All As One? - The Singularity

There has been a topic both heard in whispers and in loud laughter. From a serious scientific debate, to Ken Jennings “welcoming our new robot overlords.” This topic is known as the singularity. The singularity is a theoretical moment in time when artificial intelligence will overtake humans in terms of overall skill and intelligence. Numerous novels and films have explored the idea of the singularity, such as The Terminator or I, Robot. It is definitely an interesting thought to consider, with all of the advancements in the field of technology, especially those in robotics and artificial intelligence.

For me, it’s hard to believe that the singularity will happen any time soon. While we might be making strides in technology, we also have to have an accomplished understanding of the brain, as well as the human psyche. The singularity is defined as artificial intelligence becoming superior to us in terms of skill and intelligence, so it only seems fair that we will not reach that point until we fully understand the depths of our knowledge and the inner workings of the human mind. It is true that we have come quite close, but only to a certain degree of artificial intelligence. The key trait that humans possess that is non-existent in a robot or AI is unpredictability. Sure, someone can program a “random” variable into the code, but that only works for a predetermined set of possibilities. This is a major characteristic (you know, besides skin and bones) that sets humans apart from robots. Having only limited knowledge on the subject, I would venture to say it will take many years before scientists are able to create something that can not only think for itself, but is unpredictable in its thoughts.

Who’s to say that I will or won’t see the singularity? As previously mentioned, science is moving at a rapid pace – exponentially, even. Over the past few years, robots have become more prevalent, which means we can only go up from here. As the years fly by, machines will start to take over different tasks previously done by humans. At least in the next few years, these tasks will include heavy lifting, such as assembly line arms, or extreme precision, like working in a medicinal environment. Humans will still be the largest part of the workforce, but will have to come to terms with working alongside robots.

It’s hard to say how drastically the world will change over the next few decades, but thankfully there is a pretty good chance that Skynet will not be deploying any time soon.