Zoltan Istvan is a former journalist, political candidate, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder of the US Transhumanist Party. He has been on this podcast twice before when we discussed Istvan's presidential campaign and his bestselling novel The Transhumanist Wager. During this 1-hour conversation with Zoltan Istvan, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as the challenge of doing graduate school at Oxford, Quantum Archaeology; Trump, transhumanism, politics, and conflict; the Immortality or Bust documentary; microchipping refugees and selling off public lands; the ethics of doing damage now in the hope of fixing it later; technosolutionism and why Technology is Not Enough; longevity, entrepreneurship, and healthcare; the distinction between a body with a brain vs a brain with a body; the timeline to AGI, mind-uploading and indefinite life extension. As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation, or become a patron on Patreon.

In February of 2015, I saw an article announcing the presidential run of Zoltan Istvan under the newly formed United States Transhumanist Party. My interest was piqued and I reached out to him to ask how I could help. He suggested I make a film about his run which became a five-year journey culminating in today's release of Immortality or Bust. As a person who has been an avid follower of Singularity.FM and exponential technologies, I was very curious as to how the broader world would receive Zoltan and his unique ideas and approach. One of the biggest changes I have seen since I started the film is the widespread awareness of the term Transhumanism.

There is a longstanding debate among artificial intelligence experts and futurists: When, not if, AI emerges on the scene, will it help humanity or destroy it? The scenario has played out through innumerable iterations in popular culture, the most popular being The Terminator series. Steven Spielberg, riffing on the film Stanley Kubrick was going to direct before his death, presented the counterpoint, espousing a benevolent vision of AI in A.I. Then there are more nuanced, ambiguous iterations, like the recent Ex Machina. New advances in algorithmic artificial intelligence, deep learning software, automation, and nanotechnology have made it abundantly clear that Ray Kurzweil's vision of the Singularity may also be not an if, but when. In fact, responding to Kurzweil's prediction of a cloud-based neocortex in the 2030s, entrepreneur Bryan Johnson of Braintree said, "Oh, I think it will happen before that."

The scenario has played out through innumerable iterations in popular culture, the most popular being The Terminator series. Steven Spielberg, riffing on the film Stanley Kubrick was going to direct before his death, presented the counterpoint, espousing a benevolent vision of AI in A.I. Then there are more nuanced, ambiguous iterations, like the recent Ex Machina. New advances in algorithmic artificial intelligence, deep learning software, automation, and nanotechnology have made it abundantly clear that Ray Kurzweil's vision of the Singularity may also be not an if, but when. In fact, responding to Kurzweil's prediction of a cloud-based neocortex in the 2030s, entrepreneur Bryan Johnson of Braintree said, "Oh, I think it will happen before that." Johnson's more recent aspirations involve merging artificial intelligence with humans, a pursuit many would argue is already occurring on a vast scale when it comes to our use of smartphone technology and search engines.

Cruz opened up last Wednesday's hearing by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness with an abrupt reminder that AI is becoming such a predominant part of our lives that investments in it will increase by 300 percent in the new few years. "Whether we recognize it or not," Cruz said, during the meeting, "artificial intelligence is already seeping into our daily lives." The speech was one in a number of rare addresses concerning artificial intelligence on the Senate floor. During the hearing, Dr. Andrew Moore from Carnegie Mellon University and Dr. Eric Horvitz, Managing Director at Microsoft Research Lab, discussed how a variety of technologies have created an "inflection point" whereby computing speed, automation, and deep learning will combine to drive AI technology further into human lives. Several speakers, including Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, discussed the impact AI would have on the human workforce and, ultimately, the economy.