The Singularity is Nearer

When We Merge with AI

Ray Kurzweil

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English

Bodley Head
25 June 2024

Ethical issues: scientific & technological developments; Mathematics & Sciences; Impact of science & technology on society; Ethical & social aspects of computing; Artificial intelligence; Human-computer interaction

The legendary oracle of technological change explains how AI will transform our species beyond recognition within two decades

By the end of this decade, AI will exceed human levels of intelligence. During the 2030s, it will become 'superintelligent', vastly outstripping our capabilities by almost every measure and enabling dramatic new interventions in our bodies. By 2045, we will be able to connect our brains directly with AI, enhancing our intelligence a millionfold and expanding our consciousness in ways we can barely imagine. This is the Singularity.

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors of our time with over 60 years' experience in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Dozens of his long-range predictions about the rise of the internet, AI and bioengineering have been borne out. In this visionary and fundamentally optimistic book, Kurzweil explains how the Singularity will occur and explores what it will mean to live free from the limits of biology.

What will we choose if our bodies need no longer define us? What new realms of beauty, connection and wonder might we inhabit? Who will we become if our minds can be stored and duplicated? How will we navigate the risks presented by such awesomely powerful technology?

Drawing on a lifetime's expertise and marshalling the evidence of today's rapidly accelerating advances, Kurzweil presents deeply reasoned answers to these questions and argues that we can and will transform life on earth profoundly for the better.

By: Ray Kurzweil
Imprint: Bodley Head
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 520g
ISBN: 9781847928306
ISBN 10: 1847928307
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 25 June 2024
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors of our time and the author of several prescient books, including The Singularity Is Near and The Age of Spiritual Machines. Over the past thirty years, dozens of his predictions about technology have been borne out, including the rise of the internet, AI and bioengineering, while his vision of 'the singularity' has inspired several major films, hundreds of books and thousands of articles. He is a former director of engineering at Google, the recipient of the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation, one of the nation's highest honours, and is a member of the US National Inventors Hall of Fame. He lives in Boston.

Reviews for The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge with AI

Ray Kurzweil is the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence -- BILL GATES A fascinating exploration of our future, which raises the most profound philosophical questions -- YUVAL NOAH HARARI Few people have shaped how the world thinks about AI like Ray Kurzweil. Now, with The Singularity Is Nearer, he has written an expansive and hopeful guide to a fast-approaching future that will once again set the terms of debate. Grounded in decades of meticulous research, and written with impressive clarity across an immense canvas, it's essential reading for anyone wanting to understand our exponential times -- MUSTAFA SULEYMAN, CEO of Microsoft AI and author of The Coming Wave Ray Kurzweil is the greatest oracle of our digital age. The Singularity Is Nearer is more than just a book—it's a survival guide for the technological renaissance we're about to experience. Ray’s accurate projections of what is likely to happen and when, makes the difference between surfing atop the tsunami of change, versus being crushed by it -- Peter H. Diamandis, founder of the XPRIZE Kurzweil makes a compelling case . . . It is only 2023 and already the world he envisioned years ago is taking shape. Curious about the Future? Read this book -- Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, Google