Who Wants to Live Forever?
Byte-sized immortality: Exploring tech's latest leap.
Hey there!
Sending you warm vibes from an unusually sunny London. Hope you're soaking up the year's last moments and gearing up for all the festive goodness heading our way. 🎄✨
When my kids were born, I created an email address for each of them. I’ve made it a habit to send them thoughts, photos, and videos of my experiences through life, whether with them or not.
Why?
Well, my hope is to create some kind of time capsule for them to discover when they're older. It's my way of saying, “Hey, here's a piece of your dad, preserved in digital ink, just in case”.
I figure if they have my thoughts, they'll understand me better.
Plus, even if things go smoothly and I'm around 🤞, they'll get a taste of what their younger pops was like, thoughts and all.
But what if technology could make me immortal, virtually speaking? What if, by processing all my writings, speeches and conversations, it could create a virtual avatar that thinks and acts just like me?
My emails to my kids would become pointless, as this forever-version of me could hang around with them, nudging them with dad advice. Until they decide to hit the OFF button, of course.
ABBAcadabra: The eternal showtime
Although this might seem like some sci-fi flick, this stuff's actually happening right now.
Ever heard of ABBA Voyage? It’s a show of the legendary Swedish group, happening in London 7 days a week in front of cheering audiences.
Except, it’s not actually them, but the digital versions of themselves (or rather, their 28-years-old selves). 🕺🎤
Picture it: the band's digital clones jamming out to "Chiquitita" and "Dancing Queen" like they’re in their prime, while the real members kick back and relax.
It's blowing minds and making millions. (Check out more about it here!)
And if that's not enough, Kiss is gearing up to join the immortality club too. Seems like the music industry's got a thing for eternal stardom!
A blessing or a curse?
Now, there are certainly some perks to this digital era of immortal artists. It extends an artist's legacy, cracks open new commercial ventures, and even allows for posthumous artistic collaborations. Sounds cool, right?
But, it’s not all sunshine and holograms:
There are ethical and legal dilemmas about using an artist's likeness after they've taken their final bow.
An oversaturation of digital gigs might water down the essence and value of their art. A talent inflation, basically.
And authenticity? Can a hologram truly replicate the sheer energy of a live show?
Let's dive deeper into this tech whirlwind.
Imagine if eternal avatars hogged the limelight, leaving little room for fresh talent to bloom. Would we miss out on discovering the next big thing?
Plus, if every gig becomes immortal, there’s the risk that the thrill of a one-time-only concert will fade into obscurity.
And what if everyone became a holographic time traveller? Picture Socrates, Plato, Leonardo Da Vinci, Martin Luther King, and Barack Obama discussing climate change. It sounds exciting until a company decides to bring back a clone of Hitler for the CEO's mentorship.
Finally, this brings up quite some legal headaches. Figuring out who gets the cash when the artist isn't there any more, and how long it should keep coming in, can get pretty tangled. 🌀
Byte-sized immortality
This new technological leap seems like a significant step toward potential immortality. It's like a new chapter in the age-old quest for everlasting life. But, wait a minute – is this what true immortality looks like?
Imagine my grandchildren chilling with my digital twin in 100 years. Are they actually chilling with me? What about our good ol’ flesh-and-bone existence? And the finite nature of living beings? Are we morphing into some kind of hybrid life, part human, part digital? 🤖
I wonder if this is where the path to immortality truly lies, or rather we are merely scratching the surface. And, most of all, what does this mean for the essence of our human experience?
Sure, this tech is enabling powerful marketing touchpoints, but is also confronting us with an open-ended puzzle worth exploring.
What’s your stance? Reply to my email or comment down below to contribute to the conversation.
Stay curious! 🙌🏽
-gs
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Hi Giuseppe, such an interesting topic.
I guess that we should look back at what immortality meant to the past masters, artists and ancient civilities. Everyone of them had their own point of view but we could agree that their referred to some types of decisions, actions or works that would have been able to say something great about them, building a legacy able to stand the passage of time in this world. This whole concept is tied to their human experience in creating something able to speak about them for them, something recognisable, something tangible.
Somehow I think that the time capsule that you are buidling for your children will be much more worthy that a digital copy of yourself hanging around home as this might not be under your control anymore. Plus you are choosing what to leave to them. Choice is the key and delegate this to a digital self will be always, somehow, limited and unauthentic.
And this brings back us to think again about how autenticity is gaining a new value, and how what we do is connected to what we are.