The idea of uploading our minds to the digital cloud has not only been taken seriously by Silicon Valley but turned into a business plan. Elon Musk claims digitising consciousness will revolutionise humanity, and the industry is estimated to be worth $50 billion by 2030. But it's unknown whether in principle we can replicate minds with computer code, or whether we should seek to do so. Critics argue we have no idea how a machine could create consciousness and neuroscientists have yet to provide an explanation for how the brain does so. A survey of specialists by Nature found the majority thought it unlikely AI would achieve consciousness anytime soon.
Should we see talk of uploading our minds to the cloud as implausible tech marketing nonsense? Should we conclude that since thought and consciousness are unobservable, it is not going to be possible to replicate the mind with silicon chips? Or is digital immortality such a profound and important sea change in our lives and our potential that we should pursue at all costs?
Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci, computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy and neuroscientist Nadine Dijkstra debate uploading our minds to the cloud.