From: Bryan Moss (bryan.moss@dial.pipex.com)
Date: Tue Jul 07 1998 - 10:30:11 MDT
I’m always hearing the Singularity mentioned on
this list but I’m not sure if I understand the
concept fully. There are several different
scenarios I’ve heard:
1) The point where population growth apparently
goes infinite and that *something* must happen at
this point. For instance, we all upload and we
really can have an infinite population. This, I
think, is stretching statistics a little too far.
2) Artificial Intelligence speeds up the creation
of more powerful computers and intelligence’s.
This seems wrong because hardware and software
power is already a major factor in the increase of
hardware and software power. There is no reason to
suggest this trend would suddenly change.
3) A Super Intelligence emerges from a distributed
network, such as the Internet. I think this goes
against current network/software/hardware models
and that a distributed intelligence would only
emerge under certain (possibly engineered)
circumstances that current trends in hardware,
software and the economy would not support.
Otherwise it is just treated as the point beyond
which we cannot predict (sometimes called the
Horizon). Although the curves are certainly moving
upwards I see no evidence that we should get ready
for a sudden surge in power, the collapse of world
government, the onslaught of Super Intelligence’s,
etc.
Anyone care to fill me in?
BM
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