For a story written by Kurt Andersen, Vanity Fair commissioned Doug Menuez to shoot portraits of tech thought leaders Peter Diamandis (founder of the X Prize), Ray Kurzweil (director of engineering at Google), Jaron Lanier (a virtual-reality pioneer who is now at Microsoft Research), and Mitch Kapor (a PC software titan who leads several foundations working for social change), who are engaged in ongoing debate about the benefits and perils of artificial intelligence.
“The stakes are high and could affect human evolution or halt it completely,” says Doug. “Ray Kurzweil believes computers will gain consciousness by 2029, when a kind of singularity will occur and humans will transcend biology.”
“Followers of the singularity,” Doug continues, “believe a new wave of technology is coming fast that will bring major breakthroughs in health and longevity, among other benefits to mankind, as we head toward the ultimate artificial intelligence solution. Some proponents have suggested that when the singularity happens, we’ll be able to achieve immortality by uploading our brains into a hive mind and leaving our bodies behind. Really cool, or utterly terrifying?”
To see more of Doug’s images from this assignment, visit menuez.com/newwork.
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The opening of Doug’s story at vf.com.
Peter Diamandis. Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
Ray Kurzweil. Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
Mitch Kapor. Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
Kapor and his dog at his office.
Jaron Lanier. Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
Photo by Doug Menuez for Vanity Fair.
