‘Transhumanist’ who believes people will one day ‘download’ versions of themselves insists humanity’s biggest threat is ‘robot organ’ hackers

A FORMER American presidential candidate and self-described 'transhumanist' says humans will soon live forever by downloading themselves onto 'the cloud'.

Zoltan Istvan believes human consciousness will be uploaded onto software, making the physical body a thing of the past.

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But the potential for hackers to take over our robotic organs may be the greatest looming future threat, he claims.

Istvan spoke on , explaining: "Getting hacked when you have a bionic heart or robotic eyes is going to be incredibly dangerous."

Host Richard Madeley seemed equally concerned, asking: "What if you're taken over by a malevolent virus in the cloud?"

Getting hacked when you have a bionic heart or robotic eyes is going to be incredibly dangerous."

Transhumanist, Zoltan Istvan

"That's the same as cancer or living in a biological body," Istvan replied, though he acknowledged it was a "very real worry".

He continued: "We have these horrible things that happen to us.

"We're hoping that in the cloud we won't have so many tragedies or diseases ... In the transhuman  future even if there are viruses they will be more benign than the spectrum of cancers out there."

WHAT IS TRANSHUMANISM?

Istvan, who ran for the US 2016 Presidential campaign under the Transhumanist Party, believes we can 'cure' death by using technology to download our consciousness.

He says: "Most of us in a thousand years will be uploaded into the cloud".

The transhumanist movement effectively sees the future consisting of freethinking decision-making entities existing without a physical form.

Most of us in a thousand years will be uploaded into the cloud."

Zoltan Istvan

"At some point either through genetics or artificial intelligence we're going to be able to create a human being that is far superior to what we are now," Istvan says.

He lists robotic hearts controlled by AI, genetic enhancements designed to defy ageing, and bionic eyes as examples of how we will modify the human body to "to make ourselves more functional and to live longer".

"Probably within ten to twelve years we're going to have a type of artificial intelligence that's as smart as human beings.

"Once we have the intelligence ... to allow us to take our thoughts and interface them with a machine environment and literally upload it into the cloud then very quickly from that point on we'll be able to upload our consciousness."

Istvan estimates this kind of future isn't far off.

"I'd say it's going to be around 2042," he says.

UPLOADING TO THE CLOUD

And there are more possibilities in sight, Istvan says.

"Maybe you don't just upload one version of yourself.

"Maybe there's 100 versions of yourself. You can create other versions of yourself.

"Some people want to have a thousand copies of themselves in different ways."

HAPPINESS, DOWNLOADED

"We're going to live in a world where you can download happiness, download fulfilment, download the things you really want in life and make it a utopic existence.

"People are going to find themselves in a new world where they can reach all the possibilities they've only dreamt of.

"It will almost be like crossing a continent."

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