The Future of Libraries, Part 2: The End of Books
August 6, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
A look at what may replace books, written for “The Futurecast,” a monthly column in the Library Journal.… read more
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What the Future Will Bring
June 15, 2005 by Ray Kurzweil
“Follow your passion,” Ray Kurzweil advised graduates in a commencement address on May 21 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, one of the nation’s earliest technological universities. “Creating knowledge is what will be most exciting in life. To create knowledge you have to have passion, so find a challenge that you can be passionate about and you can find the ideas to overcome that challenge.” Kurzweil also described the three great coming revolutions-genetics, nanotechnology and robotics-and their implications for our lives ahead.… read more
Raymond Kurzweil at ACM1
May 23, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
Raymond Kurzweil speaks at ACM1: Beyond Cyberspace about a future in which computers will appear to be conscious and the distinction between humans and machines will gradually disappear.… read more
Response to Stephen Hawking
September 5, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
Stephen Hawking recently told the German magazine Focus that computers were evolving so rapidly that they would eventually outstrip the intelligence of humans. Professor Hawking went on to express the concern that eventually, computers with artificial intelligence could come to dominate the world. Ray Kurzweil replies.… 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
The Library Journal | The virtual book revisited
February 1, 1993 by Ray Kurzweil
An addendum to predictions that appeared in The Age of Intelligent Machines, written for “The Futurecast,” a monthly column in The Library Journal.
One of the advantages of being in the futurism business is that by the time your readers are able to find fault with your forecasts, it is too late for them to ask for their money back. Like the sorcerer who predicted he would live forever, he was never proven wrong – at least not during his lifetime.
Nonetheless, I like to monitor the progress of my predictions. I take satisfaction when projections that seemed so startling when first proposed become progressively less so as the world accommodates ever accelerating change.
What Have We Learned a Year After NASDAQ Hit 5,000?
January 21, 2002 by Ray Kurzweil
The current recession reflects failure to develop realistic models of the pace at which new information-based technologies emerge and the overall acceleration of the flow of information. But in the longer-range view, recessions and recoveries reflect a relatively minor variability compared to the far more important trend of the underlying exponential growth of the economy.… read more
Essay for E-School News
October 2, 2003 by Ray Kurzweil
Speaking at the 18th Annual Conference on “Technology and Persons with Disabilities” at California State University Northridge in March 2003, Ray Kurzweil described how key developments in science and technology will affect society, alter education and other fields, and benefit everyone, especially those with disabilities. This article is based on that address.… read more
Spielberg catches Kubrick’s Baton: A Review of
June 18, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
The androids and other intelligent machines in “A.I.” represent well-grounded science futurism, says AI pioneer Raymond Kurzweil.… read more
Accelerated Living
September 24, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
In this article written for PC Magazine, Ray Kurzweil explores how advancing technologies will impact our personal lives.… read more
Researching Health and Well-Being at the Library
August 6, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
Researching immortality, written for “The Futurecast,” a monthly column in the Library Journal.… read more
Review of Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us by Rodney Brooks
January 28, 2002 by Ray Kurzweil
Ray Kurzweil reviews Rodney Brooks’ latest book on robotics for Wired Magazine. Brooks challenges Jaron Lanier’s claim that AI is “based on an intellectual mistake” and Kurzweil’s statements on reverse-engineering the brain and the date of the “Singularity.” Kurzweil responds.… read more