TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) brings together some of the world’s top thinkers at conferences around the world to deliver short presentations on “ideas worth spreading.” Not surprisingly, several speakers have delivered talks on topics of interest to transhumanists, such as life extension, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and more.
One of the great things about TED is that, while the conferences are fairly exclusive, they put up video from their presentations online for all of us to benefit. While there are many presentations worth watching out of the 600+ videos that can be found on the TED site, here are my favorite five talks on transhumanist topics:
Aimee Mullins on running (February 1998)
Aimee Mullins garnered attention as a record-setting runner who also happens to be a double amputee. She successfully competed against able-bodied athletes while at Georgetown University on carbon fiber legs that were modeled after those of a cheetah. At TED1998 she spoke about her experiences running in college and at the paralympics, and the challenges she experienced using her then-revolutionary prosthetics.
Rodney Brooks says robots will invade our lives (February 2003)
Roboticist Rodney Brooks, Director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, spoke in 2003 about how robots would be increasingly integrated into our lives. While advancements in robotics have come a long way since Brooks gave this presentation, a lot of this is still very applicable today, especially his demonstration on how we will provide direction to robots on how to perform complex tasks.
Nick Bostrom on our biggest problems (July 2005)
Philosopher Nick Bostrom, founder of the World Transhumanist Association (Now Humanity+) and current director of Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute, presented on humanity’s three biggest problems, including death, existential risk and that “life isn’t usually as wonderful as it could be.” He talks through how humans would need to change, as well as how we would have to change the world around us, to address these issues.
Ray Kurzweil on how technology will transform us (February 2005)
At TED2005, Ray Kurzweil provided an overview of his Law of Accelerating Returns and how it will affect the development of nanotechnology, the growth of computing, and how we will eventually merge with our technology. This is a great overview of many of Kurzweil’s thoughts that he addresses in his books, particularly The Singularity is Near.
Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging (July 2005)
Aubrey de Grey, gerontologist and author of Ending Aging, presented in 2005 on why defeating aging is desirable, why we need to begin serious discussions of radical longevity, feasibility of radical longevity, why humans accept aging, and how we can actually begin to significantly extend lifespans.
EDIT 3/23/10: I clarified some language in the blurb about Aubrey de Grey’s presentation.