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The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence Hardcover – January 1, 1999
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- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherViking Adult
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1999
- Dimensions6.36 x 1.35 x 9.54 inches
- ISBN-100670882178
- ISBN-13978-0670882175
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
-?Joe J. Accardi, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Kurzweil paints a tantalizing -- and sometimes terrifying -- portrait of a world where the line between humans and machines has become thoroughly blurred. -- Boston Globe Book Review
"Ray Kurzweil's book is a real stunner. He predicts that in the fairly near future people will be half-human, half-machine." -- Forbes Magazine
"The book is an ambitious blueprint for the future, mapping out the next century of technological evolution and exploring the moment when PCs will attain and then surpass the capabilities of the human brain." -- Business 2.0
"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." -- New York Times Book Review
"What Kurzweil brings to the table is sobriety... compelling predicitions and delicious presumption into into his fascinatic speculations about the future." -- Wired Magazine
"What will the world look like when computers are smarter than their owners? Kurzweil, the brains behind some of today's most brilliant machines, offers his insights -- an extremely provocative glimpse of what the next few decades may well hold." -- Kirkus Reviews
His book ranges widely over such juicy topics as entropy, chaos, the big bang, quantum theory, DNA computers... neural nets, genetic algorithms, nanoengineering, the Turing test, brain scanning... chess-playing programs, the Internet--the whole world of information technology past, present, and future. 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 Book Review, Collin McGinn
Of course, we've heard it all before. But what Kurzweil brings to the table is sobriety. While he exudes a boyish optimism, there is little of the booster's jargon in his book. -- Wired, Paul Bennett
About the Author
Ray Kurzweil is a prize-winning author and scientist. Recipient of the MIT-Lemelson Prize (the world’s largest for innovation), and inducted into the Inventor’s Hall of Fame, he received the 1999 National Medal of Technology. His books include The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Age of Intelligent Machines.
Visit Ray Kurzweil on the web:
http://www.kurzweiltech.com
http://www.kurzweilai.net/
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
In 1990, Ray Kurzweil shook the world of computer science with the publication of his book, The Age of Intelligent Machines. What is going to happen, Kurzweil asked, when computers go beyond mere input/output formulas and begin to actually think for themselves? They will clobber the world chess champion by 1998, he predicted (this happened in 1997), and people will be able to visually navigate a global network of interconnected computers, he said (five years before the World Wide Web). Lauded as a visionary, the recipient of nine honorary doctorate degrees, honored by two U.S. Presidents, the "restless genius" that is Ray Kurzweil has dropped another bomb in the scientific community by asking the simple question, "What happens when machines exceed human intelligence in every measurable way?"
The answer: We enter The Age of Spiritual Machines. That's right, machines that not only see and feel and speak and think, but machines that surpass human intelligence -- machines that have consciousness, their own agendas, and the ability to achieve their goals without human assistance. What will happen to us when evolution replaces us as the dominant species on the planet? This is not science fiction any longer, says Kurzweil. His new book, The Age of Spiritual Machines, is based on interdisciplinary research into state-of-the-art technology, laying a scientific foundation that supports his incredible predictions for the next century.
The article, below, was written for us by Dr. Kurzweil as a summary of some of the major points in his book. Beneath the article, you'll find additional information about The Age of Spiritual Machines. Enjoy!
An Epochal Event in the History of Life on Earth
A threshold event will take place early in the Twenty-First century: the emergence of machines more intelligent than their creators. By 2019, a $1,000 computer will match the processing power of the human brain -- about 20 million billion calculations per second. Organizing these resources -- the "software" of intelligence -- will take us to 2029, by which time your average personal computer will be equivalent to a thousand human brains.
Once a computer achieves a level of intelligence comparable to human intelligence, it will necessarily soar past it. For one thing, computers can easily share their knowledge. If I learn French, or read War and Peace, I can't readily download that learning to you. You have to acquire that scholarship the same painstaking way that I did. But if one computer learns a skill or gains an insight, it can immediately share that wisdom with billions of other computers. So every computer can be a master of all human and machine acquired knowledge.
Keep in mind that this is not an alien invasion of intelligent machines. It is emerging from within our human/machine civilization. There will not be a clear distinction between human and machine in the Twenty First century. First of all, we will be putting computers --neural implants -- directly into our brains. We've already started down this path. We have neural implants to counteract Parkinson's Disease and tremors from multiple sclerosis. We have cochlear implants that restore hearing to deaf individuals. Under development is a retina implant that will perform a similar function for blind individuals, basically replacing the visual processing circuits of the brain. A couple of weeks ago, scientists placed a chip in the brain of a paralyzed individual who can now control his environment directly from his brain.
