March 1, 1999

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Essays on the 2000 MILLENNIUM

WHEN MACHINES THINK

Athreshold event will take place early in the 21st century: the emergence of machines more intelligent than their creators. By 2019, a $1,000 computer will match the processing power of the human brain—about 20-million-billion calculations per second. By RAY KURZWEIL12 min

The Mail

Your cover story “Future shock” paints a dismal picture of Canada in the 21st century (Feb. 15). A stagnant economy, scarce private capital and dwindling trade mean what? According to the author, it means “most Canadians can only look enviously at the sophisticated appliances that consumers in other industrialized nations can easily afford.”