Editing Mind uploading (section)

{{Short description|Hypothetical process of digitally emulating a brain}}
{{Redirect|Mind transfer}}
[[File:Mind upload4.svg|alt=Refer to caption|thumb|Schematic representation of a [[mind]] being uploaded from a [[human brain]] to a [[computer]]]]
{{Cyborg}}

'''Mind uploading''' is a speculative process of '''whole brain emulation''' in which a [[brain scanning|brain scan]] is used to completely [[emulator|emulate]] the mental state of the individual in a [[Digital data|digital]] [[computer]]. The computer would then run a [[computer simulation|simulation]] of the brain's information processing, such that it would respond in essentially the same way as the original brain and experience having a [[sentient]] [[conscious]] [[mind]].<ref name="sim.me.uk">{{cite journal | last=Bamford | first=Sim | title=A framework for approaches to transfer of a mind's substrate | journal=International Journal of Machine Consciousness | volume=04 | issue=1 | year=2012 | issn=1793-8430 | doi=10.1142/s1793843012400021 | pages=23–34 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250311153343/https://sim.me.uk/neural/JournalArticles/Bamford2012IJMC.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Goertzel |first1=Ben |last2=Ikle' |first2=Matthew |year=2012 |title=Introduction |journal=International Journal of Machine Consciousness |volume=04 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.1142/S1793843012020015}}</ref><ref name="kajsotala.fi">{{cite journal |last1=Sotala |first1=Kaj |last2=Valpola |first2=Harri |url=http://kajsotala.fi/Papers/CoalescingMinds.pdf |title=Coalescing minds: brain uploading-related group mind scenarios |journal=International Journal of Machine Consciousness |date=June 2012 |volume=04 |issue=1 |pages=293–312 |doi=10.1142/S1793843012400173 |s2cid=6230653}}</ref>

Substantial mainstream research in related areas is being conducted in [[neuroscience]] and [[computer science]], including animal brain mapping and simulation,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |last1=Fan |first1=Xue |last2=Markram |first2=Henry |date=2019-05-07 |title=A Brief History of Simulation Neuroscience |journal=Frontiers in Neuroinformatics |volume=13 |page=32 |doi=10.3389/fninf.2019.00032 |doi-access=free |issn=1662-5196 |pmc=6513977 |pmid=31133838}}</ref> development of faster [[supercomputer]]s, [[virtual reality]], [[brain–computer interface]]s, [[connectomics]], and information extraction from dynamically functioning brains.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Kay KN, Naselaris T, Prenger RJ, Gallant JL|date=March 2008|title=Identifying natural images from human brain activity|journal=Nature|volume=452|issue=7185|pages=352–5|bibcode=2008Natur.452..352K|doi=10.1038/nature06713|pmc=3556484|pmid=18322462}}</ref> According to supporters, many of the tools and ideas needed to achieve mind uploading already exist or are under active development; however, they will admit that others are, as yet, very speculative, but say they are still in the realm of engineering possibility.

Mind uploading may potentially be accomplished by either of two methods: copy-and-upload or copy-and-delete by gradual replacement of [[neurons]] (which can be considered as a gradual destructive uploading), until the original [[Organic matter|organic]] brain no longer exists and a [[computer program]] emulating the brain takes control of the body. In the case of the former method, mind uploading would be achieved by scanning and [[Brain mapping|mapping]] the salient features of a biological brain, and then by storing and copying that information state into a computer system or another computational device. The [[biological]] brain may not survive the copying process or may be deliberately destroyed during it in some variants of uploading. The simulated mind could be within a virtual reality or [[simulated reality|simulated world]], supported by an anatomic 3D body simulation model. Alternatively, the simulated mind could reside in a computer inside—or either connected to or remotely controlled by—a (not necessarily [[humanoid]]) [[robot]], biological, or [[cyborg|cybernetic]] body.<ref name=Roadmap>
{{Cite book
|first1=Anders
|last1=Sandberg
| author1-link=Anders Sandberg
|first2=Nick
|last2=Boström
| author2-link=Nick Bostrom
|title=Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap
|quote=The basic idea is to take a particular brain, scan its structure in detail, and construct a software model of it that is so faithful to the original that, when run on appropriate hardware, it will behave in essentially the same way as the original brain.
|url=http://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/Reports/2008-3.pdf
|access-date=5 April 2009
|series= Technical Report #2008-3
|year=2008
| publisher = Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University
}}</ref>

Among some [[futurist]]s and within part of [[Transhumanism|transhumanist]] movement, mind uploading is treated as an important proposed [[life extension]] or [[immortality]] technology (known as "[[digital immortality]]"). Some believe mind uploading is humanity's current best option for preserving the identity of the species, as opposed to [[cryonics]]. Another aim of mind uploading is to provide a permanent backup to our "mind-file", to enable interstellar space travel, and a means for human culture to survive a global disaster by making a functional copy of a human society in a computing device. Whole-brain emulation is discussed by some futurists as a "logical endpoint"<ref name=Roadmap/> of the topical [[computational neuroscience]] and [[neuroinformatics]] fields, both about [[brain simulation]] for medical research purposes. It is discussed in [[artificial intelligence]] research publications as an approach to [[computational theory of mind|strong AI]] ([[artificial general intelligence]]) and to at least weak [[superintelligence]]. Another approach is [[seed AI]], which would not be based on existing brains. Computer-based intelligence such as an upload could think much faster than a biological human even if it were no more intelligent. A large-scale society of uploads might, according to futurists, give rise to a [[technological singularity]], meaning a sudden time constant decrease in the exponential development of technology.<ref>{{cite journal  |last=Goertzel|first=Ben| author-link=Ben Goertzel| date= December 2007|title=Human-level artificial general intelligence and the possibility of a technological singularity: a reaction to Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near, and McDermott's critique of Kurzweil |journal= Artificial Intelligence| volume=171|issue=18, Special Review Issue|pages=1161–1173| doi= 10.1016/j.artint.2007.10.011| url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=4599202374830957934|doi-access=free}}</ref> Mind uploading is a central conceptual feature of [[Mind uploading in fiction|numerous science fiction novels, films, and games]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=SFE: Upload |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/upload |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref>