Ray Kurzweil is the inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era, an international authority on artificial intelligence, an...
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Jun 20, 2011
Todd
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In The Age of Spiritual Machines author, and futurist, Ray Kurzweil prognosticates the rise of intelligent machines (among other things). The book was written in 1999, and he has predictions for 2009 so there’s been enough time for some of his predictions to be tested. Unfortunately he fares very, very poorly. See for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_...
The ones he gets right were those things that were either already available in 1999 or are incremental extensions of More...
The ones he gets right were those things that were either already available in 1999 or are incremental extensions of More...
Dec 03, 2011
Phyllis
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Kurzweil looks at history and demostrates to us that the rate of technological progress has always been growing exponentially. And that part of the book, part one, is a lot of fun to read. Borrow the book, read this section and enjoy.
But where Kurzweil wants to go with this is into the future. And here you have to keep in mind that the book was written in 1998 so we're part of the future he's looking into. And, like many before him, not only does he not get a home run with every hit, More...
But where Kurzweil wants to go with this is into the future. And here you have to keep in mind that the book was written in 1998 so we're part of the future he's looking into. And, like many before him, not only does he not get a home run with every hit, More...
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Jul 30, 2011
Honestly, the book feels like some sort of science fiction thing. Kurzweil ends by predicting the entire merger of human identity with computer technology. The human carbon-based body will become obsolete and the mind will essentially be "downloaded" into a network of other beings,. "Actually there won't be mortality by the end of the twenty-first century. Not in the sense that we have known it. Not if you take advantage of the twenty-first century's brain-porting technology. Up u
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Jun 22, 2011
Daniel
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Let me start by saying I drank a lot of Kurzweil's Kool-Aid as a kid. Almost a decade later, I can't shake his influence completely.
Much of his science is convincing, and I resonate with his fanatic optimism that humans' ingenuity guarantees we can overcome any obstacle and that we're in for a wild ride. I also agree we're in a mad race to continuously reinvent ourselves through genetics, nanotechnology and computation. In this way he's really a torch bearer for the existentialist tra More...
Much of his science is convincing, and I resonate with his fanatic optimism that humans' ingenuity guarantees we can overcome any obstacle and that we're in for a wild ride. I also agree we're in a mad race to continuously reinvent ourselves through genetics, nanotechnology and computation. In this way he's really a torch bearer for the existentialist tra More...
Mar 07, 2010
Lynne
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I talked to a good friend of mine today at brunch who has a PhD in cellular and molecular biology about some of the science and the futurisms in Kurzweil's book. My friend said immediately, "he sounds like a physicist, and those crazy physicists will invent things like the particles that don't know which way they are going until they are 'observed' because they don't know what is really happening." I said, "it's like a physicist's version of the "god of the gaps." And
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May 07, 2009
Christopher
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Ray Kurzweil has been accused by some as being incredibly optimistic in his vision for the future of humanity and the computer's that we've created. His predictions, however, have an uncanny way of coming to pass, at least in large part. Spiritual Machines was written in 1999 and speaks of the advances that computers will make in the twenty-first century.
Now, a decade later, it is possible to look at the first of Kurzweil's predictions, helpfully listed out in a chapter labeled "2 More...
Now, a decade later, it is possible to look at the first of Kurzweil's predictions, helpfully listed out in a chapter labeled "2 More...
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Dec 30, 2008
Dax
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 16, 2011
Ryan
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In this short, readable book, Kurzweil pitches the idea of the Singularity to mainstream readers. As a software developer with a strong interest in artificial intelligence, evolution, and neuroscience, I think that his claims and their stunning implications are right. At least, in a broad sense. We are not far from a world in which machines will begin to exhibit intelligence approaching -- and, in some areas, surpassing -- the minds of human beings. Though, at first, such systems will require mu
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Jan 19, 2011
Robert
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Wow. I'd heard about this book for years and was familiar enough with the theory of singularity, but I just kept wishing I had read this sooner. It made me realize that I should make a point of reading more books written by geniuses.
This book is prophetic. By now, many of Kurzweil's predictions have been realized (the fact that his predictions on wearable personal computers, electronic books, and text-to-speech technology were read to me by my Kindle device, which I had stowed in my co More...
This book is prophetic. By now, many of Kurzweil's predictions have been realized (the fact that his predictions on wearable personal computers, electronic books, and text-to-speech technology were read to me by my Kindle device, which I had stowed in my co More...
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Apr 22, 2010
Joseph D.