In the 2020s, neural implants will not be just for disabled people. Most of us will have neural implants to improve our sensory experiences, perception, memory, and logical thinking. These implants will also plug us in directly to the World Wide Web. This technology will enable us to have virtual reality experiences with other people -- or simulated people -- without requiring any equipment not already in our heads. And virtual reality will not be the crude experience that people are used to today. Virtual reality will be as realistic, detailed, and subtle as real reality. So instead of just phoning a friend, you can meet in a virtual French cafe in Paris, or stroll down a virtual Champs D'Elyse, and it will seem very real. People will be able to have any type of experience with anyone -- business, social, romantic, sexual -- regardless of physical proximity.
One approach to designing intelligent computers will be to copy the human brain, so these machines will seem very human. And through nanotechnology, which is the ability to create physical objects atom by atom, they will have human-like -- albeit greatly enhanced -- bodies as well. Having human origins, they will claim to be human, and to have human feelings. And being immensely intelligent, they'll be very convincing when they tell us these things.
We will also be able to scan a particular person -- let's say myself -- and record the exact state and position of every neurotransmitter, synapse, neural connection, and other relevant details, and then reinstantiate that information into a neural computer of sufficient capacity. The person that then emerges in the machine will think that he is (and had been) me. He will say "I was born in Queens, New York, went to college at MIT, stayed in Boston, walked into a scanner there, and woke up in the machine here. Hey, this technology really works."
But wait. Is this really me? For one thing, old Ray (that's me) still exists. I'll still be here in my carbon-cell-based brain. Alas, I will have to sit back and watch the new Ray succeed in endeavors that I could only dream of.
Product details
- Publisher : Viking Adult (January 1, 1999)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0670882178
- ISBN-13 : 978-0670882175
- Item Weight : 1.55 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.36 x 1.35 x 9.54 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #652,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #274 in Human-Computer Interaction (Books)
- #1,263 in Artificial Intelligence & Semantics
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Ray Kurzweil is a world class inventor, thinker, and futurist, with a thirty-five-year track record of accurate predictions. He has been a leading developer in artificial intelligence for 61 years – longer than any other living person. He was the principal inventor of the first CCD flat-bed scanner, omni-font optical character recognition, print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, text-to-speech synthesizer, music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments, and commercially marketed large-vocabulary speech recognition software. Ray received a Grammy Award for outstanding achievement in music technology; he is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He has written five best-selling books including The Singularity Is Near and How To Create A Mind, both New York Times best sellers, and Danielle: Chronicles of a Superheroine, winner of multiple young adult fiction awards. His forthcoming book, The Singularity Is Nearer, will be released June 25, 2024. He is a Principal Researcher and AI Visionary at Google.
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Customers find the book insightful and thought-provoking. They describe it as easy to read and not too technical. The book is described as interesting and provocative, making for compelling reading. Readers praise the author's writing style and narration. However, some feel the material is outdated.
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Customers find the book's insights powerful and influential. They appreciate the author's ability to explain complex technical issues in clear language. The book is described as interesting, thought-provoking, and a must-read for anyone interested in technology and the future.
"...I think that this is an important book that everyone should be familiar with, particularly the dire end of MOSHs (Mostly Original Substrate Humans.)..." Read more
"Written in 1999, this book is very comprehensive and generally right in its predictions...." Read more
"...These are powerful ideas...." Read more
"...Thankfully though, the author remains optimistic, and predicts events and technologies that would make today's computer scientists drool with..." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They appreciate the author's thoughtful, well-researched, and clear prose.
"...His timeline in the appendix is excellent, and it is worth skipping to it first, before tackling the text...." Read more
"...not left behind, but instead stand chin-to-chin with the robust, brilliant machines that have created...." Read more
"...It helps to know a little physics, but his prose is clear and easy to understand...." Read more
"...Still, this is a wonderful read and The Amazing Kurzweil has a mind and heart that deserve our continued attention and respect." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and thought-provoking. They appreciate the author's intriguing ideas and vision of life in the future. The Platonic dialog approach to some chapters is also mentioned as an interesting feature. Overall, readers find the book impactful and enjoyable.
