#singularity

#singularity

In The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge with AI, the futurist Ray Kurzweil imagines the point in 2045 when rapid technological progress crosses a threshold as humans merge with machines, an event he calls "the singularity." Although Kurzweil's predictions may sound more like science fiction than fact-based forecasting, his brand of thinking goes well beyond the usual sci-fi crowd. It has provided inspiration for American technology industry elites for some time, chief among them Elon Musk.

In 2000, Bill Joy, the co-founder and chief scientist of the computer company Sun Microsystems, sounded an alarm about technology. In an article in Wired titled 'Why the Future Doesn't Need Us', Joy wrote that we should 'limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge.' He feared a future in which our inventions casually wipe us from the face of the planet.