NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Bold futurist Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity Is Near, offers a framework for envisioning the future of machine intelligence--"a book for anyone who wonders where human technology is going next" (The New York Times Book Review). "Kurzweil offers a thought-provoking analysis of human and artificial intelligence and a unique look at a future in which the capabilities of the computer and the species that invented it grow ever closer."--BILL GATES Imagine a world where the difference between man and machine blurs, where the line between humanity and technology fades, and where the soul and the silicon chip unite. This is not science fiction. This is the twenty-first century according to Ray Kurzweil, the
"restless genius" (
The Wall Street Journal), "ultimate thinking machine" (
Forbes), and inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era. In his inspired hands, life in the new millennium no longer seems daunting. Instead, it promises to be an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live.
More than just a list of predictions, Kurzweil's prophetic blueprint for the future guides us through the inexorable advances that will result in:
- Computers exceeding the memory capacity and computational ability of the human brain (with human-level capabilities not far behind)
- Relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers
- Information fed straight into our brains along direct neural pathways
Eventually, the distinction between humans and computers will have become sufficiently blurred that when the machines claim to be conscious, we will believe them.
Author: Ray Kurzweil
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 01/01/2000
Pages: 400
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.24h x 6.02w x 0.89d
ISBN: 9780140282023
Audience: Young Adult
Review Citation(s): Library Journal 04/01/2015 pg. 45
About the AuthorRay Kurzweil is the author of the
New York Times bestseller
The Singularity Is Near and the national bestseller
The Age of Spiritual Machines, among others. One of the leading inventors of our time, he won a Grammy Award for outstanding achievements in music technology in 2015 and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002. He is the recipient of many honors, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation's highest honor in technology. He lives in Boston.