WHAT IS ‘THE SINGULARITY’?

‘The Singularity’, as it is often called, refers to ‘The Technological Singularity,’ as put forward by scientists and futurists such as Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil.

Tom Abate puts it rather succinctly in an article he wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle:

Borrowing a term from physics, singularity suggests a horizon beyond which we can’t see. It describes the point at which some form of intelligence spawned by technology gains the ability to rapidly improve its own programming — becoming so powerful that we cannot predict what it might do. At that point, its capabilities could exceed even the power of our imaginations.

And that’s the skinny, of course, it’s waaaay more complicated than that so subscribe to this blog and be in the know from now on!

Listen to this FANTASTIC recorded NPR broadcast featuring Vernor Vinge, the guy to first describe The Singularity.