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Untitled
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Who's MINDing the Machine?
Fast forward with Ray Kurzweil
by Judith Quain
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 Ray Kurzweil has a provocative blueprint for the future. Imagine that you will be able to scan the contents of your brain, download it into a computer and create an improved, much smarter version of yourself. Now imagine a future where your interface with technology will be much more intimate -- automated lovers, teachers and companions -- a life where your human identity will be called into question. Or, how about a World Wide Web implant in your brain that enables you to climb Mt. Everest, walk the beaches of Cancun, or experience a change of gender on your lunch break? Ray Kurzweil, inventor of the Kurzweil Reading Machine for the blind, the Kurzweil Synthesizer, and many other machines that have changed people's lives, predicts that all this is possible.
When I started talking to Ray, I was awed by the specter of machines that would be "more intelligent than humans." The idea that they would also have political power was daunting -- I didn't want to believe him. But as he continued, I realized that he was just the messenger and that this technological revolution is on already on its way, traveling at break-neck speed. Let go of what you think you know, hold on to your real-time seats, and get ready for an exhilarating ride into a very virtual 21st century.
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Meet Ray Kurzweil
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Ray Kurzweil
;)
