RATING  *****

The Age of Spiritual Machines is a 388 page   non-fiction paperback book by Ray Kurzweil published in 2000.

This is flat-out the most intelligent and provocative look I’ve seen describing the development and direction of artificial intelligence.  Ray Kurzweil is a true believer in AI, and he makes a convincing case for the emergence of a superior intelligence.  And he’s talking this century, folks, maybe within the next four or five decades.

These are the key points of his thesis, as I see them:

Computational power is growing exponentially and will continue doing so for the foreseeable future.  By 2020, the computational power of a $1,000 computer will be about equal to that of the human brain.  After that, computers leave us in the dust.

Biological evolution is slow and has taken us about as far as it can.  It’s already being replaced by technological evolution, the enhancement (or replacement) of slow, biological processes by engineered processes (e.g. neural networks).

The mind is just a complex machine.  Issues such as consciousness, free will and the soul can be endlessly debated, but fundamentally, we are just a complex machine, currently the most complex one on the planet.  But that will change.

Our bodies, also a complex machine, can also be re-engineered or replaced.  Great strides are being made to simulate or replace our senses.

Technological innovation proceeds inexorably during the next few decades, rapidly transforming our objects and ourselves.  By the end of the century, there will be virtually no distinction between human and artificial intelligence.

This is a fascinating thesis, a real mind-blower.  Forget about a Star Trek or Star Wars future; that’s not where we’re going.  Well, maybe Star Trek.  Consider the Borg with personality and a sense of humor.