The Age of Spiritual Machines

E139153

book futurist book non-fiction book

The Age of Spiritual Machines is a futurist book by Ray Kurzweil that predicts the evolution of artificial intelligence and its profound impact on human society and consciousness.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
The Age of Spiritual Machines canonical	4
Kurzweil's book "The Age of Spiritual Machines"	1
Kurzweil's singularity hypothesis	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1216986 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Age of Spiritual Machines
Context triple: [Ray Kurzweil, notableWork, The Age of Spiritual Machines]

A. As We May Think
As We May Think is a seminal 1945 essay by Vannevar Bush that envisioned hypertext-like information systems and profoundly influenced the development of modern computing and the internet.
B. Society of Mind
Society of Mind is a seminal book by Marvin Minsky that proposes a theory of human intelligence as emerging from the interactions of many simple, non-intelligent agents within the mind.
C. The Future of Ideas
The Future of Ideas is a book by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig that examines how excessive intellectual property regulation threatens innovation, creativity, and the openness of the digital commons.
D. The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires is a nonfiction book that examines the recurring cycle of openness and monopolistic control in communications and information industries throughout modern history.
E. The Sciences of the Artificial
The Sciences of the Artificial is a seminal 1969 book by Herbert A. Simon that explores the nature, design, and study of artificial systems such as organizations, computers, and complex artifacts.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Age of Spiritual Machines
Target entity description: The Age of Spiritual Machines is a futurist book by Ray Kurzweil that predicts the evolution of artificial intelligence and its profound impact on human society and consciousness.

A. As We May Think
As We May Think is a seminal 1945 essay by Vannevar Bush that envisioned hypertext-like information systems and profoundly influenced the development of modern computing and the internet.
B. Society of Mind
Society of Mind is a seminal book by Marvin Minsky that proposes a theory of human intelligence as emerging from the interactions of many simple, non-intelligent agents within the mind.
C. The Future of Ideas
The Future of Ideas is a book by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig that examines how excessive intellectual property regulation threatens innovation, creativity, and the openness of the digital commons.
D. The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires is a nonfiction book that examines the recurring cycle of openness and monopolistic control in communications and information industries throughout modern history.
E. The Sciences of the Artificial
The Sciences of the Artificial is a seminal 1969 book by Herbert A. Simon that explores the nature, design, and study of artificial systems such as organizations, computers, and complex artifacts.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ futurist book ⓘ non-fiction book ⓘ
author	Ray Kurzweil ⓘ
basedOnTheory	law of accelerating returns ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
criticizedFor	overly optimistic predictions ⓘ technological determinism ⓘ
describes	scenarios for human life in 2020s ⓘ scenarios for human life in 2030s ⓘ scenarios for human life in 2040s ⓘ
follows	The Age of Intelligent Machines ⓘ
genre	futurology ⓘ popular science ⓘ
hasISBN	978-0-670-88217-2 ⓘ
hasSequel	The Singularity Is Near ⓘ
influenced	public discourse on AI ⓘ transhumanist thought ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
mediaType	e-book ⓘ print ⓘ
notableConcept	non-biological intelligence ⓘ reverse engineering the brain ⓘ spiritual machines ⓘ
pageCount	400 ⓘ
predicts	computers matching human intelligence ⓘ exponential growth of computation ⓘ human consciousness in machines ⓘ merging of humans and machines ⓘ nanotechnology-based medicine ⓘ widespread virtual reality ⓘ
publicationDate	1999 ⓘ
publisher	Penguin Books ⓘ Viking Press ⓘ linked to: The Viking Press
structure	chronological future scenarios ⓘ
subject	artificial intelligence ⓘ computing power ⓘ consciousness ⓘ future of humanity ⓘ human–machine integration ⓘ mind uploading ⓘ technological singularity ⓘ transhumanism ⓘ
targetAudience	futurists ⓘ general audience ⓘ technology enthusiasts ⓘ
timeHorizon	21st century ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ray Kurzweil → notableWork → The Age of Spiritual Machines ⓘ

The Age of Intelligent Machines → followedBy → The Age of Spiritual Machines ⓘ

How to Create a Mind → relatedWork → The Age of Spiritual Machines ⓘ

The Singularity Is Near → precededBy → The Age of Spiritual Machines ⓘ

law of accelerating returns → relatedTo → Kurzweil's singularity hypothesis ⓘ

linked to: The Age of Spiritual Machines

law of accelerating returns → usedIn → Kurzweil's book "The Age of Spiritual Machines" ⓘ