Musician calls for ‘new morals, new laws and new codes’ to augment
Moses’ 10 commandments: ‘He didn’t say shit about 3D printing...’Will.i.am: ‘If you can print a liver or a kidney, god dang it, you’re
going to be able to print a whole freaking person’.
3D-printed organs are a realistic prospect in the next decade, but
3D-printed human beings? Will.i.am claims they will be the next step and
thinks that humanity will need new ethical codes to cope with the
implications.
“Eventually 3D printing will print people. I’m not saying I agree
with it, I’m just saying what’s fact based on plausible growth in
technology,” the musician told Dezeen magazine.
“Unfortunately that is the reality, but at the same time it pushes
humanity to have to adhere to new responsibilities. So new morals, new
laws and new codes are going to have to be implemented.”
The star became chief creative officer
of 3D printing company 3D Systems in 2014, and has been working with it
and sponsor Coca-Cola on a range of “Ekocycle” 3D-printed products,
including clothing and bicycles.
“If you can print a liver or a kidney, god dang it, you’re going to be able to print a whole freaking person,” said Will.i.am.
“Now we’re getting into a whole new territory. Moses comes down with
the 10 commandments and says ‘Thou shalt not’. He didn’t say shit about 3D printing.”
In an interview with the Guardian, he put a more positive spin on the prospect of future advances in 3D printing and biology.
“In 20 years, you’ll be able to print a new kidney. You’ll have a machine that prints your genome with proteins that are right for your body. 3D printers will change how we make things, how we fix and heal things. To eat beef and wear leather, you need a lot of land and water for cows. In the next 20 years, we’ll be able to print beef and leather instead. Real talk.”
3D printing is one of several ventures into technology for the former Black Eyed Peas star and judge on BBC1’s The Voice.
He has released hardware – iPhone camera cases in 2013 and the Puls smartwatch – a “cuff” as he describes it – which is set to go on sale later this year.
Before 3D Systems, Will.i.am was director of creative innovation for Intel and was an early investor in Beats Electronics.
