Giulio Prisco

Giulio Prisco, picture by David Orban

Giulio Prisco, born in Naples (Italy) in 1957, is an Italian information technology virtual reality consultant;^[1][2][3] as well as a writer, futurist,^[4] and transhumanist.^[5] He is an advocate of cryonics^[6] and contributes to the science and technology online magazine Tendencias21.^[7] He produces teleXLR8, an online talk program using virtual reality and video conferencing, and focused on highly imaginative science and technology.^[8][9] He writes and speaks on a wide range of topics,^[10] including science, information technology, emerging technologies, virtual worlds, space exploration and futurology.^[11] Prisco's ideas on virtual realities, technological immortality, mind uploading, and new scientific religions are extensively featured in the OUP book "Apocalyptic AI - Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality".^[12]

Formerly a senior manager in the European Space Agency, Prisco is a physicist and computer scientist. He served as a member on the board of directors of World Transhumanist Association, of which he was temporarily executive director, and continues to serve as a member on the board of directors of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies ^[13] and of the Associazione Italiana Transumanisti.^[14] He is also a member of the advisory board of the Lifeboat Foundation^[15] and a founding member of the Order of Cosmic Engineers, and the Turing Church, fledgling organizations which claim that the benefits of a technological singularity, which would come from accelerating change, should or would be viable alternatives to the promises of major religious groups.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]}

Prisco has been repeatedly at odds with technocritic Dale Carrico who argues that transhumanism is technological utopianism turned into a new religious movement.^[22] Prisco agrees but counters that transhumanism is an “unreligion” because it offers many of the benefits of religion without its drawbacks.^[23]

References

External links

• Giulio Prisco's blog
• Tendencias21 (a Spanish language online magazine on futurism)
• Associazione Italiana Transumanisti (about page)