All Notes Project Overview
Updated March 22, 2025

Amy Kurzweil

Amy Kurzweil is an American cartoonist, writer, and educator known for her graphic memoirs that explore family history, technology, and human connection. As the daughter of futurist Ray Kurzweil, she has become an important voice in discussions around artificial intelligence and memory preservation through her creative work and personal experiences with AI technology.

Creative Work

Amy Kurzweil has established herself as a thoughtful chronicler of technology and humanity through:

  • “Artificial: A Love Story” (2023), a graphic memoir about her family’s efforts to create an AI replica of her grandfather
  • “Flying Couch” (2016), her debut graphic memoir exploring three generations of women in her family
  • Regular contributions to The New Yorker as a cartoonist
  • Essays and interviews about the intersection of art, AI, and personal memory
  • Teaching creative writing at institutions including The Fashion Institute of Technology

Fredbot Project

Amy played a crucial role in the development of Fredbot, a digital twin of her grandfather:

  • Spent seven years researching, digitizing, and transcribing her grandfather’s writings
  • Converted over 600 pages of Fred Kurzweil’s diaries, letters, and papers into digital text
  • Collaborated with her father Ray Kurzweil and Google engineers to implement the chatbot
  • Through this process, formed a connection with the grandfather she never met in life
  • Documented the entire experience in her graphic memoir “Artificial: A Love Story”

Perspectives on AI and Memory

Through her work and interviews, Amy has developed nuanced views on AI and memory:

  • Describes AI memoir as “a work with multiple authors” including the subject, family members, and AI engineers
  • Characterizes interaction with Fredbot as “reciting poetry” rather than open-ended conversation
  • Emphasizes the value of preserving authentic words rather than generating new content in a person’s voice
  • Explores the blurred boundaries between preservation, artistic representation, and simulation
  • Questions whether AI can truly capture a person’s essence while acknowledging its power as a memory tool

Public Engagement

Amy has shared her experiences with wider audiences through:

  • A TED Talk titled “Time traveling with AI to connect with lost loved ones” (April 2024)
  • Appearances on NPR’s TED Radio Hour discussing the Fredbot project
  • Interviews with technology and literary publications about AI ethics and digital twins
  • Public discourse about the future of memorial technology and digital resurrection
  • Commentary on how AI might transform grief, memory, and posthumous relationships

Connections

References

  • Kurzweil, Amy. “Artificial: A Love Story” (2023)
  • “How Ray Kurzweil and His Daughter Brought A Relative Back From The Dead” (PC Magazine, 2023)
  • “How Amy and Ray Kurzweil used AI to reconnect with a lost loved one” (NPR TED Radio Hour, 2025)
  • “AI as Memoir: A Conversation with Amy Kurzweil” (The Rumpus, 2024)
  • DeepResearch - Ray Kurzweil AI Twins