The Singularity Is Nearer cover art

The Singularity Is Nearer

When We Merge with AI

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Singularity Is Nearer

By: Ray Kurzweil
Narrated by: Adam Barr
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER.

The legendary oracle of technological change explains how AI will transform our species beyond recognition within two decades.

What will it mean to live free from the limits of our bodies? Who will we become if our minds can be stored and duplicated? What new realms of beauty, connection and wonder might we inhabit? How will we navigate the risks presented by such awesomely powerful technology?

By the end of this decade, AI will exceed human levels of intelligence. During the 2030s, it will become ‘superintelligent’, vastly outstripping our capabilities and enabling dramatic interventions in our bodies. By 2045, we will be able to connect our brains directly with AI, enhancing our intelligence a millionfold and expanding our consciousness in ways we can barely imagine. This is the Singularity.

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors of our time with over 60 years’ experience in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Dozens of his long-range predictions about the rise of the internet, AI and bioengineering have been borne out. In this visionary and fundamentally optimistic book, Kurzweil explains how the Singularity will occur, explores what it will mean to live free from the limits of biology and argues that we can and will transform life on Earth profoundly for the better.

‘The best person I know at predicting the future of AI’ BILL GATES
'Essential reading to understand our exponential times' MUSTAFA SULEYMAN
'Fascinating . . . raises the most profound philosophical questions' YUVAL NOAH HARARI

©2024 Ray Kurzweil (P)2024 Penguin Audio Computer Science Future Studies History & Culture Machine Theory & Artificial Intelligence Social Sciences Technology & Society Thought-Provoking Inspiring Programming

Listeners also enjoyed...

 How to Create a Mind cover art
The Future Is Faster Than You Think cover art
Deep Utopia cover art
The Age of Spiritual Machines cover art
Superintelligence cover art
How AI Will Shape Our Future cover art
Why Politicians Lie About Trade cover art
The Alignment Problem cover art
Artificial Intelligence cover art
The Nvidia Way cover art
Agentic Artificial Intelligence cover art
Generative Artificial Intelligence for Beginners cover art
Superagency cover art
AI Superpowers cover art
The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics cover art
Unit X cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Overall a very interesting book by a well respected scientist. It paints a picture that made me a bit more optimistic about our future.

The biggest (philosophical/moral) problem for me was that the author completely ignored illegally collected training data that was used to boost current spearhead AI companies. Is “the birth” of AI supposed to be illegal, immoral and all in all against the law?

Very optimistic book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.


Do not fear AI. Fear the corporatuons developing AI.

The aithor does not explore this, and its implications for the biosphere.

Simplistic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This audiobook is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of humanity. Ray Kurzweil does a brilliant job of explaining complex concepts in a clear and accessible way. The book is packed with information and insights, and it is sure to leave you thinking about the future in a new way.
I have been fascinated by the singularity for many years, and this book is one of the best I have read on the topic. Kurzweil's insights are profound, and his predictions are both exciting and terrifying. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the future of our species.
Don't give up after the first 3 chapters when it gets very technical! The author is laying the ground work for the rest of the book and it all makes sense as you listen on.
Key takeaways:
1. The singularity is a point in time when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence.
2. Kurzweil believes that the singularity will occur in the next few decades.
3. The singularity will have a profound impact on our lives, and it is important to be prepared for it.
Overall:
This is an excellent audio book that I highly recommend. It is well-written, informative, and thought-provoking. I am sure that it will be one of the best books I listen to this year.

Wonderful, insightful, and deep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fantastic book! I gained a greater insight on the topic of Ai. Will do more reading as I really like this topic. I think for people who fear the Ai revolution, perhaps and I say perhaps it might give some peace of mind.

Great insight into the topic of Ai.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A thought provoking insight into a possible future world that is closer than most people would imagine.

A glimpse into the future

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Kurzweil presents a thought provoking thesis on the potential of AI. The case is strongest when applying to some medical advances but gets in a bit of a pickle when addressing prolonging life significantly. He poses some important technological/human interface dilemmas to be faced, most notably nanobots.

The absence of any challenge to the 'technology deterministic' mindset to some extent undermines what could have been an objective assessment of singularity.

Kurzweil seems to gloss over some major issues/risks with a 'these will need to be addressed/can be managed' response, and not really giving a strong explanation of how.

The biggest gap is the inability to solidly put developments in the context of the worsening climate situation (its almost completely ignored) or the climate impact of some of the developments (aging, energy demands).

Interesting perspectives but let down by a 'technology deterministic' mindset

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
kurzweil is a clever man but the voice is bad and the sound worse - I couldn't sit through it.

terrible narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book has Profound ideas and the ability of the author to make informed connections , spanning many disciplines is amazing .
He is Very logical and scientific in his deductions, however would have been better if the narration was less synthetic.Furthermore perhaps more relevant for wider reading cohorts if a little more “soul” or a more spiritual reflection on events and how societies develop.The author has a overly optimistic outlook and sense of historical events and their impact.
For example social media also has been a catalyst for a higher mental health issues being reported especially with regards to the youth , as a teacher of 21 years I have noticed , social skills are also lacking progressively by each new and younger cohort.
It is not all roses, the author paints a very rosy picture that is unbalanced at times, that is slightly niave .

Interesting and Profound ideas

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've always enjoyed reading Ray Kurzweil's predictions. His enthusiasm, The hundred pill supplements he apparently takes every day. His refusal to die until we achieve oneness with the machines. So I was looking forward to this book.

I should have bought it on KIndle. The narrator is Jot Davies-level bad. So bad, in fact, that as I listened, I wondered if the name "Adam Barr" was the name given to the AI they're using to voice the words.

I'm going to return this audiobook.

I'm semi-convinced the narrator is actually AI

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This needs to be read. Story telling doesn’t lend itself to an audiobook. In addition, narrator not great. Suggests Ray should narrate.

Love Ray but audiobook not great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews