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The Singularity is Near (Paperback)

by Raymond Kurzweil (Author)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 683 pages
Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd (9 Mar 2006)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0715635611
ISBN-13: 978-0715635612
Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.6 x 4.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 12,111 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories:

#1 in	Books > Computing & Internet > Computer Science > Algorithms > Artificial Intelligence
#3 in	Books > Computing & Internet > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence
#29 in	Books > Study Books > Professional > Computing > Computer Science

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Product Description

Review

'Ray Kurzweil is the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence. His intriguing new book envisions a future in which information technologies have advanced so far and fast that they enable humanity to transcend its biological limitations - transforming our lives in ways we can't yet imagine' --Bill Gates

Product Description

Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil examines the next step in the evolutionary process of the union of human and machine. Kurzweil foresees the dawning of a new civilization where we will be able to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity, combining our biological skills with the vastly greater capacity, speed and knowledge-sharing abilities of our creations. In practical terms, human ageing and illness will be reversed; pollution will be stopped and world hunger and poverty will be solved. There will be no clear distinction between human and machine, real reality and virtual reality. 'The Singularity is Near' offers a view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

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4 star:		(3)
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4.6 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Contains some wonderful ideas., 30 April 2008

By	Luke A. G. Palmer "Azraphon" (Norfolk, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those of you who don't know, Ray Kurzweil is the man who invented Optical Character Recognition, along with various other pattern-recognition technologies. He is well-versed in what technology is theoretically capable of, and has spent his professional life trying to make it do these things.

I have nothing but good things to say about Ray Kurzweil, and this book in particular. The ideas that he puts forward may seem very optimistic, sometimes verging on techno-fanaticism, but nothing he is saying is negative. If he's right, the human race only has to survive until the 2040s and things will markedly improve.

However excellent I found the technological predictions made in this book, there are two points that brought it down to four stars. First, and a matter I admit is one of personal preference, there were far too many graphs to do with economy and business. This is an American book, so capitalism has to figure somewhere, and he is forgiven. The other point is that some of the speculations he is making are sociological ones and these are far more spurious than any technological speculations. However, they are not fundamental to what he is arguing.

All in all, an excellent, if at times overwhelming, read. I heartily recommend it as an introduction to transhumanism and futurism.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Thought-provoking., 18 May 2008

By	Trip (London, UK) - See all my reviews

A very well presented, and extremely well researched effort. Everyone should read this. One star deducted jointly for the shameless (and frequent) promotion of the author's other works, and the sometimes unnecessarily long-winded passages in the book - its still very well done, but this is my own opinion.

I strongly recommend this book, very hard to put down.

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revelatory, 21 Mar 2008

By	Huxley V. Hobbes "Singularitarian" (The Universe!) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I discovered this book a couple of years ago. There was a sale at Waterstone's, and I had all but one of the books needed to take advantage of said sale. This took my interest, so I got a hold of it, and thank goodness I did.

I can honestly say that this is the most important non-fiction book I have ever read, and quite possibly one of the most important books period. Whilst I have always sensed something important might be taking place regarding technology, and I have always had a deep love of science and technology, Kurzweil highlights and articulates some incredible and illustrative concepts. I don't agree with everything he says, but the fundaments of the book seem entirely solid. Sometimes this terrifies me, but Kurzweil offers a great deal of hope as well.

Whether you embrace or reject the implications, however, Kurzweil's book makes an extremely imposing case that I have yet to see refuted. Reading it will prepare you for the future, whether that future looks glorious or horrifying to you.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly detailed about an incredible future, albiet a little optimistic
Although the "singularitarian" sounds a bit cultish, Ray Kurzweil makes a convincing case for the approaching singularity based on sound arguments, data and his credentials (MIT... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Aristo

4.0 out of 5 stars A very enjoyable book to read
Singularity is near is a book that tries to predict future technological developments.Ray Kurzweil is very optimistic about the future. Read more

Published 7 months ago by J. Dimitrijevic

5.0 out of 5 stars Scarier than Stephen King
If Kurzweil is wrong in his predictions and there is no technical revolution just around the corner, the worst that that can be said is that he has written an incredibly... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Robert Macmillan

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book
My heart sank when I got this book. An American book on science that had that many pages must be written by someone who got paid by how many times they were able to repeat... Read more

Published 21 months ago by C. E. Carter

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