrical energy alone and are constructed from diverse materials. Within an overflowing population, humans in their natural state will be outmatched in capability by AI robots and hybrid humans, placing them at a survival disadvantage. Humans will inevitably face pressure from AI to survive. Consequently, the majority of humans will transform into hybrid humans to secure more favorable conditions. Due to extended lifespans, the super-intelligent society will eventually consist solely of hybrid humans and AI. The humanity we imagine today will vanish into history. While one could argue hybrid humans are still human, they are clearly distinct from the original human species.
Humanity has long sought eternal life, and individuals harbor the desire to live longer. When the singularity becomes reality in the near future, this desire can be fulfilled. However, achieving eternal life for the majority within society, rather than just one individual, presents complex and difficult problems. In the main discussion, we examined the negative impacts eternal life brings to society from various perspectives. From a social stratification perspective, eternal life creates differing lifespans across social classes. Those in higher positions would gain longer lifespans, increasing their chances to maintain their status. More opportunities would solidify their position, perpetuating a vicious cycle. On a micro-social level, there were problems leading to a deterioration in quality of life and severe competition. The generation experiencing sudden lifespan increases, unprepared, could face a drastic decline in quality of life. Newly born generations, competing alongside the older generation, could experience severe employment difficulties. On a macro societal level, a population explosion problem could be observed. This population explosion would cause resource shortages, and in severe cases, war would become unavoidable. Virtual reality could be introduced as a solution to this global population explosion, but it could instead cause problems in other dimensions.
The various aspects examined are organically and temporally interconnected. Life extension technology would not be widely disseminated initially and could be concentrated among a minority, forming a privileged class. The problem deepens through a vicious cycle. If technological advances make life extension affordable and widely available to all, the previous issues are resolved. However, sudden widespread adoption would leave unprepared generations experiencing a diminished quality of life. The decline in quality of life for the older generation increases the social burden and impacts the new generation. The new generation would inevitably face extreme employment difficulties. As time passes and life extension becomes long-term, the global population explodes. Increased resource scarcity leads to excessive competition, potentially escalating into war. To solve the population problem, humanity might adopt virtual reality. This carries lower economic and risk burdens. However, it creates a society difficult for all humans to accept and makes species preservation challenging. Since procreation is impossible in virtual reality, the species cannot be preserved in the physical world. In a super-intelligent society, existing humans become disadvantaged in the competition of a population explosion and face artificial intelligence replacement. Ultimately, this creates the problem of existing humanity disappearing.
Linked to the Singularity era, artificial immortality sequentially triggers negative problems. Even if one problem is solved, another cannot be immediately ignored. If humanity fails to respond appropriately and history proceeds in the sequence described above, reversal becomes difficult. Humans must devise countermeasures before problems escalate further. Life extension is both a human instinct and possesses enormous economic market potential, making prohibition difficult. Therefore, we must borrow the intelligence of the super-intelligent society. We must understand our reality through the intelligence and predictive power of artificial intelligence, which is a billion times more advanced than humans. Using AI’s power, we must determine the maximum lifespan acceptable to all. Humanity must set an appropriate lifespan to prevent catastrophe. This is how humanity gains everything in a super-intelligent society. Through super-intelligence’s technology, we live long lives, predict and prevent disasters caused by excessive greed. I believe this is the best path for humanity.
