The Age of Spiritual Machines - by Ray Kurzweil (Paperback)

About the Book

The "ultimate thinking machine" ("Forbes")--whose predictions for the future are startling, provocative, and closer to fruition than one might think--takes a serious and surprising look at the future that reads like great science fiction and offers a framework for envisioning the 21st century. Illustrations & diagrams. (Technology)

Book Synopsis

The inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era, an international authority on artificial intelligence, and bestselling author of The Singularity is Nearer now offers a framework for envisioning the twenty-first century in The Age of Spiritual Machines--an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live.

Kurzweil's prophetic blueprint for the future takes us through the advances that inexorably result in computers exceeding the memory capacity and computational ability of the human brain by the year 2020 (with human-level capabilities not far behind); in relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers; and in information fed straight into our brains along direct neural pathways. Optimistic and challenging, thought-provoking and engaging, The Age of Spiritual Machines is the ultimate guide on our road into the next century.

From the Back Cover

Step into the world of Ray Kurzweil, the "restless genius" (Wall Street Journal) and "ultimate thinking machine" (Forbes), whose predictions for an age in which man and machine are interchangeable are startling, provocative -- and closer to realization than you think.

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 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 by the year 2020 (with human-level capabilities not far behind); relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers; and 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.

Review Quotes

"Kurzweil's broad outlook and fresh approach make his optimism hard to resist." -- Kirkus Reviews

"This is a book for computer enthusiasts, science fiction writers in search of cutting-edge themes and anyone who wonders where human technology is going next." -- The New York Times

About the Author

Ray 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.