We're Going to Mars

Each month, Startup Grind hosts an event in Tel Aviv featuring a successful entrepreneur or investor. In January, we hosted Yanki Margalit at the new WeWork HaZerem. Yanki broke into the Israeli tech scene at age 23 with his first company--Aladdin Knowledge Systems--an AI and hardware company that prevented illegal software copying. He also recently served as chairman of SpaceIL, a nonprofit organization that will land a spaceship on the moon by 2018. Yanki gave a presentation about the future and what drastic changes technology has in store for us.

1. We're Going to Mars


Colonizing Mars will offer a much needed back-up for mankind. This will happen in the next decade; some say by as early as 2024.

2. AI and the Next Evolution of Humanity 


Soon the separation between human and artificial intelligence will melt away. By implanting devices such as a neural lace (a wire mesh that grows with your brain) humans will be equipped with a wireless computer-brain interface. 

3. IOT For Our Minds


We will be able to communicate directly with other people using only our brain and an internet connection, eliminating the need for a device that is a separate entity. 

4. Virtual Existence


Soon a virtual reality will be indistinguishable from reality, giving rise to virtual existences.

5. The End of Shortages


Our planet is plentiful; with proper management, it can provide an abundance of food, water and shelter for all of humanity.

6. We Will Build Life


We won't just 3D print organs and alter our own DNA; we will eventually create life from scratch.

7. We Won't Drive


Transportation will be completely controlled by computers and AI. Consequently, there will be no jobs in transportation, no pilots, taxi drivers or long haul truckers. In fact, there will be no jobs at all, argues Margalit. We will have to come up with a different paradigm for life and government.

8. Life: the New Computer Science


Hacking DNA with Crispr, a genome editing tool, is just the beginning. We will eventually learn to program DNA as we program computers today. "I am a robot," says Margalit. "With a great illusion of free will...we killed God, we killed the soul, and now we will kill free will." We are no different than AI, Margalit claims, as we are all just biological computers.

Margalit feels very strongly that this represents a feasible future for us all; he encourages entrepreneurs to continue working toward advances in these areas.

Yanki Margalit in Tel Aviv, Israel (Click to watch the interview)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AUEou0yzgc​