Immortality

New companies are creating sophisticated digital backups of individuals that can, in some sense, make one immortal, even if copying consciousness remains beyond current technology. “Though there is little prospect of creating a genuinely conscious robo-clone in the foreseeable future, several companies are taking the first steps in that direction. Their initial goal is to enable you to create a lifelike digital representation, or avatar, that can continue long after your biological body has decomposed. This digitised ‘twin’ might be able to provide valuable lessons for your great-grandchildren – as well as giving them a good idea of what their ancestor was like,” says Linda Geddes for the New Scientist.