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What does the future portend? Is it possible for artificial intelligence to supercede the horizon of its creator: humanity. What will happen when technology conquers biology and we are free to 'transcend' the biological boundaries. These topics are foremost on the mind of MIT professor, inventor, and futurist Ray Kurzweil who gives a, some would say wildly, optimistic view of the possibilities of science for sickness, disabilities, and eventually for a full flourishing of humanity into a transhu
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Oct 01, 2009
Matthew
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Very fun to read, kinda technical at times but overall an easy read. The book serves as an intimation of future events, not as a prediction. And in that sense I very much enjoyed it. That being said, there were whole sections I skimmed over, and they were the area's Ray used his "artistic license" to hold a conversation with an imaginary friends who travels through time... he is not a fiction writer... that's all I'll say.
The idea's presented in the book follow a set of laws (law More...
The idea's presented in the book follow a set of laws (law More...
Jul 03, 2008
Gus
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Ray Kurzweil is hailed as one of the most accurate and brilliant futurists of our time and this book details his views on what our technological world will look like in 10, 20, 50, 100 years. It is fascinating and thought provoking.
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Feb 16, 2011
Ben
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Wow, what a book. The authors predicts that in the future there will be immorality. We will be one with the machine. By 2020 our computers will have the same brain power as a human. Look at Watson on the Jeopardy TV show and you see the future. It was scary reading about nano robots self multiplying and taking over the world. The future does not look good for mankind. We can't stop this from occurring. The nature of the benefits will entice us to develop ever more powerful computers. The compute
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May 10, 2011
Iskreads
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Did you ever wondered if a computer can become more intelligent than humans. Age of Spiritual Machines is a book which will answer this question, give you new ideas, and really makes you feel like some body is talking to you through the book.
The topics in this book and the answers to the questions in your mind is really great. The answers might be what you call "different" but really works.
Ideas or at least ideas are very rare and interesting. The way the author talks a More...
The topics in this book and the answers to the questions in your mind is really great. The answers might be what you call "different" but really works.
Ideas or at least ideas are very rare and interesting. The way the author talks a More...
Aug 14, 2009
Randy
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The book is both comprehensive and visionary. And it may, quite frankly, scare the living shit out of you. For while Kurzweil is unboundingly optimistic, I think the vast majority of us are not. He makes a lot of predictions, but I think the speed at which he thinks they'll take place is too fast and doesn't factor in the generational nature of change in human society. Or the generational nature of change and improvement in technology. However, I tend to agree with Kurzweiler regarding the
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Jan 31, 2010
Carl
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Wow, this guy is living so far in the future I'm not sure he could tell you the going rate for a stamp. Provocative ideas on the future of computing, and the obsolescence of the human brain and body within a hundred years. Being 'in the flesh' could be the new retro. It felt a bit like reading the plot of several recent sci-fi movies, but for being written over a decade ago, I can give it some credit. I can hope that to reach the heights of computing power would also parallel solutions to the cl
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Jul 18, 2011
Jamie
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This book was written in 1999 and consists of two main sections. The first is the current (1999) state of computing and where researchers were heading. The second is a series of chapters attempting to predict what will happen 10, 20, 30, and 100 years after 1999.
I don't have a great knowledge of computers, technology, or science, so it was interesting to read about what was happening in 1999 and how things were being researched and developed. The technology as he explained it was More...
I don't have a great knowledge of computers, technology, or science, so it was interesting to read about what was happening in 1999 and how things were being researched and developed. The technology as he explained it was More...
Sep 17, 2010
Manny
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As an AI person, I have mixed feelings about this book. Half of me says that it's nonsense: the author come across as ludicrously optimistic, indeed quite out of touch with reality, and saturated with hubris to the point where it's starting to crystallize out in his hair. Who could ever take this crap seriously?
The other half points out that, even though AI has a terrible history of overhyping itself, the errors are often not as bad as they first appear. People in the 50s did indeed More...
The other half points out that, even though AI has a terrible history of overhyping itself, the errors are often not as bad as they first appear. People in the 50s did indeed More...
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Jan 18, 2009
Dave
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In this book, Computer Artificial Intelligence researcher Ray Kurzweil tries to predict the future of computers, from 1999 - 2099 CE. In brief, he predicts that by the end of the 21st century human and machine intelligence will have "merged" -- computers will be as sentient as us, and humans will have "uploaded" our minds into a Virtual Reality utopia, in which we live for eternity as immortal software. While I don't so easily dismiss the idea of future "artificial hum
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Aug 20, 2008
Craig
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Ray Kurzweil speculates on the future. Not without credentials or respect in the scientific community, he nevertheless paints a prospective future that exceeds the ability of most to believe. Not out of improbability, so much, but out of the sheer imagination overload. The subject matter is overwhelming to consider.
