The Doctor Behind the ‘Suicide Pod’ Wants AI to Assist at the End of Life

The world’s first assisted suicide pod wraps around the human body like a space capsule, tilting gently towards the sky.

The device is designed to look as if the person inside is embarking on a journey, says its inventor, the Australian right-to-die activist Philip Nitschke .

In a forest on the Swiss -German border, an unnamed 64-year-old American woman pressed the pod's button to release deadly nitrogen gas.

She died seven minutes later .

Philip Nitschke created a machine that connects a laptop with a syringe to release a fatal dose of drugs.

The Sarco was used in Switzerland , but in the Netherlands , it reflects an ongoing debate about assisted suicide’s place in a medical system that dictates only people facing unbearable suffering or an incurable condition can proceed.

“I see [technology] as important in democratizing the process and demedicalizing.. the process more equitable”.

Nitschke is developing an implantable switch aimed at people with dementia.

The idea is that a person can set the implant to release deadly drugs into their bloodstream in a year ’s time if they have deteriorated too much to stop it.

The switch would start making a ticking sound to warn its wearer that the moment it will release the drugs is approaching.