Google hires renowned futurist Ray KurzweilDecember 15, 2012 - 14:05 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Google has hired Ray Kurzweil, SlashGear reports citing an announcement on his website Kurzweilai.net. Kurzweil is a renowned futurist who waxes eloquent about his fondness for Google. He’s set to begin working Monday, Dec 17 as Director of Engineering, and will be involved with language processing and machine learning projects. According to Kurzweil, his interest in technology began in his childhood, and has only grown since then, leading him to design his first program at the age of 14. He was the first to invent print-to-speech for the visually impaired, and has since gone on to create a variety of inventions that “make a difference in people’s lives.” The 64-year-old is also the author of multiple written pieces that explore the possibilities of technology and what the future may hold. One such prediction is that in the relatively near future, computers will reach a point where they match humans in terms of both intelligence and self-awareness, something that would kick off technological developments at an unprecedented pace. As such, he speaks rather fondly of Google, explaining that the search engine giant is at the “forefront” of making the theoretical into a possibility. “In 1999, I said that in about a decade we would see technologies such as self-driving cars and mobile phones that could answer your questions, and people criticized these predictions as unrealistic,” he writes on his blog. “Fast forward a decade—Google has demonstrated self-driving cars, and people are indeed asking questions of their Android phones.” Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |