Rating: 
Summary: the age of spiritual machines
Review: I always think that human is the final form of the Earth, most likely intelligent being, and we will continue to rule on Earth. However, after reading the book :The Age of Spiritual Machine" by Ray Kurzweil, I would doubt about it. In the book, Ray Kurzweil open up great amout of possibility and result of the evolution of technology where body enhancement while merging technology with our carbon based body, cloning, the successful of A.I. and virtual Entities were no longer fancy topics of sci-fi movies, like Matrix, Gattaca, the 6th day, etc. It's interesting that looking back or at the society nowadays, what had happened or what's happening now where pretty much mentioned in the predictions of Ray Kurzweil. In about questioning that could we be as different as we used to, well it's the matter of time is perfecting what we have now. It might sounds scary and sad that we were no longer/somewhat considered less human while combining ourselves with technology, but I do think that instead of being a replacement, it's the beginning of new form of life.
Rating:
Summary: Our future
Review: I think that Ray Kurzweil is a little ahead of himself. Some of his predictions are a bit too far fetched if you ask me. However, some of his thoughts about privacy and e learning are going to be huge issues that we will deal with in the near future. Frankly, I find it a bit scary to have a computer inbedded in every part of my house though. I hope that we won't be as dependent on technology as Mr. Kurzweil makes it out to be.
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Summary: SOONER THAN YOU THINK
Review: I ALWAYS THOUGHT THESE TYPE OF ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY WOULD REQUIRE ABOUT A MILLION YEARS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT- BUT NOW, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, I BELIEVE THAT I ACUALLY HAVE A SHOT AT CURRENT AGE 44 OF SURVIVING TILL THE YEAR 2100,AND THUS BEING AROUND TO EXPERIENCE SUCH A FUTURE AS PREDICTED BY KURZWEIL- WHO IS WITHOUT QUESTION THE GREATEST COMPUTER SCIENTIST WHO EVER LIVED- AND ANYONE WHO HASNT READ THIS BOOK DOESNT KNOW WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON.
Rating:
Summary: you've got to be kidding
Review: I read an excerpt from this outstanding book in the magazine Scientific American about a year ago, causing me immediate future shock, now exacerbated and expanded upon reading the entire book.If you read the last chapters first it would be easy to conclude that Mr. Kurzweil is crazy. However, we have here an obviously highly educated computer scientist, successful business person, and superb writer, who also apparently has spent significant time and personal engergy considering the implications of our present science. Given the attributes and qualifications of this author, the substantive content of the book then becomes extremely difficult to ignore or dismiss, and I certainly wonder when the implications here presented will begin to create the expected anxiety among our general population. Mr. Kurzweil carefully sets the stage for his various futurist predictions. He presents a most interesting history of computer science; an intro to the law of "chaos" theory, and a rendition of the theory of evolution intelligent enough to permanently stifle any creationist; a comprehensive, informative explanation of both machine and human intelligence, which upon reading, I finally understand the mental machinations of my animals and of myself--call it "consciousness explained", and we are made aware of its scientific limits and possibilities. And, for those who have any question at all that machine intelligence equivalent to human intelligence is possible, Mr. Kurzweil breaks it down into both understandable and frightening reality. The book examines the present state of knowledge regarding both human and computer intelligence from the established technology to the most esoteric research, and then proceeds to project where all this will take us on a timeline ending in the year 2099. Mr. Kurzweil several times states his own optimism about what he projects and predicts, but in truth can his surmises suppose anything but the end of the human race as we know it. Mr. Kurzweil has machines going to church, a mother merging with her computer, human brains which become software programs, and on and on. Thankfully Kurzweil ends at the year 2099, since for me one of the unwritten implications of going further would be to question what really is the difference between God and Kurzweil's machines.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent - insightful - inspiring
Review: I can't say enough about this great book. The information presented within is both in-depth and accessible (at least for my sophomore-level knowledge of AI). Kurzweil is delightfully comedic throughout - I highly recommedn you read it if you're interested in the future of computers (I agree with him 99%!)
Rating: 
Summary: perturbing yet intriguing...
Review: Ray Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines" goes deep into what life might be like in the ever-so-almost-there future. The way in which Kurzweil diagrams and describes our probable lives is very understandable but unacceptable at times. It is hard to grasp and cope with another entities' perspective of our existence, yet it is also very necessary to be presented with this view of what is ahead. So I must say that I spent most of the time trying to digest what Kurzweil was explicitly predicting, yet I enjoyed most of his radical statements. The format in which it was written was very helpful. At the end of each chapter Kurzweil would have an imaginary conversation with the reader, thus clearing up any questions that might have surfaced in your mind. If you want to try and comprehend what will become of the human race as a whole and the grip that technology will have on us, I most definitely recommend that you summerge yourself in this shiny book.
