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The Singularity is Nearer

When We Merge with AI

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The Singularity is Nearer

By: Ray Kurzweil
Narrated by: Adam Barr
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER.

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

What will it mean to live free from the limits of our bodies? Who will we become if our minds can be stored and duplicated? What new realms of beauty, connection and wonder might we inhabit? How will we navigate the risks presented by such awesomely powerful technology?

By the end of this decade, AI will exceed human levels of intelligence. During the 2030s, it will become ‘superintelligent’, vastly outstripping our capabilities and enabling dramatic 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, explores what it will mean to live free from the limits of biology and argues that we can and will transform life on Earth profoundly for the better.

‘The best person I know at predicting the future of AI’ BILL GATES
'Essential reading to understand our exponential times' MUSTAFA SULEYMAN
'Fascinating . . . raises the most profound philosophical questions' YUVAL NOAH HARARI

©2024 Ray Kurzweil (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Computer Science Future Studies History & Culture Machine Theory & Artificial Intelligence Social Sciences Technology & Society Technology Thought-Provoking Inspiring Programming

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Critic reviews

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)
When it comes to artificial intelligence, no one has more experience than Ray Kurzweil
What Kurzweil describes in his book isn't just the dawn of a beautiful new age, but the unknowable night at the ending of one
This is one of the best books to read to understand the urgent now
Exhilarating and scary ... It sounds like science ficiton, but Kurzweil has often proved an accurate prophet
All stars
Most relevant
This needs to be read. Story telling doesn’t lend itself to an audiobook. In addition, narrator not great. Suggests Ray should narrate.

Love Ray but audiobook not great

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Kurzweil presents a thought provoking thesis on the potential of AI. The case is strongest when applying to some medical advances but gets in a bit of a pickle when addressing prolonging life significantly. He poses some important technological/human interface dilemmas to be faced, most notably nanobots.

The absence of any challenge to the 'technology deterministic' mindset to some extent undermines what could have been an objective assessment of singularity.

Kurzweil seems to gloss over some major issues/risks with a 'these will need to be addressed/can be managed' response, and not really giving a strong explanation of how.

The biggest gap is the inability to solidly put developments in the context of the worsening climate situation (its almost completely ignored) or the climate impact of some of the developments (aging, energy demands).

Interesting perspectives but let down by a 'technology deterministic' mindset

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Certainly a lot to think about as the author describes an optimistic future where the problems of mankind are mainly solved by merging our brains with AI and using AI in myriad ways to address economic, political, environmental, health and other challenges. However I find it over optimistic and not enough examination of the political and power landscape globally which will determine how technology use actually pans out.

Mind blowing but I'm skeptical

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This book has Profound ideas and the ability of the author to make informed connections , spanning many disciplines is amazing .
He is Very logical and scientific in his deductions, however would have been better if the narration was less synthetic.Furthermore perhaps more relevant for wider reading cohorts if a little more “soul” or a more spiritual reflection on events and how societies develop.The author has a overly optimistic outlook and sense of historical events and their impact.
For example social media also has been a catalyst for a higher mental health issues being reported especially with regards to the youth , as a teacher of 21 years I have noticed , social skills are also lacking progressively by each new and younger cohort.
It is not all roses, the author paints a very rosy picture that is unbalanced at times, that is slightly niave .

Interesting and Profound ideas

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The science and research are white well laid out in the book. At times it can be a little bit hard to traverse some of the chapters like for example the one about the neocortex, although that becomes important to understand later chapters.

Well researched and structure

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