KurzweilAI.net has a new feature entitled Are We Becoming an Endangered Species? Technology and Ethics in the Twenty First Century, with some cheesy rethorical meta-ponderings about the dangers of AI, robotics and nanotechnology.

Some parts I agree with, but some are rather more intended for entertaining the TV public:
"Perils such as weapons capable of destroying all mammalian life on Earth"
Some life will survive, just like after the meteor hit earth ending the dinosaur era. That deflagration was over 100 times more powerful than your 'average' nuclear bomb... humans will suffer, but life will go on ;)

Ray Kurzweil then goes into the need for strong ethics and active enforcement, which sounds like a good plan. The next part talks about humans playing god, which seems like a bit of a drastic way of phrasing it! And finally, he mentions the purpose of life. Yes, the purpouse of life ;) If you didn't know what it was, then this is your lucky day. Apparently, our purpose is to evolve. I'm not convinced personally, evolution has been a passive consequence of life so far, and even if some scientists start taking steps to force our evolution actively, that does not make it a purpouse in any individual's life!

Anyway, the article is interesting to read, and well recommended.