Is the Singularity the Rapture?

In his new book,The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Trancend Biology, Ray Kurzweil says, "the inevitable next step in the evolutionary process" will be an "end–of–humantime event" he calls The Singularity. Coming mid–century, The Singularity will be "the moment when biological material ceases to exist, and we become products of the revolution in 'GNR': genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics."
"How is this techno–Apocalypse so different from Judeo–Christian end–of–time scenarios?" asks Alex Beam in the Boston Globe. Kurzwell: "Ultimately the universe will become saturated with intelligence. It will 'wake up,' be conscious and sublimely intelligent. That's about as close to God as I can imagine."
(Via original lit blogger Moby Lives.)