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Dr Ian Pearson said human beings are very close to achieving immortality
Dr Ian Pearson said human beings are very close to achieving immortality in a number of different ways, but only if you can make it to the year 2050.
Anyone who dies before then could be part of the last generation of humans to die of old age.
Dr Pearson said: “By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous.
“Most people on middle-class incomes and reasonable working-class incomes can probably afford this in the 2060s. So anyone 90 or under by 2060.
“If you were born sometime in 1970 onwards, that would make you 48 this year.
“So anybody under 50 has got a good chance of it, and anyone under 40 almost definitely will have access to this.”
There are several ways in which people can live forever, such as renewing body parts.
This could be done in several ways, including genetic engineering that prevents or reverses the ageing of cells.
People may be able to replace vital body organs with new parts.
Scientists around the world are currently working on creating human organs using 3D printers loaded with living cells which could make organ transplants a thing of the past.
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Dr Pearson added: “There are quite a lot of people interested in living forever.
“There always has been, but the difference now is tech is improving so quickly, lots of people believe they can actually do it.
“No one wants to live forever at 95 years old, but if you could rejuvenate the body to 29 or 30, you might want to do that.”
Dr Pearson also thinks with the advancements of androids, such as sex robots, people will be able to download their minds into a machine.
The futurologist said: “A long time before we get to fix our bodies and rejuvenate it every time we feel like, we’ll be able to link our minds to the machine world so well, we’ll effectively be living in the cloud.
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“The mind will basically be in the cloud, and be able to use any android that you feel like to inhabit the real world.
“The current state of sex dolls are starting to look quite human-like. Give them another 30 years of development and they’ll be extremely human-like.”
The scientist said people will be able to rent an android, like renting a car to go to see events in different corners of the planet.
He continued: “If you wanted to spend the evening in Australia, going to the Sydney opera house, you could use an android.”
But, he said people will have to wait until around “2045, 2050” before people will be able to create these strong brain-to-machine links and the cost will be very high initially.
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With advancements of androids, such as sex robots, people will be able to download their minds
People on poor incomes may even eventually be able to afford an android and it could even potentially be given on the NHS.
He explained: “By 2060, people like you or I will be able to buy it, and by 2070 people in poor countries on modest incomes will be able to buy it.
“Everyone will have a chance to have immortality, a sort of electronic immortality.
“After 10, 15, 20 years, the price comes down to hundreds of pounds, rather than millions.
“It could be provided as part of the NHS. You might be able to buy premium offerings on a private subscription, or you might get a basic presence on a network and be allowed to use an android body.”
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People may be able to live in a computer simulation
Human being may not necessarily need an android body to live in either, according to the futurologist.
People may be able to live in a computer simulation and link your mind to millions of other – achieving unlimited intelligence.
Dr Pearson added: “You could spend most of your time online in the virtual world, of course anywhere in the world on any computer.
“If you’re online all the time, you could have a fantastic life online. It would be all virtual, so you could have anything you want. 72 virgins if that’s what drives you; all of that, because it’s totally imaginary.
“You could make as much fun as you could possibly imagine online. You might still want to come into the real world.”