"...All in all, this is an extremely interesting book to read...." Read more
"This is an immensely interesting & provocative little book by Ray Kurzweil...." Read more
"...them in the near future, is very thought-provoking, and makes for compelling reading...." Read more
"...whether the scenarios he predicts are really plausible, but it's certainly interesting. By 2099, humanity has effectively acheived immortality...." Read more
Customers find the book readable. They appreciate the author's prose and narration style, which is conversational rather than technical.
"...It's not a great pleasure to read this book. Ray Kurzweil is good at writing prose, but his technique of a conversation with an imaginary "Molly"..." Read more
"...and there's a lot of that stuff in this book, but Kurzweil is also a readable and prolific philosopher, and whether you agree with his philosophy or..." Read more
"...It helps to know a little physics, but his prose is clear and easy to understand...." Read more
"Kurzweil is an interesting writer, he has some fascinating ideas...." Read more
Customers find the book's material outdated.
"...so much about, it was written 20 years ago and the material was dated for the most part...." Read more
"a bit dated at this point but a really good read" Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2024Ray Kurzweil can rightfully claim the title of "prophet", because his predictions of 1998 have proven to be uncannily accurate here in 2024. While he missed some things, he also certainly made an amazing amount of correct guesses. His work is thoroughly worth reading in 2024, unlike almost all other books attempting prophecy.
On the misses: he assumed that there would be continuing value to intellectual property, which now appears to be wrong. That particular miss mars some of his other guesses based on that assumption, particularly ones about structuring future economies on the continuing value of intellectual property. (Also, for the computer science types, he also seems to have missed on guesses about genetic algorithms being a key component of AI; that does not seem to have panned out, or, at least, not up to this point.)
The spoiler is that he predicted the end of humanity at the hands of our AI progeny. Let's strongly hope that he got that one wrong, too.
It's not a great pleasure to read this book. Ray Kurzweil is good at writing prose, but his technique of a conversation with an imaginary "Molly" over the decades of the 21st century isn't one that I liked. These imagined conversations make up a fair percentage of the page count (roughly 65 pages of the total 260 pages in the main body of the book, which is over 20%), and I personally found those wearying to wade through.
His timeline in the appendix is excellent, and it is worth skipping to it first, before tackling the text.
I think that this is an important book that everyone should be familiar with, particularly the dire end of MOSHs (Mostly Original Substrate Humans.) We can always hope that we escape that fate!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2020Written in 1999, this book is very comprehensive and generally right in its predictions. Technology has advanced substantially, has reached many middle-class families here and abroad, and computer programs that simulate thinking and planning are being used effectively by corporations and governments.
One area where the book may have been less accurate is that Kurzweil's idea of AI being one computer or a group of computers that has human-like intelligence or superintelligence appears to have been displaced by networking of people, universities, corporations, and government departments (social media and the Cloud). The Cloud would seem to be more or less something like the Singularity he predicts. A good summary of Kurzweil's and AI researcher ideas can be seen in the documentary film "Transcendent Man".
Two other recent topics are worth noting: energy and public health. While there may be some exploration of energy sources for large-scale AI in his other books and in the film, this title does not explain how much solar energy, nuclear reactors, or hydropower would be required for global scale AI networks. If the energy system is not sustainable the AI dream would be quite limited. On public health, specifically disease outbreaks, it is now clear in 2020 that highly infectious diseases like the coronavirus are a challenge that government can respond better to when government uses internet technology, databases, Cloud computing, and "AI", not to mention high-tech manufacturing.
The internet pioneers were optimists about technology's future. Ultimately, we invented and developed modern technology to improve the quality of life. Today, as technology has grown more powerful our choices about how to use technology are more consequential. The knowledge and experience of our leaders and the fairness and decency of leaders overseas will be tested severely by this newly found power.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2001The argument here starts with the observation that intelligent machines are already a reality. In the future we will be able to create ever more intelligent machines. A truly explosive increase in machine intelligence is described, up to unimaginable levels only 100 years from now.
As far as hardware is concerned, the author insists that Moore's law, according to which computing power at a given cost doubles every 18 months, will continue unabated. Current computer technology will hit fundamental physical constrains in about 10 years, but the author insists that intelligence will find a way to grow explosively without slowing down because of mere physics. He describes several potential avenues through which computer power can increase. The most intriguing one is the possibility of building quantum computers. According to theory these can have immense computing power, because quantum phenomena allow for a huge number of calculations to be done in parallel. Nature does never give something for nothing, and, for my taste, quantum computers come too close to the edge - but who knows?
