Nobody lives forever--at least not yet, anyway.
For thousands of years humanity searched for the Fountain of Youth, a mythical spring which allegedly washes away the years of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters.
To date, the fountain has been nothing by the stuff of legend. However, Ray Kurzweil believes that humanity will soon have plenty of time on its collective hands.
In fact, the futurist and former Google (GOOGL) engineer believes humans will achieve immortality by 2030.
Now before you snort and say, "sure, pal, what have been you smoking?" you should know that 86% of Kurzweil's 147 predictions have been correct.
That's even better than Paul the octopus, who correctly called all those soccer games before passing away in 2010.
Rise of the Nanobots
In 1990, Kurzweil said that the world's best chess player would lose to a computer by 2000 and seven years later Deep Blue checkmated Gary Kasparov.
In that same decade he predicted that by 2009 people would primarily use portable computers; that wearable computers and devices would be developed, and digital music and books would largely replace physical media.
And in 1999 he said that by 2023 a $1,000 laptop would have a human brain's computing power and storage capacity.
The YouTube channel Adagio recently discussed Kurzweil's thoughts about the expansion in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics, which he believes will lead to age-reversing nanobots.
The incredibly small robots will repair damaged cells and tissues that deteriorate as the body ages and make people immune to diseases like cancer, the Daily Mail reported on March 28.
Kurzweil also predicted that the singularity--a hypothetical point in time where technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization--would happen by 2045.
'We're Going to be Sexier.'
By 2029, he says AI will pass a valid Turing test, which determines if a computer is capable of thinking like a human being.
Machines are already making humans more intelligent, Kurzweil said, and connecting them to the neocortex will help people think better.
'We're going to get more neocortex, we're going to be funnier, we're going to be better at music," Kurzweil said. "We're going to be sexier. We're really going to exemplify all the things that we value in humans to a greater degree."
Of course, not all of Kurzweil’s forecasts have hit the bullseye.
Among other things, he said that by 2009 self-driving cars and intelligent roads would be used for long-distance travel; telephones able to translate between languages would be in common use and human musicians would jam with computerized ones.
Still, the concept of immortality is fascinating and if Kurzweil is right, he'll be having the last laugh for a long time.
Somewhere Paul the octopus is smiling.
