before your mind will be merged with AI.
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The end of ageing
One of tech’s big talking points right now is a rather lofty aim – to defy ageing. While many have tried, Kurzweil believes we are nearing a point in time where we can not just slow ageing, but combat it entirely.
“We’re going to solve ageing in the next 5 to 10 years. Right now, as you get older, the probability of you dying the next year goes up. By the time you get to your 90s or older, there’s a very high chance of dying each year,” says Kurzweil.
“We’re going to overcome that. It’s already happening in medicine – we’re seeing AI rapidly speed up medicine and drug discovery. By the time we get to around 2029 to 2035, I firmly believe we will reach longevity escape velocity.”
A somewhat controversial concept, the longevity escape velocity suggests that people can live indefinitely by extending their remaining life expectancy faster than time passes. To achieve this, technology would need to advance to the point where it could actively achieve medical intervention equal to life lived – effectively gaining a year for every year lost.