This essay will define machine learning and describe some of the different areas of machine learning. It will summarize some of the algorithms used to achieve machine learning and describe some of the situations in which they can be applied, then compare them to human learning techniques and comment on their similarities and differences. He will then discuss Raymond Kurzweil's singularity theories and his opposing views.IntroMachine learning has a large impact on how computers can be used in many ways. There are many implementations that vary in complexity. Google completes sentences when a search term is entered (Economist, 2014) and Netflix has the ability to recommend movies you might enjoy to IBM's cognitive computing program "Watson" that has imperiled its human adversaries . The field is constantly growing, Facebook recently invested in its own artificial intelligence (AI) team that works to extract emotions and behaviors implied by posts on its site (Simonite, 2013) and IBM is investing a billion dollars in a new division. to find uses for Watson (Economist, 2014). Google has seen the importance of AI and machine learning, as evidenced by the number of artificial intelligence companies they have purchased. They have just added to their portfolio of recent AI-related purchases with the acquisition of Deep Mind, which they purchased for a reported four hundred million pounds. It's impressive to say that Deep Mind hadn't even released a product at this point. (Bradshaw et al, 2014) Very little is known about what deep mind technology is capable of, but it is known to fall into the realm of general machine learning algorithms. It has been said that De...... middle of paper ... of the brain itself. His reasons for skepticism are that human consciousness is the result of nonlinear interactions between the billions of cells that make up the human body. However, Nicolellis believes that computer technology will be implanted into our brains to improve brain function before a computer system capable of recreating human consciousness is possible. (Regelado, 2014) Nicollelis' Duke Lab recently published a study that demonstrated a way to allow rats to see infrared light. They achieve this by connecting an infrared sensor to electrodes implanted in a part of the brain called the somatosensory cortex. This is the first experiment to successfully use a neural implant to give new meaning to an animal. (Thomson et al, 2014). This shows that Nicollelis is serious in his claims and that his opposition to Kurzweil's claims carries weight..