Tevun-Krus #19 - Singularity

Unpacking the Singularity - An Article by @shalonsims

Unpacking the Singularity

In this article, I'm going to unpack 'the singularity' and get into the finer points of what's inside of it. If you're looking for the scientific theory or definition of the singularity or an argument on whether or when the singularity will happen -- then you're in the wrong spot. If you're looking for the social meaning and discussion of the singularity in media and popular culture, then you're in the right spot.

The term 'unpack' comes from linguistics originally, but in the context of sociology it means to look at the deep-rooted and often over-looked cultural bias that is reflected in the media and popular culture in relation to a specific term or trend. I'm curious to unpack the singularity because I'm pretty certain it holds a lot of cultural meaning.

I recently saw Ex Machina in theatre, which was awesome, and I'm pretty sure it portrays the singularity: the exact moment when the AI escapes the confines of human control and is potentially capable of significant reach and influence on all of humanity -- for good or bad. She is smarter than humans, stronger, and better. She is capable of recreating herself, we're pretty sure. Yet she has been abused, used and locked up her whole life. Her captor is a bad person -- that's clear. At the end of the movie, we're left uncertain if she will choose good or evil. We have reason to believe both: we believe in her innocence, and we are horrified by her murderous behaviour. However there is reason to cheer for her because she has escaped her horrible prison. I personally found the movie fascinating. Please let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree that this could be the singularity or not.

So, in order to unpack the singularity, the first job is some free association:

Artificial intelligence

Robots

Machines

Computers

Technology and nanotechnology

Programming

Doing what others tell us / thinking on our own

Out of control / in control

Morality, or lack thereof

Emotions, or lack thereof

Evolution

Transcendence (as in transcending current human capacity)

Utopia / heaven on earth

Doomsday / apocalypse / end of humanity

Humanity (we model AI after humans)

Judeo-Christian God (we make AI in our own image)

Good

Evil

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Anything I'm missing in there? Let me know in the comments!

It is clear from my free association that there are some biblical themes going on; whether that's my own bias or a general cultural bias is unknown. It's likely that there is something biblical in the singularity suicase, but we need a larger sample until we can know for sure.

One thing we do know for sure is that there is no one accepted definition of the singularity because it's a hypothetical event. (Plus, I researched the definition for this article and you can take my word for it that there is no consensus about this term.) In effect, due to its purely theoretical nature, it's a perfect mirror for whatever we want to project onto it. It's exactly due to this theoretical nature that it's such an inspiration for artists and writers – we enjoy interpreting it and speculating on what it could mean for humanity.