Ray Kurzweil

Born 1948

From Queens, New York, United States · Nationality: United States · Writes fiction and nonfiction

Quotes

“One of the advantages of being in the futurism business is that by the time your readers are able to find fault with your forecasts, it is too late for them to ask for their money back.”
Ray Kurzweil: The Library Journal, The virtual book revisited
“It is in the nature of exponential growth that events develop extremely slowly for extremely long periods of time, but as one glides through the knee of the curve, events erupt at an increasingly furious pace.”
The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence
“This, then, was the religion that I was raised with: veneration for human creativity and the power of ideas.”
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, p. 2
“The ethical debates are like stones in a stream. The water runs around them. You haven’t seen any biological technologies held up for one week by any of these debates.”
"The Singularity," The New Humanists: Science at the Edge
“We use one stage of technology to create the next stage, which is why technology accelerates, why it grows in power.”
"The Singularity," The New Humanists: Science at the Edge

Books by Ray Kurzweil in order

Books by Ray Kurzweil in the order they were published, from The Age of Intelligent Machines (1990) to Singularity Is Nearer (2022).

Authors readers of Ray Kurzweil often like, from our AI-written notes

Nick BostromPhilosopher who examines the risks of superintelligence in Superintelligence (2014). Readers of Kurzweil who want a more cautious account of AI risk often go to him.
Hans MoravecRoboticist whose Mind Children (1988) predates Kurzweil's work and explores transferring minds into machines. Readers interested in the early history of these ideas often like him.
Max TegmarkPhysicist who wrote Life 3.0 (2017), a readable account of how advanced AI might reshape society, and who discusses both the promise and risks.
Vernor VingeScience fiction author and mathematician who wrote the 1993 essay The Coming Technological Singularity, which introduced the term's modern use in this sense.
Stuart RussellAI researcher who wrote Human Compatible (2019), arguing for designing AI systems that remain uncertain about human goals. Useful for readers who want a technical counterpoint.
Peter DiamandisCo-founder of Singularity University with Kurzweil and co-author of Abundance (2012). Readers who like Kurzweil's optimism about technology often like his work.