How close are we to uploading our minds? - Michael S.A. Graziano

Prevodilac: Katarina Čolić Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

Imagine a future where nobody dies—

Zamislite budućnost u kojoj niko ne umire -

instead, our minds are uploaded to a digital world.

umesto toga se naši umovi šalju u digitalni svet.

They might live on in a realistic, simulated environment with avatar bodies,

Možda bi nastavili da žive u realističnom, simuliranom okruženju u telima avatara

and could still call in and contribute to the biological world.

i da i dalje posećuju biološki svet i doprinose mu.

Mind uploading has powerful appeal—

Otpremanje uma je jako privlačno -

but what would it actually take to scan a person’s brain and upload their mind?

ali šta je zapravo potrebno da se skenira mozak i otpremi um?

The main challenges are scanning a brain in enough detail to capture the mind

Glavni izazov je skeniranje mozga onoliko detaljno da se zabeleži um

and perfectly recreating that detail artificially.

i savršeno rekreiranje tih detalja veštačkim putem.

But first, we have to know what to scan.

Ali prvo moramo da znamo šta da skeniramo.

The human brain contains about 86 billion neurons,

Ljudski mozak sadrži oko 86 milijardi neurona,

connected by at least a hundred trillion synapses.

povezanih sa najmanje stotinu biliona sinapsi.

The pattern of connectivity among the brain’s neurons,

Šema povezanih neurona mozga,

that is, all of the neurons and all their connections to each other,

odnosno, svih neurona i njihovih međusobnih veza,

is called the connectome.

naziva se konektom.

We haven’t yet mapped the connectome,

Još uvek nismo mapirali konektom

and there’s also a lot more to neural signaling.

i postoji još mnogo toga vezanog za neuronski prenos signala.

There are hundreds, possibly thousands of different kinds of connections,

Postoji na stotine, možda i hiljade različitih vrsta veza

or synapses.

ili sinapsi.

Each functions in a slightly different way.

Svaka funkcioniše pomalo drugačije.

Some work faster, some slower.

Neke rade brže, neke sporije.

Some grow or shrink rapidly in the process of learning;

Neke rastu ili se smanjuju u procesu učenja;

some are more stable over time.

neke su stabilnije tokom vremena.

And beyond the trillions of precise, 1-to-1 connections between neurons,

A pored biliona preciznih veza „jedan na jedan“ između neurona,

some neurons also spray out neurotransmitters

pojedini neuroni šalju neurotransmitere

that affect many other neurons at once.

koji istovremeno utiču na mnogo drugih neurona.

All of these different kinds of interactions

Sve ove različite vrste interakcija

would need to be mapped in order to copy a person’s mind.

moraju da se mapiraju da bi se kopirao um neke osobe.

There are also a lot of influences on neural signaling

Postoji i dosta uticaja na neuronski prenos signala

that are poorly understood or undiscovered.

koje nismo do kraja razumeli ili otkrili.

To name just one example,

Evo na primer,

patterns of activity between neurons

na šeme aktivnosti među neuronima

are likely influenced by a type of cell called glia.

najčešće utiče jedna vrsta ćelije, glija.

Glia surround neurons and, according to some scientists,

Glija okružuje neurone i, prema nekim naučnicima,

may even outnumber them by as many as ten to one.

može premašiti njihov broj čak deset puta.

Glia were once thought to be purely for structural support,

Nekada se mislilo da glija postoji samo zbog potpore

and their functions are still poorly understood,

i još nismo do kraja razumeli njenu funkciju,

but at least some of them can generate their own signals

ali makar neke od ovih ćelija mogu razviti sopstvene signale

that influence information processing.

koji utiču na obradu informacija.

Our understanding of the brain isn’t good enough to determine

Naše razumevanje mozga nije dovoljno da utvrdimo

what we’d need to scan in order to replicate the mind,

šta nam je potrebno za skeniranje kako bismo napravili repliku uma,

but assuming our knowledge does advance to that point,

ali ako pretpostavimo da to znamo,

how would we scan it?

kako bismo ga skenirali?

