How to create mind: A book on biological, artificial intelligence

BANGALORE, INDIA: Noted author Ray Kurzweil is out with his new book ''How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed''. Kurzweil's previous classics include ''Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever'' and ''The Age of Spiritual Machines.''

''Ray Kurzweil is arguably today's most influential-and often controversial - futurist. In How to Create a Mind, Kurzweil presents a provocative exploration of the most important project in human-machine civilization-reverse engineering the brain to understand precisely how it works and using that knowledge to create even more intelligent machines,'' says a description of the book on Amazon.com. The book is now receiving some mixed reviews.

When an IBM computer program called Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov at chess in 1997, wise folk opined that since chess was just a game of logic, this was neither significant nor surprising. Mastering the subtleties of human language, including similes, puns and humor, would remain far beyond the reach of a computer.

Last year another IBM program, Watson, triumphed at just these challenges by winning "Jeopardy!". So is it time to take seriously the prospect of artificial intelligence emulating human abilities? Yes, argues the inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil in his new book "How to Create a Mind,'' says a review of the book on Wall Street Journal. To read the entire review, click here.