Editing Ray Kurzweil (section)

===Later life===

Kurzweil started [[Kurzweil Educational Systems]] (KESI) in 1996 to develop new pattern-recognition-based computer technologies to help people with disabilities such as blindness, [[dyslexia]], and [[attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder]] (ADHD) in school. Products include the Kurzweil 1000 text-to-speech converter software program, which enables a computer to read electronic and scanned text aloud to blind or visually impaired users, and the Kurzweil 3000 program, a multifaceted electronic learning system that helps with reading, writing, and [[study skills]]. Kurzweil sold KESI to [[Lernout & Hauspie]]. After the legal and bankruptcy problems of the latter, he and other KESI employees bought back the company. KESI was eventually sold to [[Cambium Learning Group|Cambium Learning Group, Inc.]]

[[File:Raymond Kurzweil, Stanford 2006 (square crop).jpg|thumb|left|Raymond Kurzweil at the [[Singularity Summit]] at [[Stanford University]] in 2006]]

During the 1990s, Kurzweil founded the Medical Learning Company.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 27, 2014 |title=Google genius Ray Kurzweil predicts the future of technology |url=https://www.theneweconomy.com/business/google-genius-ray-kurzweil-predicts-the-future-of-technology |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The New Economy |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1999, Kurzweil created a [[hedge fund]] called "FatKat" (Financial Accelerating Transactions from Kurzweil Adaptive Technologies), which began trading in 2006. He has said that the ultimate aim is to improve the performance of FatKat's A.I. investment software program, enhancing its ability to recognize patterns in "currency fluctuations and stock-ownership trends".<ref name="okeefe">{{cite news |url=https://fortune.com/2007/05/14/ray-kurzweil-innovation-artificial-intelligence/ |work=CNN |title=The Smartest (or the Nuttiest) Futurist on Earth |date=May 2, 2007 |access-date=July 26, 2016 |first1=Brian |last1=O'Keefe}}</ref> In his 1999 book ''[[The Age of Spiritual Machines]]'', Kurzweil predicted that computers would one day be better than humans at making profitable investment decisions. In June 2005, Kurzweil introduced the [[K-NFB Reader|"Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader" (K-NFB Reader)]]—a pocket-sized device consisting of a digital camera and computer unit. Like the Kurzweil Reading Machine of almost 30 years before, the K-NFB Reader is designed to aid blind people by reading written text aloud. The newer machine is portable and scans text through digital camera images, while the older machine is large and scans text through flatbed scanning.

In December 2012, Google hired Kurzweil in a full-time position to "work on new projects involving machine learning and language processing".<ref>{{cite news |last=Letzing |first=John |title=Google Hires Famed Futurist Ray Kurzweil |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/12/14/google-hires-famed-futurist-ray-kurzweil/?mod=WSJBlog&source=email_rt_mc_body&ifp=0 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=December 14, 2012 |access-date=2013-02-13}}</ref> Google co-founder [[Larry Page]] personally hired him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://singularityhub.com/2013/03/19/exclusive-interview-ray-kurzweil-discusses-his-first-two-months-at-google/|title=Exclusive Interview: Ray Kurzweil Discusses His First Two Months at Google|date=March 19, 2013}}</ref> Page and Kurzweil agreed on a one-sentence job description: "to bring natural language understanding to Google".<ref name="wsj" /> Kurzweil received a [[Technical Grammy Award]] on February 8, 2015, specifically for his invention of the [[Kurzweil K250]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-bee-gees-pierre-boulez-buddy-guy-george-harrison-flaco-jimenez |title=The Bee Gees, Pierre Boulez, Buddy Guy, George Harrison, Flaco Jimenez, Louvin Brothers and Wayne Shorter honored with the Recording Academy® Lifetime Achievement Award |publisher=grammy.org |date=December 18, 2014 |access-date=February 11, 2015 |archive-date=June 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611033851/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-bee-gees-pierre-boulez-buddy-guy-george-harrison-flaco-jimenez |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Kurzweil has joined the [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation]], a [[cryonics]] company. After his death, he has a plan to be perfused with [[cryoprotectant]]s, [[Cryopreservation#Vitrification|vitrified]] in [[liquid nitrogen]], and stored at an Alcor facility in the hope that future medical technology will be able to revive him.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Philipkoski |first=Kirsten |title=Ray Kurzweil's Plan: Never Die |magazine=Wired |date=November 18, 2002 |url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/11/56448 |access-date=2013-02-11}}</ref>