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A review by tobin_elliott
The Singularity is Nearer by Ray Kurzweil
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
I quite enjoyed this mostly-mindblowing, but occasionally not-quite-there book. It's eye-opening, hopeful, enlightening, and terrifying.
Kurzweil covers the same ground as he did in THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR, but updates it with the progress we've made in the twenty years since.
While I find much of what he talks about absolutely fascinating and hopeful, I do fear that, while he has his finger on the pulse of the emerging technology of AI and the advancements it will bring, he woefully underestimates the human factor, either from the abject fear that many have against AI, but also from those in control (I'm thinking CEOs, governing regulatory bodies, as well as boneheaded politicians who often can't get their head out of a particular hole on their body, or a particular book of holy writ), who will be very good at throwing a cavalcade of wrenches into the works.
Still, overall, a really good read.
Kurzweil covers the same ground as he did in THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR, but updates it with the progress we've made in the twenty years since.
While I find much of what he talks about absolutely fascinating and hopeful, I do fear that, while he has his finger on the pulse of the emerging technology of AI and the advancements it will bring, he woefully underestimates the human factor, either from the abject fear that many have against AI, but also from those in control (I'm thinking CEOs, governing regulatory bodies, as well as boneheaded politicians who often can't get their head out of a particular hole on their body, or a particular book of holy writ), who will be very good at throwing a cavalcade of wrenches into the works.
Still, overall, a really good read.