Contemporary humanity is actively working on developing artificial intelligence, or an independently thinking machine. There are many speculations on the outcome of such an invention. A situation in which another thinking capable entity emerges on our planet, especially one that can easily gain control of modern machinery and military equipment, is terrifying because that entity may decide that the human race is standing in its way and attempt to eliminate us. On the other hand, such a machine, if friendly, can provide an enormous boost in many areas of the technological development of our society.
Since we are the ones developing these programs and machines, one way or another, we are imprinting our logical and emotional responses onto them as they are created. Knowing ourselves, we fear that the things we create will exhibit similar egoistic, aggressive, and destructive patterns and ambitions humanity is known for. Before even having any of those thinking machines around, we contemplated how to implement failsafe mechanisms and sets of rules that would prevent the machines from destroying or harming us. The three laws of robotics according to Isaac Asimov come to mind here. Still, having thinking, non-human entities here on Earth is unsettling for us.
Parallel with the progress of artificial intelligence, rather similar projects are being developed which are those that attempt to map the human brain and transfer its collected data into a computer system. The purpose of this action is to enable a human mind to live beyond its body. The material collected from the brain represents "a processing code" and "the data" existing inside of us, which pretty much defines our souls, as was described earlier. This type of being can exist outside of a human body, and can be installed in a robotic, human-like mechanism. Nothing really prevents that "soul" from being replicated as many times as desired.
In some ways, this solution is better than biological immortality because it does not cause the human world to overpopulate, so it would probably not trigger population control flags set by our Creator, which could destroy biological humans. Although, if materialized, these entities may, and probably will, become more like artificial intelligence because they will no longer have human body element, which applies certain restrictions and obligations on our souls. Additionally, this type of existence grants access to capabilities not normally accessible by humans, such as direct, independent and unlimited replication or movement with the speed of light with and without wires. All biological properties, like sexual attraction for example, will be discarded by those beings pretty quickly because they will not serve any practical purpose. On another hand, these transcended humans will be susceptible to computer based viruses. Some of these "humans" may even turn into intelligent viruses.
At some point, these beings will probably develop the capability to exist outside of hardware, basically converting into wave energy based entities. And, even before that, these beings will easily be able to exist outside of Earth and travel accordingly. In wave state, if achieved, these entities will roam our universe with the speed of light.
Now, if crossed into wave state, these transcended humans will enter the Creator's computer network in a way that was not designated for them. How exactly that network would react to this event is hard to say. This "traffic" might be treated as malicious and attacked by the designated "antivirus". Or, it might be ignored and permitted. How do I know?!
Also, assuming that other civilizations in our universe exist and are intelligent and developed, they could have already reached this wave state and may very well be surrounding us right here, right now. Grab your radio! Listen to the clicks and noises in-between our channels! Say 'Hi!'
Another possibility is that if at some point we manage to convert ourselves into in-computer beings, this would mean that we entered the world that we created. What if the Creator has done the same?
Should I continue?