That's not really true, Hawkins theory revolves around prediction as it relates to intelligence. There is an entire section at the end of the book that explains why intelligent machines based on the neocortical algorithm he proposes won't resemble human intelligence/self awareness for a long time to come (if ever).
I'll need to take another look at Hawkins book. In any case, Kurzweil is promoting the idea we can have AI equivalent to human intelligence in a few decades.
