In the seventh series, we'll talk about Ray Kurzweil, who is looking forward to a future with artificial intelligence. If you haven't checked out the past content of the series yet, I recommend reading it first.
A boy who dreamed of being an inventor
Ray Kurzweil (born February 12, 1948) was born in Queens, New York. I grew up in an Austrian Jewish immigrant family who came to America to escape persecution by the Nazis. His father was a musician and his mother was an artist, which later influenced his music-related work.
Kurzweil and his 'Adventurer Tom Swift Jr. 'collection, sources
He dreamed of being an inventor since childhood. The youth science fiction novel “Tom Swift Jr. (Tom Swift Jr.),” which he read as a child, and the typewriter his grandmother showed him had a great influence. Kurzweil“I was greatly influenced by seeing a magical machine that planted something on empty blank paper.”I recall. *
And when I was 17, I made my first invention. It was a computer program that analyzed classical music melodies and played them in the same style. It received an award at the national competition, became famous, and appeared on TV shows. **
After that, he went to MIT, and it is said that he completed all of MIT's computer programming courses in almost a year and a half. As someone who had already been interested in artificial intelligence since I was a teenager, it was just like a fish meeting water. Additionally, you'll receive guidance from Professor Marvin Minsky, an authority on artificial intelligence (the sixth protagonist in this series) with whom you have been in a relationship since high school.
Thomas Edison's resurrection
Kurzweil, who is demonstrating a reading machine, sources
In 1974, Kurzweil founded a company and developed the first reading machine. He thought this machine, which reads text by voice, would be particularly helpful for blind people. In fact, the visually impaired musician Stevie Wonder became the first owner of this machine, and as a result, the two continued their friendship for many years.
Kurzweil Music Systems was founded in 1982 to develop various instruments. This is where the world's first digital synthesizer was created. The company was later acquired by Youngchang Music in Korea, and Kurzweil is also the company's technical advisor.
Other than that, KurzweilAn omniFont OCR*** system, a CCD**** flatbed scanner (flat bed scanner), a text-to-speech synthesizer, a music synthesizer that can play grand pianos and other orchestral tools, and a commercially-sold high-volume speech recognition system (VOCABULARY speech recognition) were all created for the first time. He was also an entrepreneur who founded 9 companies using these technologies.***** Thanks to this, I won many major awards in the field of invention and succeeded in making my childhood inventor's dream come true.
Waiting for the combination of machines and humans
Kurzweil continued his research and writing activities as a scientist and futurist. <특이점이온다>In particular, interest in artificial intelligence, which began in my teens, was a major driving force. I predicted the <지적 기계시대> advent of mobile devices and the ubiquity of the Internet through a book in 1990, and predicted the future of humans with artificial intelligence in a masterpiece published in 2005.
Kurzweil and his mission at Google, sources
Google founder Larry Page was also impressed by his book. This led Kurzweil to join Google later. After asking Larry Page about his intention to invest in an artificial intelligence company, he joined Google as an engineering director responsible for machine learning and natural language understanding technology.
Also, he's not afraid of a future with artificial intelligence. Unlike other experts who have expressed concern about the threat of artificial intelligence, such as Steven Hawking and Elon Musk, I think it's a tool to improve human abilities. They say that if the human brain is connected to a computer, we will evolve to be more human, more unique, and closer to God.
“We're going to be more fun and sexier people. You will be able to better express your feelings of love.” *****
Preparing for upcoming singularities
Kurzweil and his masterpieces <특이점이 온다>
Kurzweil is also known for his tremendous efforts to live until 2045, when Singularity arrives. This is because I believe that if I survive until then, I can live an eternal life with singularity. In fact, for this purpose, they are making unimaginable efforts such as exercise, healthy food, and medication, and even applying for a frozen human just in case, showing an eccentric side.
But Kurzweil's optimism isn't the only one. I'm also thinking about situations where humans will fail to control machines. To prepare for such situations, Singularity University (Singularity University) was established with support from NASA, Google, IBM, etc. to develop talented people who can set the direction of development before and after singularity. ******
While acknowledging the dangers of AI, he also focuses on the positive effects that technological progress has had on human life. For example, textile workers lost their jobs due to the industrial revolution, but eventually human life improved, and more other jobs were created instead. Soon, many things will be automated, but I expect that life will improve and new, more satisfying jobs will be created instead.
While finishing
Proponents praise him as “the ultimate thought machine” and “Thomas Edison's true heir.” Bill Gates described him as “the best predictor of the future of artificial intelligence.” Critics, on the other hand, also ridicule him as “the greatest merchant of this era” and “a narcissistic nerd obsessed with eternal life.” *******
I don't know. No one seems to be sure about the future that is yet to come. However, I don't think I can deny that Kurzweil is curious and excited about the future after the singularity he wants to check for himself while striving for eternal life.
** 17-year-old Kurzweil appeared on the 1965 CBS TV show <I've Got a Secret> https://youtu.be/X4Neivqp2K4
References
[1] Official website https://www.kurzweilai.net
[2] https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/레이_커즈와일
[3] https://namu.wiki/w/레이%20커즈와일
[4] http://www.aistudy.co.kr/pioneer/Kurzweil.R.htm
[5] The birth of the mind: the secrets of the human brain and artificial intelligence https://post.naver.com/viewer/postView.nhn?volumeNo=7728886&memberNo=34537073
[6] Ray Kurzweil: In the 2030s, nanobots in the brain will make us 'like God' https://www.huffingtonpost.kr/2015/10/24/story_n_8365986.html
[7] 'Modern version of Qin Shihwang' futurist's 'Eternity Pill' https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/health/687808.html
[8] [TED Talk] Ray Kurzweil: Future science preparing for upcoming idiosyncrasies https://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_a_university_for_the_coming_singularity?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
[9] [TED Talk] Be prepared for mixed thoughts https://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_get_ready_for_hybrid_thinking?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
[10] [Video] Kurzweil Observed Minsky: Is Singularity Near? https://youtu.be/RZ3ahBm3dCk
[11] [Video] How to Create a Mind | Ray Kurzweil | Talks at Google https://youtu.be/zihTWh5i2C4
Good content to watch together
[AI Story] Key Figures of Artificial Intelligence (1) Alan Turing[AI Story] The decisive figures of artificial intelligence (2) Walter Fitz, the founder of deep learning[AI Story] The decisive figures of artificial intelligence (3) John McCarthy, the founder of artificial intelligence[AI Story] Key Figures of Artificial Intelligence (4) Rosenblatt, pioneer of deep learning in artificial intelligence[AI Story] The decisive figures of artificial intelligence (5) A fantastic combination, Simon and Newel[AI Story] Key Figures of Artificial Intelligence (6) Humans are thinking machines, Marvin Minsky
