The “who is Ray Kurzweil” segment from the mind boggling documentary, Transcendent Man.

Interviewer 1: Ray Kurzweil is here. He has been called the rightful heir to Thomas Edison. His new book is entitled The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. I read your book. Some of the most frightening and yet hopeful stuff I’ve ever read.

Narrator: Ray Kurzweil is a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence.

He’s an award winning scientist and engineer. A millionaire several times over because of his inventions. He’s a holder of 24 patents.

Narrator: Was chief inventor of the flatbed scanner, a reading machine for the blind, Kurzweil keyboard synthesizer.

This guy is freaky. Bill Gates has called him the best in the world at predicting the future.

When Ray Kurzweil makes a prediction, lots of people listen.

He predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union, described the rise of the Internet, and foretold the year computer would beat a chess champion.

Talk Show Host: According to Ray you’re going to have relationships with machines.

Narrator: Computers will have consciousness in just twenty-five years.

Kurzweil sees a day when microscopic computers will make all kinds of learning as easy as downloading.

Interviewer 2: You’re saying millions of tiny computers floating around in my head?

Interviewer 3: Fundamentally, you’re talking about tampering with humankind.


The singularity documentary TRANSCENDENT MAN

the singularity documentary that chronicles the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil, the inventor and futurist known for his bold vision of the Singularity, a point in the near future when technology will be changing so rapidly, that we will have to enhance ourselves with artificial intelligence to keep up. Ray predicts this will be the dawning of a new civilization in which we will no longer be dependent on our physical bodies, we will be billions of times more intelligent and there will be no clear distinction between human and machine, real reality and virtual reality.

Human aging and illness will be reversed; world hunger and poverty will be solved and we will ultimately cure death. Critics accuse Ray of being too optimistic and argue that the dangers of the Singularity far outweigh the benefits, pointing out the apocalyptic implications that once machines achieve consciousness, we may not be able to control them. Whether Ray’s controversial ideas incite excitement or fear, dogma or disbelief this ambitious documentary will forever change the way you look at life, death, and your own future.

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