I'm an inventor. I became interested in long-term trends because an invention has to make sense in the world in which it is finished, not the world in which it is started. Ray Kurzweil More Quotes by Ray Kurzweil More Quotes From Ray Kurzweil People talk philosophically, Oh, I don't want to live past 100.' You know, I'd like to hear them say that when they're 99. Ray Kurzweil wantpeoplepast Doing real world projects is, I think, the best way to learn and also to engage the world and find out what the world is all about. Ray Kurzweil realworldthinking Intelligence is: (a) the most complex phenomenon in the Universe; or (b) a profoundly simple process. The answer, of course, is (c) both of the above. It's another one of those great dualities that make life interesting. Ray Kurzweil intelligencesimpleinteresting I envision some years from now that the majority of search queries will be answered without you actually asking. It'll just know this is something that you're going to want to see. Ray Kurzweil majorityaskingyears Intuition is linear; our imaginations are weak. Even the brightest of us only extrapolate from what we know now; for the most part, we're afraid to really stretch. Ray Kurzweil intuitionimaginationweak Supercomputers will achieve one human brain capacity by 2010, and personal computers will do so by about 2020. Ray Kurzweil transformationcomputerbrain Although I'm not prepared to move up my prediction of a computer passing the Turing test by 2029, the progress that has been achieved in systems like Watson should give anyone substantial confidence that the advent of Turing-level AI is close at hand. If one were to create a version of Watson that was optimized for the Turing test, it would probably come pretty close. Ray Kurzweil givinghandsmoving Humans feel deeply the suffering of their friends and allies and easily discount/dismiss the comparable experience of their enemies. Ray Kurzweil alliessufferingenemy Emotional intelligence is what humans are good at and that's not a sideshow. That's the cutting edge of human intelligence. Ray Kurzweil sideshowscuttingemotional The purposeful destruction of information is the essence of intelligent work. Ray Kurzweil informationintelligentessence All of our schools need to bring 'learn from doing' into the mainstream education, not just afternoon. Ray Kurzweil afternoonschoolneeds We only have to capture 1/10,000th of the solar energy landing on earth to completely satisfy all our energy needs. Ray Kurzweil environmentalenergyneeds Science fiction is the great opportunity to speculate on what could happen. It does give me, as a futurist, scenarios. Ray Kurzweil doeopportunitygiving By the 2030s, the nonbiological portion of our intelligence will predominate. Ray Kurzweil portionsprogramming There is one brain organ that is optimised for understanding and articulating logical processes and that is the outer layer of the brain, called the cerebral cortex. Unlike the rest of the brain, this relatively recent evolutionary development is rather flat, only about 0.32 cm (0.12 in) thick and includes a mere 6 million neurons. This elaborately folded organ provides us with what little competence we do possess for understanding what we do and who we do it. Ray Kurzweil developmentunderstandingbrain We have the means right now to live long enough to live forever. Existing knowledge can be aggressively applied to dramatically slow down aging processes so we can still be in vital health when the more radical life-extending therapies from biotechnology and nanotechnology become available. But most baby boomers won't make it because they are unaware of the accelerating aging process in their bodies and the opportunity to intervene. Ray Kurzweil opportunitybabymean A lot of movies about artificial intelligence envision that AIs will be very intelligent but missing some key emotional qualities of humans and therefore turn out to be very dangerous. Ray Kurzweil emotionalintelligentkeys So what used to fit in a building now fits in your pocket, what fits in your pocket now will fit inside a blood cell in 25 years. Ray Kurzweil cellsbloodyears By 2029, computers will have emotional intelligence and be convincing as people. Ray Kurzweil computeremotionalpeople The need to congregate workers in offices will gradually diminish. Ray Kurzweil workersofficeneeds