Photo: Photo by Michael Lutch. / CC BY 1.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Born on February 12, 1948 in Queens, New York, United States, Raymond Kurzweil is an inventor, computer scientist and entrepreneur. Raymond Kurzweil is 78 years old as of 2026. Education on record includes Martin Van Buren High School. Recorded honors include Grace Murray Hopper Award (1978), Lemelson–MIT Prize (2001), National Medal of Technology and Innovation (1999) and 5 more. Credited works include predictions made by Ray Kurzweil.
My Take
Ray Kurzweil is one of the few people who genuinely lives in the future. A Queens-born inventor, he laid groundwork we now take for granted: optical character recognition, text-to-speech, speech recognition. The National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Medal of Technology speak for themselves. What captivates me, though, is his audacity in predicting the Singularity, the moment machine intelligence eclipses our own, and his willingness to attach dates and numbers to it. Whether his forecasts land or miss, I admire the rigor of trying to quantify tomorrow. Dreamers like Kurzweil are precisely why the world keeps moving forward.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Raymond Kurzweil
- Name (Japanese)
- レイ・カーツワイル
- Reading
- れい・かーつわいる
- Born
- February 12, 1948 (age 78)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Rat
- Origin
- Queens, New York, United States
- Occupation
- inventor / computer scientist / entrepreneur / writer / science fiction writer
2. Background
- High school
- Martin Van Buren High School
Awards & achievements
- 1978 Grace Murray Hopper Award
- 2001 Lemelson–MIT Prize
- 1999 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
- 2002 National Inventors Hall of Fame
- 1995 Dickson Prize in Science
- Dickson Prize
- 1994 ACM Fellow
- 2004 Migel Medal
3. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | predictions made by Ray Kurzweil | — |
4. Links
- Official sitehttps://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray%20Kurzweil
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%84%E3%83%AF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q298341
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-17
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Raymond Kurzweil born?
Born February 12, 1948 (age 78).
Where is Raymond Kurzweil from?
Raymond Kurzweil is from Queens, New York, United States.
What does Raymond Kurzweil do?
Raymond Kurzweil works as inventor, computer scientist, entrepreneur, writer, science fiction writer.
What is Raymond Kurzweil known for?
Notable works include predictions made by Ray Kurzweil.
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