Sensationalism surrounding quantum computing and consciousness

This is coming from a guy who is very interested in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, but I don't think he's exactly an expert in it. The paper he based this article off has little to do with the topic he's discussing frankly, so there are some assumptions and assertions made here I'm sure. 

The study/original paper on quantum teleportation: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16745-0

His article:
https://thenextweb.com/neural/2020/06/19...ssion=true

On a more granular level, human life is more than just the passing of DNA from parent to child. It’s the existence of what the religious call a soul, the scientists call a consciousness, and the rest of us call our sense of self. If we lose a limb or replace an original organ with an artificial one, we’re no less alive than we were at birth. Medically speaking, it should one day be possible to perform head transplants, brain transplants, or even keep an aware human consciousness on life support (brain in a vat).

Not sure how certain he is about that claim at the end there but alright. 

In other words, it’s hard to argue against this simple hypothesis: humans aren’t squishy bags of meat. We’re a unique set of data running on a fancy neural network inside our gray matter.

I do hope he's not trying to claim that as certain fact. Hard Problem of Consciousness anyone? 

The biggest problem, of course, is that “copying” a human doesn’t result in having two of the same person, it generates another, different human. Just like your kids aren’t actually you, your clone is a separate entity.

Furthermore, if we use classical computers, algorithms, and neural networks to retrieve, store, and run human data, the results will probably be ineffective at best. We’re quantum beings living in a quantum universe, classical computations don’t translate.

I'd wished he'd actually cite the sources to these claims but he's doesn't, unsuprisingly. He sounds rather arrogant here. 

We’re going to need a much better understanding of organic neural networks (brains) before we come up with a way to house consciousness inside a quantum computer.

That is, assuming consciousness can be so easily found. He then, rather boldly, goes on to claim how the process would work: 

1. You’d attach a brain computer interface to your skull
   
   
2. AI would interpret your unique brain activity
   
   
3. A “home” for your consciousness would be created on a cloud connected to quantum computers
   
   
4. Upon death your data would teleport to the “home“
   

One second you’d be walking down the street, the next a bus hits you, and the next you’d be waking up inside an android body. Or maybe this far-future has perfected physical cloning and you’re just downloaded into an empty bio-mechanical brain inside a perfectly-functioning, new, biological you.

Does anyone else here think he's skipped a few steps? Just interpreting your brain activity doesn't mean you can upload your consciousness to a quantum Internet cloud of some kind. 

This, of course, is all science fiction fantasy only loosely based on a whimsical interpretation of a research paper on entangled electrons.

But the only difference between science and magic is how much time it takes. Let’s check back in on this theory in a decade or two and see if it’s still as far-fetched.

I think that quote speaks for itself regarding the quality of this article. This guy seems to be convinced AI will become conscious and all that jazz. I'm not sure what qualifications he has however to start making some of these wild and very bold claims. His bio just says that he's 'interested' in these topics and is a veteran and a sailor...

Brains aren't computers, and even embodied consciousness is more spread out in the body than the brain.

And, of course, the "uploaded" personality would just be a copy? He even acknowledges that, but claims quantum computers would get around that.

All that said, as suggested by Hammeroff o[f] Orch-OR fame perhaps one could upload minds by preserving certain quantum level relations present in the body. But that seems more than a few decades away...

There's a whole lot of beliefs and assertions there. But much of it is delusional, in my view. The idea that software running on hardware equates to consciousness is absurd.

There's a whole lot of beliefs and assertions there. But much of it is delusional, in my view. The idea that software running on hardware equates to consciousness is absurd.

In fairness, there is this,

Furthermore, if we use classical computers, algorithms, and neural networks to retrieve, store, and run human data, the results will probably be ineffective at best. We’re quantum beings living in a quantum universe, classical computations don’t translate.

which is an acceptance that the idea won't work, But then rather than stopping, goes into a promissory fantasy about what quantum computing might bring.

The most difficult bit though is this,

One second you’d be walking down the street, the next a bus hits you, and the next you’d be waking up inside an android body. Or maybe this far-future has perfected physical cloning and you’re just downloaded into an empty bio-mechanical brain inside a perfectly-functioning, new, biological you.

As the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men...
or as Burns wrote it,

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

While the technological structures are put in place, the departing soul may have plans of its own - such as to visit some 'afterlife' realms, or quite likely be reincarnated in due course in a new human body. All of that leaves the mechanical contrivances waiting there unused - unless perhaps if successful, some opportunistic spirit might wander in, with unforeseen results. Writers of fiction at this point often have some unspeakable evil participate in proceedings, but I generally find such narratives even more implausible than the original plan.