[WT Sharpe]

Nothing is less assured than the future, but it will be interesting to see just how these predictions of artificial intelligence play out. The following selection is from In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension by Dan Falk:

Clarke also predicted that artificial intelligence will reach human levels by 2020, after which there will be "two intelligent species on Planet Earth," one evolving much more rapidly than the other.

Stephen Hawking seems to agree that we should he cautious in the face of accelerating computer technology. In an interview in 2001, Hawking said that human beings should change their DNA through genetic manipulation in order to keep ahead of our electronic rivals and stop intelligent machines from gaining the upper hand. "The danger is real," he said, that this [computer] intelligence will develop and take over the world."

Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil agrees that a human-computer "merger" is inevitable. He predicts that by 2019, $1,000 worth of computing power will have capabilities similar to those of a human brain; by 2029, machines will claim to he conscious; and by 2099 there will no longer be any clear distinction between humans and computers."

— Dan Falk (1966 - ); Canadian science journalist, broadcaster, and author. In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension (2008, AKA In Search of Time: Journeys Along a Curious Dimension and In Search of Time: The History, Physics, and Philosophy of Time).