Death is not necessarily the end, it may also be transformation. The world’s first digital human is about to be born. According to the Washington Post, 78-year-old spy novelist and Hollywood screenwriter Andrew Kaplan has agreed to become “AndyBot,” a digital being who will live forever in the cloud for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Now, as the silver-haired 78-year-old relaxes with his wife of 39 years in a suburban oasis outside Palm Springs, California, he realizes that he wants his loved ones to be exposed to these stories, even though he has Not alive.
Kaplan, who jokingly calls himself a “guinea pig” about becoming “AndyBot,” said: “It’s a little unexpected to be such a pioneer at my age, but I thought, why not?”
If all goes according to plan, future generations will be able to “interact” with him using mobile devices or voice computing platforms like Amazon’s Alexa, asking him questions and listening to his stories; even long after his physical body has passed away. Valuable advice from his lifetime experience.
Silicon Valley futurists, who have sought to liberate humans from the material life cycle for decades, view death as yet another transformational problem requiring “life-changing” solutions. With the rise of digital culture, the “cryonics movement” (freezing the body for future recovery) has become increasingly active. Today, a new generation of companies is touting something akin to “virtual immortality”—the opportunity to preserve one’s personal legacy online forever.
“It’s been decades since my parents passed away, but I still want to turn to my parents for some advice or just to get some comfort,” Kaplan noted. Kaplan doesn’t think that urge will ever go away, and he has a 30-year-old A multi-year-old child, he hopes that this virtual life can be helpful to him.
Caplan also said: “Ultimately, every story is about trying to help us find who we are and where we come from. For me, it’s about history, a kind of finite immortality created for my future loved ones. An intimate and personal experience that leaves them wondering where they came from.”
