This video is made possible by Assassin's Creed Origins, and if you've ever played an Assassin's Creed game
Then you may be familiar with the device called the Animus.
Which allows you to relive the memories of your distant ancestors in a virtual reality environment.
This may be possible in the game, but it's not possible in real life
However the science behind mind uploading
or the process of uploading your consciousness into a computer
to engage your mind in a virtual reality simulation is possible.
Don't go running out to upload your brain yet though because with our current technology this is totally impossible.
It would take an estimated 20,000 terabytes of information to store a fully detailed map of the human brain
While that number may seem achievable that estimate does not consider the complexities of a fully functioning brain with decision-making abilities.
The true data storage needs for a functioning brain would be immense and
nobody really knows how much storage space you would actually need.
Futurist thinkers like Ray Kurzweil and Nick Bostrom believed that the
computational power needed to simulate a human brain will become available later in the 21st century,
with Kurzweil predicting that you'll be able to upload your brain to a computer by the year 2045.
So let's just assume that in the future this actually does become possible
and you have the option of transferring your mind to a computer.
Imagine you could upload your digital mind into a younger robotic body
that would live out your youth,
or use your digital mind in a robot on Mars or anywhere else in space
without the need for a suit or risking your own life to get there.
Would you do it, and what are some reasons why you shouldn't.
Seemingly the possibilities are endless, but unfortunately so are the problems.
Uploading your brain to a computer wouldn't really make you immortal like you may be thinking.
The uploaded mind on the computer would have an identical memory and personality as you but would just be a copy of you.
Similarly if you were to clone yourself you would still maintain your own existence and will eventually die from natural causes.
You may convince yourself of immortality knowing that after you're dead your mind copy could still exist,
but that only exposes countless other problems that our future society will have to deal with.
Philosophically speaking, would there be any way to prove that your uploaded brain would be a conscious being?
Even if it verbally insisted that it was actually conscious, would we believe it?
Or would we think that it's just a string of code acting like it was conscious.
If we assume that the brain upload is actually a fully conscious being, then what rights would they be granted?
Uploads could be erased by computer viruses or malware without the need to destroy their hardware,
which could mean that the assassination of uploads could be easier
than the assassination of their biological human counterparts.
If a virus did erase an upload, then would that be prosecuted as a murder?
If one upload erased another upload, would that upload have committed a crime
punishable by a lengthy prison sentence or even the death penalty?
Would uploads be represented by a biological or fellow uploaded lawyers in court?
The questions really are endless. If a biological person dies would their upload inherit their estate
If in the future the President of the United States dies while in office but has an upload
would the upload be capable of inheriting the position of president?
Could an upload make the call to pull the plug on its biological version
if it was terminally ill or in a coma?
Or perhaps even more weird,
would uploads have marriage and childcare rights?
Could an uploaded mind and a biological human legally marry one another in the future?
These are all potentially enormous social issues
that our civilization will have to confront later on in this century.
And we're currently doing very little to prepare for it.
Most frightening of all however is the possibility that
uploaded minds would process thoughts much faster than their biological counterparts.
This could lead to a situation where leadership positions are given to uploads,
since their decisions would be quicker and more rational.
It's possible that biological humans might react violently towards this growing power of uploads,
especially if their salaries are negatively impacted.
Even more complicated would be how the decision-making process of a digital consciousness
would affect everyday humans.
Actually that'd be a good idea for a movie.
What would happen if somebody invented the technology that allowed you to upload parts of your thoughts
and your experiences so that other people could make better decisions.
I'm gonna go make a video on my channel so we can spitball this
So with all of this knowledge now in mind
Would you be comfortable with uploading your mind to a computer in the future?
If you live long enough to see 2045,
you may have to answer this question eventually whether you want to or not.
And who knows maybe you're already an uploaded mind
and you just don't realize it yet.
If you want to experience something more interesting than real life though,
you can explore the world of Ancient Egypt in Assassin's Creed Origins, which is already out right now
I've been in love with Assassin's Creed games
ever since I got to explore Renaissance Florence and Venice in Assassin's Creed 2.
It gave me a unique insight into the world of Italy half a century ago, and I've gotten that exact same feeling
exploring Ancient Egypt in Assassin's Creed Origins.
What's really interesting to me though is that they're including a mode called
Discovery Tour that turns all of the violence off and gives you a guided tour as if you were actually in
Egypt thousands of years ago. You may not be able to simulate your brain just yet
but exploring Ancient Egypt in Assassin's Creed Origin
sounds like a fair compromise for now.
If it's something you're interested in, check out the link in the description
and I'll see you again next Friday for another new video then.