From memory to mind uploading

Join Angela Thornton as she explores a hypothetical futuristic world where brains can be emulated, augmented and uploaded.

Angela is a postgraduate researcher at the University based within the Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training.

In this talk Angela will share her PhD journey which uses innovative tools and techniques to explore a hypothetical futuristic world. In this scenario we can create an artificial brain (via whole brain emulation) and potentially augment or even upload our brains and minds to a different platform such as a supercomputer.

While mind uploading has been widely depicted in popular media such as Black Mirror (Brooker, Jones & Reisz, 2011-2019) and Amazon’s Upload (Daniels & Klein, 2020 -), scientific and technological innovations such as mapping neuronal connections, high resolution imaging and growth in nanoscience and computing, as well as advances in neuro prosthetics and Brain: Computer Interfaces (BCI), means that it may become a reality in the far future.

Angela is supported by the Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Nottingham (UKRI Grant No. EP/S023305/1) and by the Carboncopies Foundation.