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Summary: A New Kind of Evolution!
Review: We humans often think of ourselves as a final product of evolution. But what if our evolution has not yet ceased and we have a chance to create a 'close to perfect' creature by merging our bodies with the latest advancements in technology? Sounds like science-fiction? Well, according to Ray Kurzweil, it is much closer to science and reality than fiction. In his latest creation, "The Age of Spiritual Machines", he describes how over the next couple of decades we will increasingly enhance our bodies and minds using advanced medical technologies and artificial intelligence. By doing so, it will become more and more difficult for us to differentiate humans from machines, and Kurzweil predicts that at some point we will be replaced by conscious silicon-based entities that both think and feel. I think that it is an interesting way of looking at evolution and Kurzweil suports his argument with various examples of technological advancements such as biological engineering and nano-technology, which will be more refined over the next twenty years or so. Even though it is somewhat frightening to think of ourselves being replaced by another specie by the end of this century, I think we should embrace technology and "think of those future intelligent machines as our own mind-children" as Hans Moravec of Carnegie-Mellon University suggests.
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Summary: Spiritual? Maybe. Fascinating? Definitely.
Review: This book is a good introduction to the future of technologyand how this will affect our everyday lives. Part of the book makesme want to move to North Dakota and start organic farming and throw mycell phone in the East River but I kept reading anxiously to see theevolution on nonotechnology and if the computer with a psuedo-soulwill be my grandkid's or even kid's teachers. (By the way mygrandkids will be born in about 40 years and will most likely live tobe over a hundred years old) Kurzweil assumes that readers will be ofall levels of genious so he includes an ever so helpful glossary inthe back, as well as his own instructions for building your own"spiritual machine". All levels of computer intelligenceare considered including the role they will play in the arts andmedical fields. There are many times that I disagree with Kurtweil,or at least I hope he will be wrong. I never considered myself aLuddite but this book made me aware of what the not so distant futuremight hold. At times it's a little loquatious (wordy) for the non-technological jargon "literate" but it satified mycuriousities in most ways. The lasting conclusion that "The Ageof Spiritual Machines" leaves me with is that the future will begreat for those who were once blind. deaf or seaking virtualactivities in a world very far removed from our own but quite scaryand apolling from one whose sensibilities remain in the natural wordof vegetation, being born (by ones own biological mother) and thegrand finally of death, and yes I do mean virtually, mentally andphysically!
Rating:
Summary: Spiritual? Maybe. Fascinating? Definitely.
Review: This book is a good introduction to the future of technology and how this will affect our everyday lives. Part of the book makes me want to move to North Dakota and start organic farming and throw my cell phone in the East River but I kept reading anxiously to see the evolution on nonotechnology and if the computer with a psuedo-soul will be my grandkid's or even kid's teachers. (By the way my grandkids will be born in about 40 years and will most likely live to be over a hundred years old) Kurzweil assumes that readers will be of all levels of genious so he includes an ever so helpful glossary in the back, as well as his own instructions for building your own "spiritual machine". All levels of computer intelligence are considered including the role they will play in the arts and medical fields. There are many times that I disagree with Kurtweil, or at least I hope he will be wrong. I never considered myself a Luddite but this book made me aware of what the not so distant future might hold. At times it's a little loquatious (wordy) for the non- technological jargon "literate" but it satified my curiousities in most ways. The lasting conclusion that "The Age of Spiritual Machines" leaves me with is that the future will be great for those who were once blind. deaf or seaking virtual activities in a world very far removed from our own but quite scary and apolling from one whose sensibilities remain in the natural word of vegetation, being born (by ones own biological mother) and the grand finally of death, and yes I do mean virtually, mentally and physically!
Rating:
Summary: A Scary and Wondrous Vision of the Near Future
Review: "The Age of Spiritual Machines" by Ray Kurzweil has really ruined Science Fiction for me. It's all so unimaginative, compared to what he thinks is really going to happen. Kurzweil's predictions for ten, twenty, and a hundred years into our future, if true, imply that the last generation of 'true' humans (MOSHs he calls us)is already walking on Earth. If he's right (and he's been right about a lot of things - M.I.T. named him the Inventor of the Year in 1988) and if I can hang on for another twenty years, I may never have to die. What's really scary about reading this book is that some of the things Kurzweil predicted while writing it in 1998 have already come true - ahead of his schedule - e.g. the deciphering of the human genome. And although he tries to be optimistic, he also appears to be very worried about our future on a world populated by bio-engineered viruses and rogue, self-replicating nanobots. If you're a poet or would like to test yourself to see if you can distinguish poetry written by a human from poetry written by a computer, be sure to visit Kurzweil's website [online]. Take his poetry 'Turing test' and download his free Cybernetic Poet software. Be sure to read this book, too. It will help prepare you for your very interesting post-MOSH future.
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