Currently, we can accurately scan a living human brain

Trenutno možemo da precizno skeniramo ljudski mozak

with resolutions of about half a millimeter

u rezoluciji od oko pola milimetra,

using our best non-invasive scanning method, MRI.

koristeći najbolju neinvazivnu metodu koju imamo, magnetnu rezonancu.

To detect a synapse, we’ll need to scan at a resolution of about a micron—

Da bismo detektovali sinapsu, moramo skenirati u rezoluciji od jednog mikrona -

a thousandth of a millimeter.

koji je hiljaditi deo milimetra.

To distinguish the kind of synapse and precisely how strong each synapse is,

Za određivanje vrste sinapse i njene jačine

we’ll need even better resolution.

biće nam potrebna bolja rezolucija.

MRI depends on powerful magnetic fields.

MR zavisi od jakih magnetnih polja.

Scanning at the resolution required

Za skeniranje u rezoluciji koja je potrebna

to determine the details of individual synapses

da bi se odredili detalji pojedinačne sinapse

would requires a field strength high enough to cook a person’s tissues.

bila bi potrebna jačina polja kojom bi moglo da se skuva ljudsko tkivo.

So this kind of leap in resolution

Stoga bi ovakav prelaz u rezoluciji

would require fundamentally new scanning technology.

zahtevao promenu tehnologije skeniranja iz korena.

It would be more feasible to scan a dead brain using an electron microscope,

Bilo bi izvodljivije skenirati mrtav mozak pomoću elektronskog mikroskopa,

but even that technology is nowhere near good enough–

ali ni ta tehnologija nije dovoljno dobra -

and requires killing the subject first.

i zahteva prvo ubijanje ispitanika.

Assuming we eventually understand the brain well enough to know what to scan

Pretpostavimo da konačno razumemo mozak dovoljno da znamo šta da skeniramo

and develop the technology to safely scan at that resolution,

i da razvijemo tehnologiju za bezbedno skeniranje pri toj rezoluciji,

the next challenge would be to recreate that information digitally.

naredni izaziv bi bio da ponovo kreiramo date informacije digitalno.

The main obstacles to doing so are computing power and storage space,

Glavne prepreke su jačina kompjutera i prostor za čuvanje,

both of which are improving every year.

a oba se unapređuju svake godine.

We’re actually much closer to attaining this technological capacity

Zapravo smo mnogo bliže ovoj tehnologiji

than we are to understanding or scanning our own minds.

nego razumevanju ili skeniranju sopstvenog uma.

Artificial neural networks already run our internet search engines,

Veštačke neuronske veze već pokreću naše internet pretraživače,

digital assistants, self-driving cars, Wall Street trading algorithms,

digitalne asistente, samovozeće automobile,

algoritme poslovanja na Vol Stritu i pametne telefone.

and smart phones.

Nobody has yet built an artificial network with 86 billion neurons,

Niko još uvek nije izgradio veštačku mrežu sa 86 milijardi neurona,

but as computing technology improves,

ali kako kompjuterska tehnologija napreduje,

it may be possible to keep track of such massive data sets.

možda će biti moguće voditi evidenciju tako velikih baza podataka.

At every step in the scanning and uploading process,

Pri svakom koraku u procesu skeniranja i otpremanja

we’d have to be certain we were capturing all the necessary information accurately—

moramo biti sigurni da svaku informaciju beležimo tačno -

or there’s no telling what ruined version of a mind might emerge.

u suprotnom, ko zna kakva upropašćena verzija uma može nastati.

While mind uploading is theoretically possible,

Iako je otpremanje uma teoretski moguće,

we’re likely hundreds of years away

verovatno smo stotinama godina daleko

from the technology and scientific understanding

od tehnologije i razumevanja nauke

that would make it a reality.

koji bi to omogućili.

And that reality would come with ethical and philosophical considerations:

A ta realnost bi podstakla etička i filozofska pitanja:

who would have access to mind uploading?

ko bi imao pristup otpremanju uma?

What rights would be accorded to uploaded minds?

Kakva bi prava bila dodeljena otpremljenim umovima?

How could this technology be abused?

Kako bi ova tehnologija mogla biti zloupotrebljena?

Even if we can eventually upload our minds,

Čak i da možemo otpremiti svoj um,

whether we should remains an open question.

ostaje pitanje treba li to i da uradimo.