Any author or filmmaker seeking ideas for a sci-fi yarn about the implications of artificial intelligence — good or bad — would be smart to talk to Ray Kurzweil.

Kurzweil, the acclaimed inventor and futurist, believes that humans and technology are blurring — note the smartphone appendages in almost everyone’s hand — and will eventually merge.

“We are a human-machine civilization. Everybody has been enhanced with computer technology,” he told a capacity crowd of more than 3,000 tech-savvy listeners Monday at the South by Southwest Interactive conference. “They’re really part of who we are. […]