AI, Aging & Living to 150: The Conversation Everyone Needs to Hear

Longevity Predictions and AI Hype 0:00

And then Dario Amadei, the CEO of Anthropic at Davos said he expects that we could see a doubling of the human lifespan in 10 years time. So Dario Amadei, so he is the CEO of Anthropic, known for Claude AI, incredible software, I use it all the time. He's a smart guy. He's suggesting that we could live double our lifespan in the next 10 years. That's wild. What are his credentials? Well, he's trained as a physicist, trained at Stanford, has a PhD in physics, but he studied electrophysiology and neural circuits.

He's a smart guy and he understands physiology. He understands biology. And so it's one thing to understand the world of computer science, but there are vast differences between computer science and biology. Although they're starting to coalesce more and more as we understand both better, he's legit. So for those words to come from his mouth, I'll listen to that. That's possible. Welcome to Ever Young, a podcast for high performers who live deliberately and age with intention. I'm Rich Hanley, Harvard trained, military tested, and still chasing performance at age 60. Here we explore what it really takes to stay sharp, strong, and deeply alive.

So let's get to it. But if we're, if we are successful in what we're doing in my lab. These AI-generated molecules are mimicking that. So the reason for having a molecule rather than a gene therapy is not only are they cheap, you can just swallow it and they evenly go throughout the body typically. And so imagine in 10 years, you just take a pill for four weeks and you get younger. That's what we're headed towards. And I can see that being realistically possible in the next 10 years. In fact, I can see how this is going to happen.

That's what we're working towards in my lab. So take a pill for four weeks and you get younger. And this could happen in 10 years. That's what he's suggesting. That that's possible. He's talking about this in like real terms, not theory. It's theory. It's speculative. But he's talking about it like, you know, what he had for breakfast. It's kind of wild to think that, and he's not getting laughed out of the room. These are very smart, intelligent guys working at the top of academic medicine. At least David is working at the top of academic medicine in one of the most prestigious universities in the whole world.

Dario Amodei and the Pill to Get Younger 2:12

And I'm listening to a podcast that just occurred and we're talking about in 10 years, taking a pill that will reset my biological clock. That's crazy. But here we are. I love it. I love it. I can't wait, and I volunteer to come first. Yeah, you can be first, I'll be second in line. The concept of longevity escape velocity. Ray Kurzweil, who's been a dear friend and a mentor, his prediction is that we'll reach longevity escape velocity by the end of the year 2030. And longevity escape velocity, for those who haven't heard the term, hopefully if they're listening to this podcast, they've heard it, it's the idea that at some point in the future, for every year that you're alive, science is extending your life for more than a year.

And at that point, you know, it basically departs and you're going as long as you want. I've had the conversation with a multitude of different people and everybody's got a different guess. I just had a conversation with Dennis Hesabis not long ago, and when he was on 60 Minutes, he said he foresaw the end of all disease by the end of the decade. So yeah, Dennis Hesabis, he's the CEO of Google DeepMind. Imagine by the end of this decade, literally less than five years from now, the end of all disease.

No, I don't agree with that as a possibility. I can't conceive that as a reality. That is not much time. It's a great idea. And I think it's an aspirational goal that we should all strive toward. But in less than five years, by the end of the decade, it's almost 2026. I don't see how this is possible, but great idea. And it's certainly an aspirational goal worth striving toward. So, all disease by 2035. And then Dario Amadei, the CEO of Anthropic at Davos said he expects that we could see a doubling of the human lifespan.

in 10 years time. So Dario Odomide, so he is the CEO of Anthropic, known for Claude AI. Incredible software, I use it all the time. He's a smart guy. He's suggesting that we could live double our lifespan in the next 10 years. That's wild. What are his credentials? Well, he's trained as a physicist, trained at Stanford, has a PhD in physics, but he studied electrophysiology and neural circuits. He's a smart guy, and he understands physiology. He understands biology. And so it's one thing to understand the world of computer science, but there are vast differences between computer science and biology.

