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Tech entrepreneur and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am has spoken out about his concerns on 3D printing human organs, saying we will soon be able to print a whole human.
In an interview with Dezeen at the launch of his sustainable lifestyle product range Ekocycle, Will commented: “New morals, new laws and new codes are going to have to be implemented. Humans – as great as we are – are pretty irresponsible. Ask the planet. Ask the environment.”
He comments that the 3D printing of a person is a “god-like tool” that, in the eyes of Christianity, was most likely not in God’s plan: “Now we’re getting into a whole new territory. Moses comes down with the Ten Commandments and says, ‘Thou shall not…’. He didn’t say shit about 3D printing.”
Comparing it to Star Trek-style tech, he said: “You’re starting with beef, and leathers, and body parts, eventually it will get more complex. It’s basically ‘Beam me up, Scotty’, a 3D printer that disintegrates the source.”
Rather than a prediction, Will.i.am says he is just stating a fact based on plausible growth in technology: “So if you can print a liver or a kidney. God Dang it, you’re going to be able to print a whole freaking person. And that’s scary.
“That’s when it’s like, whah! And I’m not saying I agree, but plausible growth would say that with multiple machines that print in different materials, you could print in protein and aluminium.”
The rapper (who is the CCO of 3D-printing company 3D Systems) has just launched his Ekocycle collection of sustainable products with Coca-Cola at Harrods in London.
The company produces clothing, bicycles and luggage made from waste materials, including 3D-printer filament produced from recycled plastic bottles.
Check out the full interview here.
