Review of The Age of Spiritual Machines and Artificial Intelligence.

The first chapters of The Age of Spiritual Machines provide the foundation for Ray Kurzweil to issue his predictions later in the book. They include many theorems of physics and mathematics so it is possible to miss the essential principles later in the book without reading them. Nevertheless, his choice of words delineates some difficult concepts, making this tough but rewarding reading. The first chapter ultimately leads up to the most important principle of the …

…is not solely the product of physical processes. With each impressive technological advance, this assumption grows more attractive. Kurzweil also seems better at describing the benefits of technology than at assessing its costs. Kurzweil seems to assume that all the advances will somehow become readily available to the mass of humanity. This is a questionable assumption given the number of people in the world still living in third-world conditions. Still, Kurzweil is a major visionary.