It really feels like this is the key fragment for the entire article:
> If “algorithms” is another name for “computer intelligence” in the prediction’s text, then yes...
If that fragment is to be taken seriously, then much of what Kurzweil predicted for 2019 was also true in 1998. Algorithms carried out by computer have been used to administer and surveil since before the 90s.
Personally, my understanding of Kurzweil is that "computer intelligence" is something greater than just an algorithm that is carried out by a machine, but could be done by a human. It would mean something more malleable and conscious than that. Based on that standard I'd say he's wrong about nearly everything (save the privacy one - but again - that was true in 1998 with weaker encryption).
> If “algorithms” is another name for “computer intelligence” in the prediction’s text, then yes...
If that fragment is to be taken seriously, then much of what Kurzweil predicted for 2019 was also true in 1998. Algorithms carried out by computer have been used to administer and surveil since before the 90s.
Personally, my understanding of Kurzweil is that "computer intelligence" is something greater than just an algorithm that is carried out by a machine, but could be done by a human. It would mean something more malleable and conscious than that. Based on that standard I'd say he's wrong about nearly everything (save the privacy one - but again - that was true in 1998 with weaker encryption).