Although they're starting to coalesce more and more as we understand both better, he's legit. So for those words to come from his mouth, I'll listen to that. That's possible, doubling the human lifespan in 10 years. That's possible, I think, from what I understand, my rudimentary understanding of this science. It's ambitious, but we'll see. That's pretty exciting. That's literally, that's like me living to 80 versus 160, which means I'll be a very healthy 120 year old, presumably, right? If that knowledge is true.

If that possibility is true, 120 won't feel like 120. It'll feel like a much younger age.

Longevity Escape Velocity and End of Disease 5:36

And presumably you'll look a lot younger than 120 if that's true, which means that if that's true, doubling by in 10 years, uh that means people my age 60 certainly those who are teenagers now early 20s we're probably talking longer than doubling their lifespan if that's the case can't say that with any degree of accuracy other than it's a great thought but that's really wild um to consider so i'm starting to rethink my life it's like The idea of retirement at age 70 in 10 years, it's like, that's potentially the halfway mark of my life.

Why would I be thinking about retirement at age 70? I should be thinking about, well, how can I do more with my life and be more productive and help the world and help others? I'll probably just be getting started at age 70. If this science is true, I'm just going to be getting started. I'll be hitting my stride. Rather than being on the back nine, I'll be just hitting my stride at age 70. That's awesome to think about. Those are good people to have in the same camp you are. So what do you think about longevity escape velocity?

Is a concept worth thinking about? When do you think we might hit that? I don't have a number. I'm actually just on the ground working as hard and fast as I can with my team. But I do think now it's feasible. There was a time in my career, five years ago, maybe 10, I thought this was so far into the future, it wasn't worth talking about. It's all speculation. But now that we, the information theory of aging in the research seems true, and that we're entering the clinic with these age reversal technologies that can be used multiple times, but not just once, but you can keep doing it maybe 20 times, 100 times.

20 times, a hundred times, maybe theoretically it's possible. And entering the clinic, I would say we're just now entering the clinic, right? So these studies will be starting at least, you know, the, the cure of curing of blindness, the attempt at curing blindness in humans won't start for another six months. So, but it's, it's happening. So David's talking about something that's possible, probable, but still in my mind, a long ways out, um, cause we're talking, you know, phase one, phase two, phase three clinical trials in blindness.

That's many years just to figure out the problem of blindness in the eye alone and not you know other organ systems Much much less a full-body reset, you know, how do you overcome the hurdles of the FDA? Does this science make its way outside the US the context of US regulation? Perhaps we're seeing that already in a number of scientific inquiries specific to stem cells, although more of that work is coming back to the US. Thank goodness But yeah, a lot of the science will be perhaps offshore But hopefully it'll be brought to bear here under the close scrutiny of the FDA and become real But that that is a arduous long process becoming less arduous with the advent of AI So I'm hopeful but again cautiously optimistic here.

Doubling Lifespan and Reframing Retirement 8:36

I think it's possible That within our lifetime will see such the ability to reset yourself now I don't think we're gonna live forever because There's always noise and information is hard to preserve indefinitely. But I do believe that we could double the human lifespan now and I'm on record and I've taken some flack. He's taken a shit ton of flack. I'll leave it at that. And God bless him. He's amazing because he just keeps on going. So knowing the amount of BS that he's had to put up with over the years, it still remains in a very high powered seat at Harvard Medical School, doing this work and being supported.

And it's just awesome to see him still go despite all the mountain of BS that he's had to deal with from very smart people and some not so smart people in the world, you know, just lambasting him and just like thickest skin in the game. My hat is off to David Sinclair. He is the friggin' man. Over the years from colleagues who didn't like me saying that the first person to live to 150 has already been born, But I still stand by that because, you know, a teenager today will live into the 22nd century.

