The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI

by Ray Kurzweil

The introduction of the movable-type printing press in Europe in the late Middle Ages sparked a proliferation of inexpensive and varied reading materials and made it practical for ordinary people to become literate. As the medieval period was ending, less than a fifth of Europe’s population knew how to read.[44] Literacy was limited primarily to clergy and occupations that required reading.[45] During the Enlightenment, literacy gradually became more widespread, but by 1750 only the Netherlands and Great Britain, among major European powers, had more than a 50 percent literacy rate.[46] By 1870 only Spain and Italy notably lagged behind that mark, likely due to their relatively undeveloped economies at that time and recent civil wars.[47] Yet the global average remained lower than that of Europe. In 1800, probably fewer than one in ten people worldwide could read, but throughout the nineteenth century the spread of mass-produced newspapers helped promote wider literacy, while social reforms started to guarantee basic education for all children.[48] By 1900, though, still fewer than one in four people could read.[49] During the twentieth century, public education expanded globally, and worldwide literacy exceeded one in four by 1910. By 1970 a majority of the world’s population had become literate.[50] Since then it has rapidly jumped to near-universal prevalence in most places.[51] Today the worldwide literacy rate is nearly 87 percent, and developed countries often boast ...