The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Bold futurist Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity Is Near, offers a framework for envisioning the future of machine intelligence 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.