The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI

Magic book, one of the best books I have read.Every page is blasting with information and vision.Must read for computer/IT folks, others may find a bit direct but will invoke profound thoughts.

“The Singularity is Nearer” is Ray Kurzweil’s follow-up book to “The Singularity is Near.” In that book, he focused on the advances that will help humanity transcend biological constraints: synthetic biology. He focused on nanobots and how they will help humans improve their immunity and possibly live longer. This book focuses on artificial intelligence and how the advances happening in this field are fast enough to make the singularity seem closer. Ray Kurzweil’s definition of singularity is that point where the advances in ‘technology’ are so rapid that they blur the lines between nature and technology. However, according to his definition, ‘technology’ refers to fields like data mining, nanotechnology, information, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology. He is not referring to technologies like steelmaking. From another perspective, it is where ‘machine intelligence’ outstrips ‘human intelligence.’ This book is much more accessible than his earlier book but stresses the validity of his earlier claims. Deep Mind, the company created AlphaGo, which defeated the world’s top Go masters. Then, they created AlphaGo Zero, which started learning Go from scratch, defeating Alpha Go. It is impossible to refute his claims. However, we can challenge his unbridled optimism. Ray Kurzweil remains convinced nanobots will help us live longer, maybe for centuries, and he envisages a world where long-lived humans will live in real worlds, augmented reality and virtual reality. In his view, such a life will help us live fulfilling lives, a claim yet to be tested. Further, he believes a self-learning AI system will train itself to be benevolent. However, if the initial inputs contain seeds of malice, can we train this super-intelligent entity to be a gentle soul? Here, I believe he contradicts himself because while he exhorts us not to take the past as an indicator of future behavior, he states that humanity will not create evil machines because we have not detonated nuclear bombs since World War II! The genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, and other horrible events happening now do not support his optimism, so read his sunny predictions with caution. Advances in synthetic biology may help us lengthen our life spans. If we ignore any attendant philosophical questions, won’t technological advances make the first generation of cyborg humans redundant in record time? Apple Computer launched its M1 chips a few years back and launched its fourth generation M4 chips. They are building obsolescence into their products even as I write this review. Ray Kurzweil ignores the distinct possibility of humans dying because of technological obsolescence. While we must be optimistic, it is better to be realistic. The book ignores the impact of all these changes on global society, including the animal and plant kingdom. If we must play God, we must first gain wisdom. Read the book. It is imperative to do so because we must understand what is happening and gain an inkling of humanity's, if not the planet's, possible future.

Must read

Book received was in good condition. But the author seems to have just regurgitated his previous book (singularity is near) in a dumbed down manner. Seems like this is a pop-futurism book for the masses. Skip this book if you've already read singularity is near.

Ray kurzweil takes you through AI development and his take on whats coming worth a read

This book really provides a insightful perspective of singularity

Very informative and very well written too

Not satisfied

A refreshing read that offers a positive outlook on the future. Kurzweil explores the transformative potential of AI in areas like healthcare, housing, and energy production, while acknowledging the associated risks. This book complements my personal favorite, "The Better Angels of Our Nature" by Steven Pinker, which examines the long-term decline of violence.

O autor nos atualiza e nos alerta para a necessidade do estabelecimento de uma conformidade ética que é premente para garantirmos a segurança da própria humanidade diante de novas tecnologias emergentes.

This is a fascinating book. Although I bought it to get a better understanding of artificial intelligence (AI), it covers much more. The author also discusses technologies such as 3D printing and vertical farming which are undergoing accelerated development. When discussing these technologies, he cites historical examples to make his point. Although some topics are extremely technical, the author’s writing style makes these concepts easy to understand. The term “singularity” refers to the moment when human consciousness is enhanced beyond our current comprehension. In the field of nanotechnology, the author discusses a potential increase in human intelligence through virtual neurons such that people will directly interface with the cloud. He also shows how the associated cost is rapidly decreasing. For example, one dollar now buys over 11,000 times as much computing power as it did a decade ago. An astonishing level of reduction. These metrics are then paired with graphs to give the reader a clear picture. One interesting topic is the concept of mind uploading (aka: whole brain emulation). Computers will be able to simulate human brains in every way within the next two decades. This is followed by what it means to transfer someone’s consciousness into a computer brain. He also discusses the legal implications of a conscious AI and the inability of our political and legal systems to adapt fast enough to enshrine certain rights into law. In the future, biological brains cannot keep up with minds augmented by non-biological nanoengineering. Equally fascinating is an analysis on how the world has become safer. There is currently less violence and greater literacy than in previous centuries. He then highlights how positive developments never make the news. We only see negative stories because they are newsworthy and entertaining. Bottom line: This book covers multiple areas of technology and describes how they will likely change our society. It is written in a manner that is easy to understand, and it will definitely open the reader’s eyes to what is coming.

boken levererades ej i nyskick utan var tydligt att den var använd och hade lånats/lästs av någon annan.

What a disappointment. The Singularity is Near has a proud place in my book collection, so I was thrilled to see Ray Kurzweil had written a follow-up. In reality, this is more of a reprint of the original with only the first (very short) part feeling like genuinely new material. Moreover, much of the rest of the book is full of meandering waffle that gets incredibly irritating after a while. At some point Ray starts going on about the proliferation of flushing toilets in the 20th century. I kid you not. Just too many tangents like this. At that point I requested a refund. If you haven't read the first book, this may be worth a look still for some of the nice insights into the speed of technological progress. And I like the fact that Ray emphasises how much good progress has happened over the years in eg. crime reduction, which most of the public don't seem to realise (presumably, otherwise they wouldn't be voting for loonies like Trump).