Google engineer says humans can cheat death – we just have to merge with AI

Ray Kurzweil wrote the groundbreaking book The Singularity Is Near (Image: Getty)

Imagine living forever – staying young, sharp, and healthy for centuries. It sounds like science fiction, but according to leading experts and Silicon Valley elites, immortality may be closer than we think – and it could arrive within our lifetimes, reports Science.org.

A wave of cutting-edge breakthroughs in medicine, AI and genetic engineering has sparked bold predictions from top futurists. From uploading your mind to a robot body, to becoming part-human, part-machine, the race to cheat death is heating up – and some scientists say the first immortal human may already be alive today.

In California’s Silicon Valley, where fortunes are made and rules are rewritten, longevity-obsessed moguls are pouring billions into age-defying science. Entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has become a poster boy for the movement, following a strict regimen dubbed 'Blueprint' in his quest to reverse the ageing process.

Meanwhile, Altos Labs, backed by deep-pocket investors, is experimenting with therapies that have already extended the lives of mice – and humans could be next.

But it’s not just billionaires taking notice. Some of the world’s most respected visionaries say we’re just years away from cracking the code to human immortality.

Dr Ian Pearson, a renowned futurologist, claims that by 2050, the rich and famous could achieve immortality through advanced technology.

"By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous," Pearson said, noting that these technologies will start expensive but become affordable by the 2060s for middle-class people.

Pearson predicts a world where medical science eradicates deadly diseases before they strike – and where people can swap their ageing bodies for android shells or even exist purely in digital form.

"This would allow people to have multiple existences and identities, or to carry on living long after their biological death," Pearson explained.

And while the ultra-wealthy may be first in line, Pearson is hopeful that immortality won't just be for the elite.

"[A]nyone under the age of 50 has got a good chance of affording this in their lifetime, and anyone under 40 will almost definitely will have access to immortality."

The vision leans on tech that’s already emerging – like 3D-printed organs, gene editing, and AI-powered diagnostics – all of which could explode in capability over the coming decades.

Ray Kurzweil, a celebrated futurist and former Google engineer, believes artificial intelligence will equal human intelligence by 2029 – kicking off a sci-fi-like future where humans and machines merge.

He says this milestone will pave the way to 'The Singularity' by 2045 – the moment when immortality becomes reality.

"A key capability in the 2030s will be to connect the upper ranges of our neocortices to the cloud, which will directly extend our thinking," he wrote in the 2024 book The Singularity Is Nearer.

Kurzweil predicts AI will make life’s essentials – like food and housing – nearly free, and that humans will soon be able to upload their minds or live in printed bodies.

"Rather than AI being a competitor, it will become an extension of ourselves," he explained.

It all begins in just four years, when Kurzweil says AI will finally match the human brain – setting the stage for an era where immortality isn’t a dream, but a downloadable upgrade.

To Aubrey de Grey, a long-bearded biomedical researcher and Oxford-trained scientist, ageing is no longer inevitable – it’s a curable disease.

Through his Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation, de Grey is developing therapies to repair the body at a cellular level, potentially allowing humans to live for a thousand years.

"Aging is a disease," de Grey argued, saying that we should treat it like we treat cancer or diabetes.

His method – known as integrative rejuvenation – targets ageing itself by fixing DNA damage, clearing out cellular junk, and reviving youthful function in human tissues.

And he’s not alone. Dr Andrew Steele, author of Ageless, has thrown his support behind drugs like senolytics, which target harmful ‘zombie cells’ in the body.

"We're at a point where we understand enough about the process that we can start to try to intervene," Steele said.

By 2050, de Grey believes ageing itself could be obsolete – meaning death from natural causes might vanish entirely.

He’s famously said the first person to reach 1,000 has already been born.

With mind uploading, AI integration, and cellular regeneration all gaining momentum, what once seemed impossible is now within striking distance.

If these experts are right, the next few decades will redefine what it means to be human – and the oldest person you know today may live to see the year 3000.