This coming Saturday (May 13, 2006), there will be a Summit on the Singularity at Stanford University. If you're in the neighborhood, you want to be there. Everybody who's anybody on the subject will be there, including Ray Kurzweil, Eric Drexler, Douglas R. Hofstadter, Steve Jurvetson, and others.

Ray Kurzweil writes

The coming merger of human and machine intelligence will mark the next stage in the evolution of life. Based on models of technology development that I've used to forecast technological change successfully for more than 25 years, I believe computers will pass the Turing Test by 2029, and by the 2040s our civilization will be billions of times more intelligent. The implications for all aspects of human existence of this "singularity" are profound; but until now, few have begun to consider what may be the most important event in their lifetimes. I'm pleased to invite you to an exploration of the future awaiting us.

If you haven't heard of the singularity, this link at Wikipedia is a great place to start. The basic concept is that technology is constantly moving faster, and at some point humans won't be able to keep up with it. We'll enter a new era where human brains aren't sufficient to deal with the world, and mankind will merge into man-created thinking technologies. Many believe this will happen relatively soon, like in 30 to 50 years.

I've been a big believer in the concept for over a decade and every year it seems more obvious. A fantastic book on the subject is Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near.