????現(xiàn)在，我們正朝著這個未來邁出第一步。我們正著手打造完全不同類型的計(jì)算機(jī)。假以時日，這些機(jī)器或?qū)⒆兊酶咏祟?。不過，它們能夠無時不刻調(diào)動一切記憶，而且無所不知，在這點(diǎn)上，人類當(dāng)然無法望其項(xiàng)背。

????人們所做的事情以及他們所創(chuàng)造的工具定義了人類。通過機(jī)器，我們極大地強(qiáng)化了自身：在許多領(lǐng)域，人力已經(jīng)被機(jī)器所替代。我們能建造、開發(fā)更多的工具，能去到更多的地方。因?yàn)槲覀円皇謩?chuàng)造的工具，我們能更迅速地旅行到更遙遠(yuǎn)的地方。計(jì)算機(jī)和計(jì)算機(jī)設(shè)備就是我們工具之路的一個方面。計(jì)算機(jī)使我們能探索自身想法，表達(dá)創(chuàng)意，它給我們帶來的幫助超越了其他所有發(fā)明。

????借助我們建造的這些機(jī)器，世界將變得更加“聰明”。在未來20到50年里，隨著信息技術(shù)不斷進(jìn)步，持續(xù)取得突破性進(jìn)展，我們有望看到新型的計(jì)算機(jī)，假以時日，我們將最終制造出真正能夠感知和“思考”的機(jī)器。

????Meantime, we're taking the first steps in that journey now. We're starting to build very different types of machines. Over time, these machines will become ever closer to being like us. They will even be able to think of everything and know everything all the time, which, of course, no human brain can do.

????Human beings are defined by the things that they do and the tools they create. We've made ourselves stronger through machinery: in many places, muscle power has been substituted with machine power. We can build more things, make more things and go more places. We can travel faster and farther because of the machines that we build. Computers and computing devices are another step on that path. They let us explore our ideas and express creativity in ways that take us beyond all of our other inventions.

????The world is going to get even "smarter" as a result of the machines we build. Over the next 20 to 50 years, we'll see new types of machines and over time, we may finally have cognitive devices that can actually "think" as advances in information technology continue to build upon the breakthroughs of the past.