The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend BiologyNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Celebrated futurist Ray Kurzweil, hailed by Bill Gates as “the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence,” presents an “elaborate, smart, and persuasive” (The Boston Globe) view of the future course of human development. “Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world.”—Los Angeles Times “Startling in scope and bravado.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “An important book.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer At the onset of the twenty-first century, humanity stands on the verge of the most transforming and thrilling period in its history. It will be an era in which the very nature of what it means to be human will be both enriched and challenged as our species breaks the shackles of its genetic legacy and achieves inconceivable heights of intelligence, material progress, and longevity. While the social and philosophical ramifications of these changes will be profound, and the threats they pose considerable, The Singularity Is Near presents a radical and optimistic view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny. |
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ability accelerating returns algorithms atoms biological evolution biotechnology bits black hole body cancer capable cells cerebellum chapter Chinese Room circuits civilization communication complexity consciousness create decades devices discussed disease Drexler electronic Eric Drexler estimate evolutionary example experience exponential growth Freitas Jr function future genes genetic genome Hans Moravec human brain human intelligence Internet interneuronal interneuronal connections law of accelerating limited machines matter and energy mechanical memory million models molecular molecules MOLLY Moore's Law nanobots Nanomedicine nanorobot nanotechnology nanotubes neural neurons nonbiological intelligence organs paradigm patterns percent physical price-performance problem proteins quantum computing Ray Kurzweil regions replication result reverse engineering robots scanning Science scientists self-organizing self-replicating sequence simulations Singularitarian Singularity specific speed of light strong AI synapses thousand transistors trend trillion Turing test ultimately understand universe virtual reality