Govt on Mars, Cyborgs, Space Action Film... Elon Musk's 'Out of The World' Ideas

Can we have a democracy in Mars by 2029? Will humans turn into cyborgs soon? The world's richest man believes so...

Elon Musk wants to colonise Mars and form a government there!

(Illustration: Deeksha Malhotra)

Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas

Imagine colonising Mars, taking people there and also forming a government on the red planet. What if humans could be 'upgraded' into superhumans, enabling them to take on AI-powered robots in the future!

Is 'saving' humans by wiring their brains to computers possible? What if we told you that an action film is being shot in space!

The above is not science fiction anymore, and could actually be your reality soon! At least the world's richest man believes so. Here are some of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and soon-to-be Twitter boss Elon Musk's 'out of this world' ideas.

'Super' Humans Soon?

The tech billionaire wants to turn humans into cyborgs (part-human and part-machine) by putting microchips in their brains. The microchips will let people connect their brains to computers and smartphones. Musk believes this process, once implemented, can give people 'superhuman' abilities.

"In a lot of ways, this will be like a fitbit attached in your skull, with tiny wires."

Elon Musk (2020)

In fact, to 'save' humans, Elon Musk co-founded Neuralink, a company that aims to connect our brains to our devices to increase our brain's capacity and abilities. It's a neurotechnology company that develops implantable brain–machine interfaces. After experiments on apes and pigs, Neuralink's brain implants could reportedly begin human clinical trials as soon as this year.

Robots Will Rule?

Musk has even warned that in future, artificial intelligence could become a dictator of humans! On several occasions, the billionaire has hinted at robots taking over the world and has also expressed concern over what the situation would be if his worst fears actually come true.

"What's going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us. I mean all of us. I'm not sure exactly what to do about this."

Elon Musk (2017)

And so Musk wants to 'upgrade' humans to superhumans, to be able to keep artificial intelligence at bay. He has reportedly already invested $100 million into the project.

"I think generally people underestimate the capability of AI. But it's smarter than the smartest human. The biggest mistake that I see artificial intelligence researchers making, is assuming that they are intelligent. They're not, compared to AI. AI is vastly smarter, vastly. What do you do with a situation like that? I don't know. You know the old saying, 'If you can't beat them, join them.'"

Elon Musk

Just Video Games? Or Reality?

Speaking at the Code Conference in 2016, the controversial Tesla CEO said that humans potentially exist inside video games or a simulation. And, as per him, in the near future, video games will be indistinguishable from reality!

"Now forty years later, we have photorealistic 3D simulations with millions of people playing simultaneously and it's getting better every year. And soon we'll have virtual reality and augmented reality. If you assume any rate of improvement at all, then the games will become indistinguishable from reality."

Elon Musk (2016)

A Film on Space, Shot in Space!

In May 2020, Deadline reported that Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are working on the first narrative feature film – a space action adventure – to be shot in outer space, in collaboration with NASA. They are teaming up with filmmakers Doug Liman and Christopher McQuarrie for the project.

The untitled movie will reportedly be 'partially shot' on the International Space Station. The action adventure will reportedly see Tom Cruise play a character who finds himself in a position of being the 'only person who could save Earth.'

Your Home on Mars!

The SpaceX founder has always wanted to colonise mars, take people there and then form a democracy on the red planet. You heard that right!

"I think there are only two fundamental paths. History is going to bifurcate along two directions. One path is we stay on earth forever. And then there will be some eventual extinction. The alternative is to become a space-faring civilisation and a multi-planet species."

Elon Musk (2016)

Musk has even predicted the exact year that humans will set foot on Mars!

And he didn't just stop at that! He's even urged humans to take the responsibility of sustaining life on earth.