Ray takes the exponential increase in computing technology to the logical limits of the human imagination. He considers the ramifications of what he terms "The Singu More...
Ray takes the exponential increase in computing technology to the logical limits of the human imagination. He considers the ramifications of what he terms "The Singu More...
May 20, 2008
Robert
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Like it or not, the fact is computers and technology in general will continue to factor more heavily in our daily lives as each day passes.
Science fiction readers have often benefited from having witnessed any number of good or bad technological situations, so what Kurzweil has to say in this book might not resonate as freshly to those readers as it would to those relatively new to the idea of sentient machines.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of those fields that has More...
Science fiction readers have often benefited from having witnessed any number of good or bad technological situations, so what Kurzweil has to say in this book might not resonate as freshly to those readers as it would to those relatively new to the idea of sentient machines.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of those fields that has More...
Apr 02, 2007
Ron
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Ray Kurzweil has a long history in technology. In the 1970s he pioneered a dramatic combination of bleeding edge equipment into the first automatic text reading machine for the blind. At the time this was something of a herculean feat, a machine that could recognize text on a printed page and translate it (albiet haltingly) into spoken words.
In Spiritual Machines Ray takes us where he believes the unconstrained trajectory of high technology leads: transformed humanity and machines More...
In Spiritual Machines Ray takes us where he believes the unconstrained trajectory of high technology leads: transformed humanity and machines More...
Feb 09, 2007
Scott
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After reading this book I was completely giddy about the future. Everything suddenly seemed possible, nothing impossible, all without invoking anything supernatural. This is what I was looking for to replace my lost religion. Ray Kurzweil pointed out the now obvious end result of the rapid exponential advances in computer technology. Others discovered the trends long before but Ray Kurzweil put it all together in one incredibly fun book to read. Kurzweil’s thesis rests on the exponential gr
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Jan 29, 2012
Frances
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When I read this book in 2000, it blew my mind. It actually changed the way I looked at everything. It made me feel like I knew a secret, something important, that other people didn't know. While I still believe in Kurzweil's genius, and his futurist prophecies, this book is obsolete.
For a current, in-depth look at Kurzweil's brilliant mind, find the 2009 documentary "Transcendent Man", and see Kurzweil talk about the fast approaching realization of his "singularity" theory.
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For a current, in-depth look at Kurzweil's brilliant mind, find the 2009 documentary "Transcendent Man", and see Kurzweil talk about the fast approaching realization of his "singularity" theory.
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Jun 21, 2011
Jonathan
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The core problem with Kurzweil is that he seems to have no analysis of power or oppression whatsoever. He inhabits a happy-go-lucky futurist utopia filled with wondrous technological toys and gives no thought to how any of the technology could be used oppress, dominate or control. I basically spent the entire book imagining all the horrible things governments and corporations would do (and perhaps will do) with all the fantastic technology Kurzweil describes.
May 31, 2010
Suhrob
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Not recommended. I hoped to get some intro into futurism/transhumanism/singularity. Kurzweil describes his concepts briefly and quite handwaveingly in the very beginning and the rest of the book is a long monotonous list useful only if you want to write a near-future/cyberpunk short story and you've run out of ideas. (I'm not subtracting points for being overtly optimistic for his 2009 predictions.)
Mar 03, 2010
Matt
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While a little preachy and full of itself at times, this book was a very interesting read. It was interesting to see how some of the predictions did in fact come true, but at a point things started to get a little ahead of themselves. Over all it did spark some very new thoughts in me and helped create some very intriguing conversations between me and some friends.
Sep 22, 2009
Guilherme
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This is important stuff. Kurzweil is unsettling. Though his writing is convoluted and unfocused, he says important things. I don't think any of what he says is far-fetched or delirious. I read "The Age of Spirituals..." back in 2000, now I have "Singularity" in hand. I don't expect so much insight from it, instead a refreshing new dive into Kurzeil's amazing world.
Nov 24, 2011
Keith
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I read his books in the wrong order! Should have read this book BEFORE reading "The Singularity is Near". This book gives a better overview of his concept of the singularity, while TSIN goes into a lot more, and probably too much, depth.
To understand the singularity, and a clear vision of the future, in an easy to read format, read this book.
To understand the singularity, and a clear vision of the future, in an easy to read format, read this book.
Feb 11, 2010
David
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Amazing book on the exponential improvement of computers that argues how computers will exceed human intelligence in about 30-40 years, beyond which life on this planet will be completely unrecognizable to our present day understanding. Basically, we should expect freakishly cool/scary things from computers in our lifetimes. You've been warned.
