May the Smartest Machine Win: Warfare in the 21st Century
August 6, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
How technology is changing the ways in which wars are fought, written for “The Futurecast,” a monthly column in the Library Journal.… read more
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We Earth Neurons
September 18, 2001 by Daniel Dennett
Daniel Dennett on knowledge sharing and the fate of the planet, in which he contrasts individuals and their brains with the trillions of neurons that compose them. The planet has grown its own nervous system: us.… read more
Software, Property and Human Civilization
December 19, 2001 by Jordan Pollack
In this Edge talk, Jordan Pollack discusses a phenomenon that may restrict innovation: the inability to buy products, due to the established model of software licensing. What are the implications for human civilization?… read more
Top KurzweilAI.net News of 2002
February 6, 2003 by Ray Kurzweil, Amara D. Angelica
In its second year of operation, 2002, KurzweilAI.net continued to chronicle the most notable news stories on accelerating intelligence. We offer here our overview of the dramatic progress that the past year has brought. Following that, we selected just over half of the 823 news stories posted in 2002 to document key breakthroughs in the continued exponential growth of increasingly diverse information-based technologies; deepening understanding of the information basis of biological processes; the early contributions of nanotechnology, and a multiplicity of related topics.… read more
Ray Kurzweil Responds to Richard Eckersley
February 3, 2006 by Ray Kurzweil
“Eckersley bases his romanticized idea of ancient life on communication and the relationships fostered by communication. But much of modern technology is directed at just this basic human need.”… read more
Gelernter, Kurzweil debate machine consciousness
December 6, 2006 by Rodney Brooks, Ray Kurzweil, David Gelernter
Are we limited to building super-intelligent robotic “zombies” or will it be possible and desirable for us to build conscious, creative, volitional, perhaps even “spiritual” machines? David Gelernter and Ray Kurzweil debated this key question at MIT on Nov. 30.… read more
Evolution and the Internet: Toward A Networked Humanity?
February 26, 2001 by Danny Belkin
Integration of human and machine will lead to an interconnected “organism”–the next major evolutionary step forward for humanity, says immunology PhD candidate Danny Belkin.… read more
Humans and Machines Converge at ACM1
May 8, 2001 by Amara D. Angelica
Humanoid robots aren’t perfect, but they may have a thing or two to teach computers.… read more
What I want to be when I grow up, is a cloud
July 6, 2001 by J. Storrs Hall
Uploading doesn’t necessarily mean consciousness on a chip. What if you could be anything: a lion or an antelope, a frog or a fly, a tree, a pool, the coat of paint on a ceiling? Nanotechnology may pave the way.… read more
Ray Kurzweil, Material Girl
November 2, 2001 by Wired News Radio
In this Wired interview, Kurzweil discusses how he used image- and voice-rendering software to transform himself into a 25-year-old singer named Ramona.… read more
What must a physical system be to be able to act on its own behalf?
January 21, 2002 by Stuart Kauffman
The 5th Annual Edge Question reflects the spirit of the Edge motto: “To arrive at the edge of the world’s knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.” Stuart Kauffman asks: what must a physical system be to be able to act?… read more
Green or Gray?
April 5, 2002 by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Will the future be green (based on biotechnology) or gray (based on nanotechnology and nanotech-powered AI)? Ray Kurzweil and Gregory Stock will debate this issue at the Foresight Senior Associate Gathering. Both have advantages, but environmentalists and anti-biotech activists may load the dice in favor of gray.… read more