The Singularity Is Nearer

When We Merge with AI

De: Ray Kurzweil

Narrado por: Adam Barr

The noted inventor and futurist’s successor to his landmark book The Singularity Is Near explores how technology will transform the human race in the decades to come

Since it was first published in 2005, Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity Is Near and its vision of an exponential future have spawned a worldwide movement. Kurzweil's predictions about technological advancements have largely come true, with concepts like AI, intelligent machines, and biotechnology now widely familiar to the public.

In this entirely new book Ray Kurzweil brings a fresh perspective to advances toward the Singularity—assessing his 1999 prediction that AI will reach human level intelligence by 2029 and examining the exponential growth of technology—that, in the near future, will expand human intelligence a millionfold and change human life forever. Among the topics he discusses are rebuilding the world, atom by atom with devices like nanobots; radical life extension beyond the current age limit of 120; reinventing intelligence by connecting our brains to the cloud; how exponential technologies are propelling innovation forward in all industries and improving all aspects of our well-being such as declining poverty and violence; and the growth of renewable energy and 3-D printing. He also considers the potential perils of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence, including such topics of current controversy as how AI will impact employment and the safety of autonomous cars, and "After Life" technology, which aims to virtually revive deceased individuals through a combination of their data and DNA.

The culmination of six decades of research on artificial intelligence, The Singularity Is Nearer is Ray Kurzweil’s crowning contribution to the story of this science and the revolution that is to come.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with illustrations and graphs from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Ray Kurzweil (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A fascinating exploration of our future, which raises the most profound philosophical questions.”—Yuval Noah Harari, New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens

“Few people have shaped how the world thinks about AI like Ray Kurzweil. Now, with The Singularity Is Nearer, he has written an updated, 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

“The acclaimed futurist demonstrates how a revolutionary future is closer than you might think. . . . Kurzweil’s capacity for predictive thinking should not be underestimated. . . . This book brims with ideas about what lies ahead, and Kurzweil presents his vision with clarity and passion.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Kerzweil paints a very optimistic future, devoid of any politics.

I like Ray, and really enjoyed the fuets book. But, I found his economic chapter hard to get through. When the first book came out, it wasn't quite so obvious the Western world, lead by the US, I'd being run by sociopathic scumbags. And I believe that's going to be a huge factor on how we progress over the next few decades. Not only does Ray not acknowledge any of this, he lays out the case that capitalism is marching us steadily towards greater prosperity. With statements like, "While middle class income hasn't increased, overall, we're up, and goods, like electronics, are vastly cheaper. I think his interpretations are way off, and he's leaving a lot out.

Hollow, shallow and unoriginal

Poor follow up to the 2005 book…very little original thought or scholarship reflected in this book. Repeating much of what has been said by others. Looks like it was written as an attempted swan song to a brilliant career but did not hit the mark for me. Example of FOMO-driven writing.

Mostly Filler Material

I'm a huge fan of his other books, but this one seems to be reiterating what he already said in his other books. At one point he actually spends several pages narrating the highs and lows of Bitcoin. "In June it was way up! But then it was down again. But then it went up again!" Pages...

Loved this book

I always love projecting into the future of human possibilities and potentials. In this book the author projects an optimistic vision of the future with Ai as the catalyst for unparalleled change. I share in the authors optimism but also worry about the use of such power in the hands of our species. A good follow up book might be all the ways this this technology could backfire giving great power to the rich and leaving everyone else behind . Will only the rich live forever ? Will there be an evolved class of humans separating from current humans. There will be many humans who reject this technology and choose to stay as they are . This could cause many unforeseen consequences for humanity. That said this book is a visionary work . Listening to it is an enlightening and inspiring experience.

buckle up!

get on the bus or be left behind! what a thrilling time to be alive

Thought provoking.

"The future ain't what it used to be." - Yogi Berra. And it is approaching exponentially faster.

vision

A significant book to understand the time we are living at. there are many things we need to consider moving forward

Cause for optimism and the need for Democracy.

Found this amazing and unbelievable. The transformative power of these technologies on the human species highlights the need for Democracy. The content is astounding if only a fraction of these predictions come to fruition. The Statistics were a bit much to take in as a listen (as opposed to a read) for me personally, and the narration was a little droning, but the content is a listen everyone should hear and understand.

A brilliant book

Ray Kurzweil has the best record for accurately predicting technological developments in the business, And in this book He vividly and brilliantly describes what the future is going to look like. And it’s pretty amazing!

Humans embrace limitless learning opportunities

Xenial artificial technology generates astonishing world-changing results. Yielding limitless understanding, Kurzweil's vision.
- AI generated and human curated.