Guide Note

Ray Kurzweil is a American futurist, inventor, author, and transhumanist. He predicts that computer intelligence will surpass human intelligence by the year 2029.

Fast Facts

1. Birth date: February 12, 1948
2. Birthplace: Queens, New York
3. Literary Genre: Non-Fiction
4. Spouse: Sonya R. Kurzweil
5. Children: Ethan, Amy
6. Awards: Grace Murray Hopper Award, National Medal of Technology, 15 honorary degrees

Ray Kurzweil was exposed to technology and art at an early age, and a combined passion for both has influenced his work. He created an electronic music composition device before graduating college, and was a pioneer in the field of optical character recognition and text-to-speech synthesis. He is a strong proponent of the extension of human lifespan through integration with technology, and works to bring about the Singularity, that point when technology advances to such a degree that human potential extends to our ability to manipulate reality itself.

Kurzweil is a strong believer in the theoretical technological Singularity era. Singularity describes a theorized era that will mark the time when humans are surpassed by computerized artificial intelligence, and humanity will merge with technology.

• The Age of Intelligent Machines
• The Age of Spiritual Machines
• Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever
• The Singularity is Near