More interesting is the question of software. When I was a student I was taught that hardware power is not very significant for defining the reach of computers, because algorithmic complexity almost always grows exponentially when related to the size of the problem to be solved. So fundamental advances will come from better algorithms, not from increased hardware power. The current state of affairs seems to agree with this view. After all, word processing 20 years ago using an Apple II is not fundamentally different from word processing today using computers a thousand times more powerful. Algorithmic design is a very costly process that few humans can do well, and this fact, it seems, would necessarily frustrate the rapid increase in machine intelligence. The author produces two solutions: One, to dissect a human brain and copy its "algorithm". To me this sounds rather similar to Da Vinci's idea of dissecting birds in order to build a flying machine. The second solution refers to methods where the algorithm builds itself, i.e. learns how to work. Two methodologies are mentioned here, genetic algorithms and neural nets. Many examples are given about the successful use of these to solve surprisingly difficult problems. These are powerful ideas. Certainly if we come to a point where an intelligent machine can design and maybe build an even more intelligent machine, then indeed we have the ingredients for a runaway explosion of intelligence.
The author paints a rather scary near future. First we use machines to broaden our own minds, but we also build independent machines that become more and more powerful. The war between conscious machines and humans never happens, because it is won by the machines before it even starts: Human minds migrate into machines and lead a fruitful life within the more expansive means that this new medium offers. A few biological humans remain at a much lower level of intelligence, and presumably wilt away without remorse or bitterness. The next level of evolution is achieved by beings that are unimaginably more intelligent than we are now. At this stage it is not meaningful to talk about machines, they are just our offspring living in bodies that are not DNA based. In fact these immortal beings include persons originally born as humans, including, it is stated, Microsoft's Bill Gates. Again, all of this will happen in the next 100 years.
Now, what is wrong in this picture, apart from the idea of having Bill Gates around for all eternity?
For starters, for this vision to work the whole world should be like California, which it is not. On most places of this planet misery rather than intelligence rules. The book was written before the techno-bubble burst, an event not predicted in the book, and also before the recent power failures in California itself. The earth is in such bad working order that one must wonder if ever intelligence will take hold.
Also, if the explosion of intelligence is a necessary natural phenomenon, something like an unstoppable supernova, then by now the universe should be full of manifestations of intelligence, it should be infused, drenched, saturated by intelligence. Why, entire suns would be cloaked in order to harvest their energy needed for the huge amount of computations going on. (Maybe this explains the mystery of the dark matter, i.e. the fact that most matter in the universe is not visible.) Also, why hasn't this cosmic intelligent fabric reached us? Well, maybe they wanted to leave part of the universe in its natural state, you know like we keep protected nature parks. Our corner of the universe may be just such a place. We do not listen to the noise created by intelligence elsewhere, but maybe this only shows our low level of development.
Now, if we assume that the universe is not really intelligent, this leaves us with three possibilities: First, for some reason there may exist intrinsic limits to the growth of intelligence. This does not seem probable, particularly after reading this book. Second, depressingly, the explosive growth of intelligence may always bring about its demise, the same way that the uncontrolled growth of cancer kills the organism that creates it. This sounds rather plausible if we observe the way humanity manages the world today. The third possibility is that the growth of intelligence reaches a level where it decides to stop, where it understands that the "law of accelerating returns" is not conducive to happiness. So maybe the universe is filled not only by intelligent, but also by wise races, that look after their own small garden without disturbing the rest of creation, and live meaningful, biological, limited lives.
All in all, this is an extremely interesting book to read. I withhold one star, only because I find that the catchy title has little relevance to its content.
Top reviews from other countries
- Jean Benoit DubéReviewed in Canada on December 24, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars A must
Great book which made me think and take a step back. A new perspective on tech and society is refreshing. An opinion more nuanced and educated than « society is trash, tech is bad, future is screwed » that we usually hear and see in sci fi movies.
- KellyHotelReviewed in Germany on June 16, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book
I ordered this book from the United States. It was hard to find in the US. No problems with delivery.
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in India on August 6, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Insight into the future
A book that informs of the future of man and man home in the field of AI. A good read by all standards
Amazon Customer
Reviewed in India on August 6, 2023
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gerardo escalanteReviewed in Mexico on December 5, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Altamente recomendable
Excelente libro
- Mr. Gergely SomogyiReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Good product.
Quick delivery. Good product.