We have to remember that. It's not about today's technology. I have two 14-year-old boys that I keep on telling that. Yeah, and just think about what's happened in the last 10 years. We just can't imagine what's going to be in their lifespan. And so that's why I think that it's quite possible that they will be able to live 150 or more. But for us, the question is, were we born one generation too early? Sure. Us in our 50s and 56. Yeah, do I live in that generation that's just going to miss this technology?

I don't know, maybe. I hope not. For obvious reasons, I would like to be able to meet this technology, provided I'm not struck down by a Mack truck or get some kind of crazy life-ending disease process in the next 10 years. Who knows? I'm excited about that possibility. But certainly, my kids, Sierra and Spencer, They're young and healthy. They will definitely meet this technology. In my mind, I'm more excited for them and then for my grandchildren. I don't have any grandchildren yet, but my grandchildren are going to see an incredibly wild ride.

It's far exceeding my wildest imagination, I'm sure. Actually, since I was 18, I decided, damn it, I don't want to be part of the last generation to live a normal human lifespan. That's not right. And I know it's coming, just a question of, can we do it in time for all of us? And I think the best way to ensure that we reach that point, if there is an escape velocity, is to stay healthy and that's why we should talk today about what we can do in our lives to stay healthy into our 90s and 100 because certainly by the time you and I are 90 or 100 the technology is going to be there

Age Reversal Research and Clinical Hurdles 11:24

to reset our age. I mean at this exponential age and what's going on with AI and I was with Eric Schmidt just recently in our last podcast and he's like we will reach digital super intelligence within the decade. And this is not just AGI, whatever AGI means, this is billions of fold more intelligent than human. Billions more intelligent than human. So let's talk a bit about, let's talk about that kind of intelligence. So I don't know what my IQ is, but let's say the least smartest person's IQ is like 60, 70. And I've got an average intelligence, I'm pretty sure I got a pretty average intelligence.

Einstein was thought to be about 160 and created the theory of relativity and all sorts of amazing science. He's 160. So thinking about intelligence that's a billion times smarter than Einstein, think of that. That is a massive number, an incalculable amount of intelligence, meaning we can't even fathom what's possible in the coming years once we reach digital superintelligence. It's inconceivable. It's inconceivable as to how smart this intelligence will be, so smart that we can never even begin to think of understanding it.

And it's gonna be, it'll be in our control, hopefully, but it'll eclipse anything we could ever conceive. Who knows what the future holds under that kind of intelligence? And that's going to come in the next 10 years, according to Eric Schmidt. And of course, the work going on right now of being able to model a cell in silico will get there. And then we'll have a cell with David Sinclair's genome or my genome. And you know exactly which molecules activate that or don't. Yeah.

AI Superintelligence and Modeling Biology 13:12

Model a cell in silico, meaning computers understanding every nuance to the human cell and how it interacts with various chemicals that are either currently existing or could be crafted through protein folding and all the science that's coming about through that. So it's AI co-conspiring to understand the absolute nitty gritty of human biology down to the smallest physical particle of the universe. Thank you for watching and or listening to the Every Young Podcast. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.

I'm Richard Hanley, a licensed and board certified physician associate, PAC, trained at Harvard Medical School and the USC Keck School of Medicine. And while I do hold two doctoral degrees, including the doctor of medicine and doctor of health science, I'm not a licensed physician. I also hold a master's degree in healthcare quality and safety from the Harvard Medical School and bring over 30 years of clinical and executive leadership experience. I continue to serve as an interviewer and admissions assessor for Harvard Medical School's Master of Science in Health Care Quality and Safety program.

That said, the views expressed herein are entirely my own and do not represent the official views of Harvard Medical School. Always consult your own health care provider before making any medical decisions. If you're enjoying Ever Young, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with somebody who's ready to take charge of their health and longevity. Thanks for listening. Thank you. And I appreciate you watching and listening to the Every Young Podcast. If you liked the episode, please subscribe and leave a review.

It tells the algorithm that I'm not just talking to myself. And feel free to share it with someone that you'd like to see at your 100th birthday party. Remember, age is just a construct. Vitality is a choice. Stay ever young. Thanks. We'll see you next time.