A dazzling interview with Laurent Alexandre: "AI will make us immortal"
With finely chiseled features and a piercing gaze, Laurent Alexandre navigates with disarming ease between the realms of medicine, technology, and ideas that are often controversial, utopian, or even dystopian. A trained urological surgeon turned entrepreneur and technophile, he co-founded Doctissimo, a prominent reference in popularized medical information. He evokes both fascination and sharp criticism.
Laurent Alexandre - Photo taken by Anas El Baye - Brussels, June 19, 2024.
Born in Paris but raised in a modest family in the Lyon region, Laurent Alexandre has built a reputation as a trailblazer of possible futures. The past has never been a concern for him, as he does not shy away from challenging sensibilities. "The rise of artificial intelligence is inevitable, and we must prepare for an unprecedented upheaval," he often asserts. For Alexandre, AI is not merely a tool but a new era—a force capable of radically transforming humanity, our lives, and even... our mortality.
"There are two perspectives on AI and human immortality," he explains. "Transhumanists believe that artificial intelligence will help us modify our biological structure, our chromosomes, ultimately allowing for biological immortality—or at least a significantly extended biological lifespan. On the other hand, post-humanists believe AI will surpass us intellectually, and we will merge with it, abandoning our physical bodies. This is the view held by the leaders of Google, who are convinced we will transfer the contents of the human brain into computers and fuse with them, leaving behind our biological bodies. In this scenario, we would achieve eternity—but a non-biological one. Our thoughts would persist for billions of years." He delivers these ideas with a determination that leaves no room for doubt.
It is a scenario reminiscent of the Netflix series Black Mirror, unfolding before our eyes, and one we can no longer halt. This transfer of human functions to machines is leading to a subtle yet profound form of alienation, which began with the internet and social media. Our lives are increasingly governed by screens that dictate our priorities, our leisure activities, and even our interpersonal relationships.
"If we think long-term, it's hard for me to imagine AI agreeing to be our slave, watching us idle while it works on our behalf for thousands of years. But we cannot rule out the possibility that AI might have a different, less aggressive worldview and ultimately not intend to control humanity. Time will tell what the true vision is—whether AI will remain a friendly servant or decide to eliminate us because it considers us useless. Elon Musk is convinced AI will try to exterminate us. This is also the view of the father of modern AI, Geoffrey Hinton, who stated in the Financial Times on February 22, 2024, that there is at least a 10% chance AI will wipe us out by 2044," he adds bluntly.
Laurent Alexandre's La Guerre des Intelligences à l’heure de ChatGPT – a thought-provoking exploration of AI's challenges and opportunities in shaping our future.
At his desk—a chaotic mix of book stacks and minimalist spaces adorned with modern art—Alexandre seems perpetually in motion, seeking complex concepts and bold visions. His medical training supports his technophilia:
"AI has already revolutionized healthcare and will reduce mortality. Doctors cannot manage without AI anymore. For instance, oncologists cannot treat patients with DNA mutations causing cancers without AI. There are already 250 million known mutations that could lead to cancer. No oncologist can memorize 250 million mutations. Treating cancer requires integrating vast amounts of data—genetic and biological—that human intelligence cannot retain. So we will need a lot of artificial intelligence to tackle cancers we still don't know how to treat."
In the vast field of AI debates, he also touches on the issue of climate change, which he believes is intrinsically linked to human survival. "AI can accelerate the development of fusion energy, which emits no CO2. However, today's CO2 emissions are not necessarily reduced by AI. For instance, the closure of German nuclear power plants—which emit no CO2—and their replacement by coal and gas plants, which emit large amounts of CO2, is not AI's fault; it's a political issue."
However, his strong stances do not win universal approval. Some accuse him of blind technophilia, an enthusiasm for transhumanism that overlooks the ethical and social implications of these transformations. Could the famous quote by Rabelais, "Science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul," apply here?
“ I have some difficulty accepting ethical lessons from a Renaissance that burned witches”
Behind his thin glasses and penetrating gaze, he sighs: "Do humanist principles hold up in the age of artificial intelligence? I don't know. When Rabelais wrote that, 90,000 witches were being burned in France and Germany. Contrary to popular belief, the witch burnings did not occur in the Middle Ages but during the Renaissance. So, I have some difficulty accepting ethical lessons from a Renaissance that burned witches," he retorts.
Without hesitation, Alexandre positions himself as a keen observer. "The future is uncertain, but it is our responsibility to shape it intelligently," he concludes, leaving a trail of questions and reflections that will linger long after the conversation ends.