Biological immortality has fascinating examples in nature, but it remains an insurmountable challenge for humanity. Some people try to turn death into a simple pause with cryogenics, and there is also the digital alternative, so that a reproduction can continue after the end. That is the direction of the Reition project with its initiative Companion, which invites us to collect as much information as possible about ourselves, as a starting point for a reconstruction in the future.
The first episode of the second season of Black Mirror is 'Be Right Back', and it tells the story of a woman who reconnects with her deceased boyfriend through an AI-based reproduction. The plot gains an extra twist when the 'reproduction' receives a synthetic body... and you'll have to watch the rest to see how it continues.
The point is that the idea of escaping our mortality through data is not new, and some imagine the possibility of a faithful reconstruction using our digital footprint, from small details like receipts and notes, to a DNA sequence, HD videos, and real-time recordings. With that in mind, the Reition project proposes the beginning of that data collection with the initiative Companion, the first level of immortality.
Companion: A copy of yourself in 10,000 years
The idea of Companion is that in 10,000 years, humanity will be able to recreate and/or reconstruct people from their data. That number is nothing more than a simple reference, somewhat arbitrary if you will, but Reition calls the beginning of reconstruction "Moment Zero". Besides the infrastructure to concentrate and store such a large amount of data, what Companion needs is... well, our digital life.
That's right, the greatest possible amount of information about each individual interested in participating. Audio, video, photos, browsing histories, financial details, online profiles, memories, thoughts, DNA, EEG readings, everything. Companion is by definition an avatar without consciousness, but if someone decides to authorize a reconstruction at that level in 10,000 years, they only need to indicate it when sending their data.
The people behind Companion recommend encrypting the information on several levels so that nobody can see it today, with the assurance that all those protections can be removed in the future, when "Moment Zero" arrives. Future generations of the "Reition community" will be responsible for the data, but there is also the possibility of updating it at any moment in our lives.
In short, Companion proposes the creation of an avatar in the far future to guarantee our continuity, and at the same time accompany our family and friends once they have been reconstructed. Now, what is the price of this digital immortality? In this case we have three plans: the Mini, which costs 99 euros and stores up to 100 GB; Standard, at 149 euros (plus a membership of 'a working day or equivalent in money') with three 1 TB copies; and DNA + Data, at 449 euros, which is the same as Standard but adds our genetic information.
Personally? It's not the kind of immortality I'm looking for, and the fact that they can't even make decent images with artificial intelligence fills me with doubts...
Official site: Click here.
