Ray Kurzweil’s Wildest Prediction: Nanobots Will Plug Our Brains Into the Web by the 2030s

As reported, "of the 147 predictions that Kurzweil has made since the 1990s, fully 115 of them have turned out to be correct, and another 12 have turned out to be "essentially correct" (off by a year or two), giving his predictions a stunning 86% accuracy rate."

I am a HUGE Kurzweil fan. For those who don't know, Ray Kurzweil is an American author, computer scientist, inventor and futurist. Essentially, he is known for making calculated predictions on the advancements of technology using mathematics (mainly), and he's pretty darn good at it. As you can see in the quote about, an 86% accuracy is absolutely incredible, considering some of his predictions were years and years ahead of the predicted coming of the technology he was discussing about. So when he makes predictions about future technologies, it's best to take them into deep consideration.

This particular prediction isn't totally new, as he goes into detail on the topic within is book 'The Signularity Is Near'. He states:

"In the 2030s," said Ray, "we are going to send nano-robots into the brain (via capillaries) that will provide full immersion virtual reality from within the nervous system and will connect our neocortex to the cloud. Just like how we can wirelessly expand the power of our smartphones 10,000-fold in the cloud today, we'll be able to expand our neocortex in the cloud."

More info here

This is both incredibly exciting, and absolutely terrifying.

I can already hear some of your keyboards typing away about how "People are already so disconnected from each other due to modern technology, that this would just be a nail in the coffin for social interaction." Well, I partly agree with you. This technology can very well allow an individual to totally escape reality, and enter a entirely customized virtual relativity where imagination is the only limiting factor on the vast possibilities it can mold into. Looking from a different perspective, however, this can also lead a completely new level of human intimacy with brain-to-brain communication.

The possibilities are endless, and the situations that puts are in are equally so. The spectrum wouldn't black and white when it comes to experiences, it would be totally dynamic and individualistic; not to mention an easy-to-access form of storing memory, learning new things, and denying ignorance all together.

The link goes further into detail, but here are the title's of some of the subjects they discuss when referencing this type of technology:

~ Google on the Brain: the ability to "know" anything you desire, at the moment you want to know it.
~ Scalable Intelligence: you'll be able to scale up the computational power of your brain on demand, 10x or 1,000x
~ Living in the Virtual World: If our brains can truly connect at high bandwidth, you will be able to bypass our current sensory organs (eyes, ears, touch) to the point where brain's perception of reality can be driven completely by a gaming engine — a virtual world.
~ Extended Immune System: nanorobots will be able to communicate wirelessly, download software when new pathogens arrives, and attack cancer, cancer stem cells, bacteria, viruses, and all the disease agents.
~ Downloadable Expertise: Think "The Matrix".... need I say more?

and more!

It's going to be an interesting lifetime, no matter what direction we take.

I wouldnt be surprised if it happens sooner than that.

I think it was last year I read that scientists discovered that the brain is capable of producing active neural connections to electronic sensor implants.

All we have to do now is figure out how to teach ourselves to be able to mentally connect to those neural connections to make it useful.

and will it be run by Windows 15 ?
not only will they know what we think.
but they will Make us think what They want.

a reply to: buddha

Lmao,... and dont forget the daily updates and reboots.

Avast for the brain is needed.

Bring it on! Exciting times.

I think by 2050 humanity will be enhancing itself. And by the end of the century it won't look anything like it does today.

Now time to hit the gym... gotta stay in shape so I can still be around to see these radical changes.

originally posted by: Ghost147
~ Google on the Brain: the ability to "know" anything you desire, at the moment you want to know it.
~ Scalable Intelligence: you'll be able to scale up the computational power of your brain on demand, 10x or 1,000x
~ Living in the Virtual World: If our brains can truly connect at high bandwidth, you will be able to bypass our current sensory organs (eyes, ears, touch) to the point where brain's perception of reality can be driven completely by a gaming engine — a virtual world.
~ Extended Immune System: nanorobots will be able to communicate wirelessly, download software when new pathogens arrives, and attack cancer, cancer stem cells, bacteria, viruses, and all the disease agents.
~ Downloadable Expertise: Think "The Matrix".... need I say more?

So, everyone will know everything... I can just imagine ats in 15 years..
Indeed, exciting, yet terrifying.

a reply to: smirkley

I think the brain will adapt to write its own operating system for these devices. One that will make the most advanced O/S today look like Pong.

And do not be shocked, but the porn industry is usually the first industry to exploit new and profitable technologies.

Thanks, I thought I was a young 57, now I feel like a dinosaur.

There are several reasons I find this abhorrent:

Google aren't known for their altruism.

The elite isn't known for its altruism either; all social empowerment has either come with strings or has been paid for with the blood of those who stood up and demanded change then handed over grudgingly. The potential strings and abuses here are too wide ranging to quantify.

Kurzweil always tactically brushes over the question of ethics when pressed. I don't know if he's so blinded in his mission or if he simply doesn't care enough to fully consider the potential dangers of the things he wants to see come to fruition. He's pretty much a mad scientist with a blank cheque working for a corporation that supersedes government. Science without ethics is insanity.

originally posted by: MagnaCarta2015
Kurzweil always tactically brushes over the question of ethics when pressed. I don't know if he's so blinded in his mission or if he simply doesn't care enough to fully consider the potential dangers of the things he wants to see come to fruition. He's pretty much a mad scientist with a blank cheque working for a corporation that supersedes government. Science without ethics is insanity.

Kurzweil isn't saying he is going to create whatever devices his predictions are on, he is merely making a claim to their expected due date. So, I don't see your accusations as being totally accurate.

this sums it up i would say..

i think the nanos are already there but not for our enjoyment.

Along with the brain being plugged into the net and cloud and whatever name follows those there will be ads. Intrusive ads entering your brain, you will be placed into the scene and experience the taste smell look of any and all products that money can buy. "Instant" credit purchase available, once you think of buying it it'll be droned to your doorstep in thirty minutes or less or your thought process back.

a reply to: Ghost147

This too is part of human biological evolution.

50 Years before Kurtzweil, Pierre Teilhard de Chardain wrote a philosophical book, "The Phenomenon of Man" which described much the same process - and went even further than Kurtzweil did!

If you liked "The Singularity is Near" i would highly recommend that you read Teilhard de Chardain's book.

originally posted by: smirkley
a reply to: buddha

Lmao,... and dont forget the daily updates and reboots.

Avast for the brain is needed.

You are under arrest for downloading pirated media. Your head will be impounded and forensically examined for use as evidence to build our case against you.

Avast ye!

Ohh nanobots would make humans into superhumans able to do everything our smart phones could do and more.

Imagine your mind networked into a network of supercomputers able to instantly calculate your thououghts. Only a matter of time before we are able to move our bodies in different ways to keep pace with our super minds. . . . .

originally posted by: buddha
and will it be run by Windows 15 ?
not only will they know what we think.
but they will Make us think what They want.

If calculated conducive to the overall well being of the planet, I don't see a problem.

originally posted by: Blissful

originally posted by: buddha
and will it be run by Windows 15 ?
not only will they know what we think.
but they will Make us think what They want.

If calculated conducive to the overall well being of the planet, I don't see a problem.

well if i find any nanobots start to mess with me, its overload time..!

zzzt zztttt zztztt zzttttt

a reply to: FormOfTheLord

I dont this tech will make humans superhumans.

I think we will just be organic drones at that point.

You will be upgraded!