Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
We are beginning to understand what it means to be conscious in a
real and operational sense and to relate that traditionally metaphys-
ical notion to hard-headed, verifiable experimental reality. And we
are, as we work with computers, developing not just a tool that
enables everything else, but a much more profound sense of the
nature of systems and their interactions. [12]
Ray Kurzweil
Ray Kurzweil is a pioneer and innovative achiever in computer science,
and the recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Technology, the na-
first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, hailed as the most
significant advance for blind people since the invention of Braille in the
nineteenth century. He also developed the first commercially marketed,
large-vocabulary speech-recognition technology and a groundbreaking
computer music keyboard that can accurately and convincingly recreate
the sounds of the grand piano and other orchestral instruments. Each of
these inventions evolved into what is today a major commercial field or
industry, and the technologies that Kurzweil created and their successors
continue to be market leaders within those industries.
Kurzweil's inventions have involved major advances in computer sci-
ence while at the same time yielding practical products that meet fun-
damental needs. He has also created multiple businesses to bring these
inventions to market. In addition to his inventions, Kurzweil is a pro-
lific author. His exciting topic
The Age of Spiritual Machines
,published
in 1999, quickly achieved a high level of critical and commercial success.
Kurzweil is a technology visionary and guru
par excellence
and in that
topic he paints his own view of what life will be like, aided by advances
in computing, AI and other technologies, by the end of the twenty-first
century:
The state of the art in computer technology is anything but sta-
tic. Computer capabilities are emerging today that were considered
impossible one or two decades ago. Examples include the ability
to transcribe accurately normal continuous human speech, to un-
derstand and respond intelligently to natural language, to recog-
nize patterns in medical procedures such as electro-cardiograms
and blood tests with an accuracy rivalling that of human physi-
cians, and, of course, to play chess at a world-championship level.
In the next decade, we will see translating telephones that provide
