By 2020 computers will equal the capacity of the human brain; people will have relationships with virtual personalities. 10 years later machines will have the computing capacity of 1,000 brains; they will learn on their own, create their own literature and claim to be conscious. By the end of the century there will no longer be any clear distinction between humans and computers. Most conscious entities will not have a permanent physical presence and life expectancy will no longer be a viable term in relation to intelligent beings. Ray Kurzweil is a leading technologist and author of the prize-winning The Age of Intelligent Machines. He is also one of the world's leading inventors and entrepreneurs in the field of artificial intelligence.About the AuthorRay Kurzweil is the world's leading authority on artificial intelligence. He is the found and chairman of Kurzweil Applied Intelligence. He was the principal developer of the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind and has made other significant advances in artificial intelligence technology. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology named him Inventor of the Year in 1988 and Engineer of the Year in 1990. He is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates. He lives in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.