When it comes to cloning consciousness, you can’t help but think of the cult film Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Do you remember the main character, Douglas Quaid, who lived in a world where technology allowed the implantation of artificial memories? In the film it was clear: why it is necessary, how it works and what it leads to. Now let’s get back to our reality. When they talk about cloning consciousness, no one really explains how it will work. Well, imagine, consciousness copied — but what’s next? Where will it “live”? In a person? On a computer? On a server?
Let’s figure it out: is consciousness cloning a scientific myth or a quite realistic idea that scientists are gradually approaching? At the same time, we will find out how much progress has been made in this matter at the Carboncopies Foundation, Neuralink and Holiverse.
What is behind the fantasies about digital copies of the brain
If you think about it, the copied consciousness should, in theory, end up somewhere far from its original “carrier” — the person who created it. Moreover, it is quite possible that by the time the copy can be “brought to life”, the original will no longer be alive.
Сonsciousness cloning is a process in which all information from the brain — memories, thoughts, skills and, perhaps, even the sense of “I” — is transferred, for example, to a computer or cloud storage. However, there is no exact definition of what precisely a “clone of consciousness” is.
A strange prospect arises: consciousness, torn away from the body, continues to exist in some form, but what kind of life is this? Will consciousness wander around the Internet, wait in the cloud until technology reaches the required level, or will it simply become an archive of memories that no one will ever open? There is no answer to this question yet.
Elon Musk seems to have come closer to the issue of consciousness cloning with his Neuralink, which allows you to communicate with computer systems using a chip in your head. But this is still not quite what we are waiting for. It is more about communication between the brain and devices, and not about creating a full-fledged digital copy of the “I”.
But there is such an organization — Carboncopies Foundation. They have been working on the idea of ”brain emulation” and the creation of so-called substrate-independent minds for several years. They are now working on the possibility of reviving a copy of the brain using technology, without necessarily knowing every little detail.
But the problem is that so far this whole theory rests on practice. At this stage, the Carboncopies Foundation has learned to work only with worms, and in more advanced experiments — with mice. As you understand, it is too early to talk about people.
However, while some are experimenting on worms, and others are trying to make Terminators out of us with chips in our heads, there is “Eternity” project where the question of transferring consciousness has ceased to be hypothetical.
Digital canned goods go to “Eternity”
It took ten years for the “Eternity” project to finish and be able to offer everybody to “can” themselves for the future.
The idea is simple: a digital image of your consciousness is created in the so-called “Memory book”, where you describe your life path, habits, views in great detail. The company assures that this is not just a game for those who love the word “future”. This is a real tool, with a guarantee of preserving your “I” until the moment when technology can fully revive you even after hundreds of years. But who guarantees that this digital archive will not turn out to be just an “exhibit in a museum”?
And what if technology changes beyond recognition, and then your digitized personality will become something like a “cart” in the era of hyperfast starships. Will they open you at all?
Even if we assume that in two hundred years there will be a company that wants to revive you, there might arise much more serious questions than technical ones. What if your “I” is revived in a world that you cannot even understand? In a world where your values, principles and all your cultural baggage become nothing but a joke? You will look out of place there.
And most importantly, will it be you? Who will determine that the digital image really reflects the personality, and does not create its illusion? The story itself is beautiful, but so far has no continuation.
Perhaps the idea of the brain ”relocation” can take place in some simulations.
Lado Okhotnikov’s Holiverse is one step away from creating a human simulator
The biotech company Holiverse is creating a system in the metaverse that will be able to predict how your body will react to certain irritants — and all this without your real participation. Want to try a new medication? No problem, the system will show how your body will react to it even before you take it. You’ll be told something like, “Don’t worry, we already know how your body will react. Here are simulation results of your avatar: in the first version you have an allergy, in the second – everything is fine, and in the third you are taken to the hospital in two days”. Convenient? Sure. Although a bit creepy.
Lado Okhotnikov, the founder of the Holiverse metaverse, says that the avatar that is being developed will change over time, displaying the results of your decisions. For example, if you added the necessary vitamins to your diet, the avatar would immediately reflect how this would affect your appearance or well-being in a month or a year. Everything is clear and extremely understandable.
However, it can be assumed that the simulation of the body’s behavior is just the beginning. You still need to find a use for human consciousness. And here Holiverse is the closest to implementing this in its metaverse.
So far, Lado Okhotnikov’s company was focused on predicting the body’s reaction. Today they predict how your body will respond to a drug, and tomorrow — how your brain will behave in virtual reality. You enter the metaverse, and the system already knows what emotions you will experience, how you will react to certain scenarios and where you will feel uncomfortable.
By the way, Dmitrii Chebanov, PhD, a researcher at Holiverse, spoke about the DNA revolution of the avatar. The full interview is available on https://www.newsbtc.com.
Well, for now we can only speculate that Holiverse, in collaboration with the Carboncopies Foundation, Neuralink and other deep tech companies, can create something truly revolutionary. So far, it seems like this: body predictions plus modeling of the work of consciousness. In this case, we get a symbiosis of high technology and reality, and this is almost digital immortality.
Holiverse is currently at the intersection of technology, where biology meets AI and neuroscience. And if the team continues to advance at the same pace, we may see things that previously seemed possible only in science fiction movies, like mind uploading or full immersion in a digital world.
It’s hard to say when exactly the world will finally get this technology. But at least these companies have set the direction — let’s wait and see which of them will take the next step.
