Will meeting our friends for coffee in 2101 be possible? Ligia Kornowska is the leader of the AI in Health Coalition, the author of the Cel22.pl newsletter, and one of the most influential figures in Polish medicine. She will be a speaker at the ELEVATE Health & Longevity Summit 2026.
In our conversation, she argues that, thanks to the exponential development of technology, living to see the 22nd century in full health is becoming a realistic scenario. The expert analyzes how digital twins and artificial intelligence are transforming aging from an inevitable process into a medical challenge that we can effectively address. It is a fascinating vision of the future in which taking care of our health today, supported by innovation, becomes a gateway to technological longevity.
Michał Wieczorek: You are inviting guests for coffee in the 22nd century. I accepted the invitation myself and signed up to meet you on my 115th birthday in 2101. Please tell me, will we really live to see the 22nd century?
Ligia Kornowska: Absolutely, at least that is our goal, and we will do everything we can to live that long. I have noticed that a vast amount of knowledge about new medical technologies is currently available to a relatively small group of enthusiasts. And a great deal is happening. Medicine is no longer changing from year to year, but from month to month. This allows us to assume that, over the coming decades, therapeutic pathways will emerge that will enable us not only to live longer, but above all to live longer in good health.
How far can we push this limit? We know that, statistically, we spend the final 10 years of our lives dealing with illness. Can we close this gap?
We have evidence that people can live to the age of 120. Further studies suggest that reaching 150 may be possible, although no such case has yet been confirmed. Limits that once seemed impossible to cross, such as 109 or 120 years, are becoming more flexible. The key issue, however, is living in good health, which means maintaining a high quality of life, physical fitness, and intellectual ability. Each of us can already take preventive measures that reduce the number of years spent living with disability. This is not science fiction. These are specific, scientifically proven steps.
Why, then, are we still so afraid of old age?
Because we observe our parents and grandparents. We associate old age with sitting in an armchair and waiting to die. Meanwhile, a 70 year old can be the President of the United States and continue developing their career. We lack health education from an early age. We need to understand that we have a real influence on what our old age will look like. When we take care of our bodies earlier in life, our later years can look completely different.
What actually limits our lifespan? Is it aging itself, or the diseases that appear along the way?
In the past, infectious diseases were the main cause of death, and we managed to bring many of them under control. Today, the number one killer is cardiovascular disease, which preventive care and pharmacological treatment can protect us against. We also face oncological challenges, which include a highly diverse group of conditions. When we avoid these major killers, we dramatically increase our chances of reaching the age of 120.
Is aging a disease?
It is a fascinating concept. As a doctor, I once would have strongly objected, arguing that aging is a natural physiological process. But when we define aging as a decline in physical and intellectual ability, we can begin to view it as something that can be counteracted. Thanks to technology, we may one day treat aging like a disease that can be treated, for example by replacing worn out organs with new ones.
Which technologies give you the greatest hope?
This is where we enter the realm of futurism. The internet and air travel once seemed like magic. Today, we can dream about transferring consciousness into a computer or gradually replacing biological neurons with microchips. Another possibility is creating organs with 3D printers. Even now, during surgery, we can temporarily replace the lungs and heart with artificial organs. What seems unbelievable today may become standard practice several decades from now.
You mentioned microchips. Does this mean that our thoughts could function within a network? It sounds like the concept of the metaverse and separating the mind from the body.
Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton proposed a thought experiment involving the replacement of neurons. When we assume that thoughts are physical and chemical reactions, the laws of physics do not theoretically prevent us from reproducing them on human made devices. The challenge lies in mapping neural connections. There are so many of them that today’s computers are unable to process them. We also do not know whether the brain alone is responsible for personality.
This resembles the concept of a digital twin. Could we map the entire human body as data?
This is already happening! Clinical trials in the United States are testing a model in which the control group does not consist of people, but of their digital representations. AI predicts how a disease would progress in a particular patient without medication. This is a major ethical and economic breakthrough that will accelerate the development of new therapies. Although we do not yet have the computing power to copy an entire organism, we can already model specific disease processes.
You run the Cel22 newsletter. What is its mission?
I want to spread knowledge about the medicine of the future, which is already becoming reality today, but is distributed very unevenly. Few people know about studies in which chips have allowed paralyzed individuals to communicate with the world through thought. I want people to understand how important it is to take care of themselves now, so they have the chance to benefit from these breakthroughs in the future.
You are the director of the Polish Hospital Federation, yet you also speak about Medicine 3.0, in which prevention is more important than treatment. How do you combine these two worlds?
The healthcare system often focuses on managing disease rather than managing health. As a doctor, I see patients who are clearly heading toward illness, but the system only provides reimbursed treatment once their condition becomes very serious. This is the paradox of a Ministry of Disease. My goal is to show that medicine should intensify its efforts before a patient becomes ill.
What can we do today to live to 100 in good health?
The basics may sound trivial, but they are incredibly powerful: physical activity, sleep, and diet. Regular exercise can reduce the risk of premature death fourfold. There is no other medicine with this level of effectiveness! The future, however, lies in hyperpersonalization.
How is it different from ordinary personalization?
Personalization can mean selecting a breast cancer treatment based on a patient’s specific gene. Hyperpersonalization means adapting actions to the exact condition of a particular person at a specific moment. For example, the same person metabolizes food differently when well rested than after exercise or during periods of stress. Even twins with identical genomes may respond differently to the same foods due to differences in their microbiomes. Knowing, for example, that ultra processed food may be more harmful than smoking cigarettes allows us to classify our everyday choices differently.
So the key to reaching the 22nd century is combining a healthy lifestyle with the latest technology, which is already here.
Exactly. We need to take care of ourselves today so that we can live long enough to benefit from solutions that, 30 to 40 years from now, may allow us to live almost forever.
Ligia, thank you very much for this fascinating journey into the future.
