The Age of Spiritual Machines
When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence
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4.2 • 32 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kurzweil's reasoned scenarios of a "post-biological future" are as harrowing as any science fiction. That's the appeal of listening on tape to the inventor and MIT professor's provocative speculations on what could occur once computers reach or surpass human-level intelligence--then start to self-replicate. Computers, with their integrated circuit chip complexity, are sneaking up on us on an accelerated curve, he argues, citing the example of chess master Gary Kasparov's shocking loss to IBM's machine Deep Blue in 1997. Do computers represent "the next stage of evolution"? Will technology create its own next generations? Kurzweil suggests a timeline inhabited by "neural-nets," "nanobot" robots and scenarios of virtual reality where sexuality and spirituality become completely simulated. It's bracing and compelling stuff, propelled by the author's own strong egotistical will to prove his version of the future. Reader Sklar is thoughtful, if at times overly heavy on the ironies. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover.
Customer Reviews
great book, but no editing
Simply put the book itself is outstanding. Kurzweil's ideas are the stuff of science fiction, but a science fiction that will come to pass. And soon. Well reasoned and intelligent, I highly recommend this book.
That said, this ebook appears to have been scanned, OCR'd (optical character recognition) and then NOT edited. There are so many errors it is distracting. I am very disappointed that Apple couldn't do a better job in converting this text into an ebook.
Five stars for the book, minus one star for the abysmal editing.
Mind blowing book
I first read this in 2003. This book changed my outlook on the universe. It expanded my view of who I was, the story of our civilization and offered a hint of what's coming. I used its insight as a guide for technology and time investment and it totally paid off. Years later I look back, and I am still very fond of this book. Mu favorite to date.
Wordy
It is an interesting read, for sure, but he takes to long to make his points and becomes bogged down in sentence structure.
Just say it, Ray!