Singularitarianism: Fundamentals and Applications

By Fouad Sabry

What Is Singularitarianism

A view that a technological singularity, or the emergence of a superintelligence, would most likely occur in the medium future and that intentional action ought to be made to ensure that the singularity benefits mankind defines the singularitarianism movement. Singularitarianism is a movement that can be described by this belief.

How You Will Benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Singularitarianism

Chapter 2: Ray Kurzweil

Chapter 3: Technological singularity

Chapter 4: Artificial general intelligence

Chapter 5: Superintelligence

Chapter 6: Mind uploading

Chapter 7: Friendly artificial intelligence

Chapter 8: AI takeover

Chapter 9: Accelerating change

Chapter 10: Existential risk from artificial general intelligence

(II) Answering the public top questions about singularitarianism.

(III) Real world examples for the usage of singularitarianism in many fields.

(IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of singularitarianism' technologies.

Who This Book Is For

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of singularitarianism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jul 2, 2023

Book preview

Chapter 1: Singularitarianism

Singularitarianism is a philosophical movement based on the expectation that a technological singularity, or the development of superintelligence, will occur within the next few decades.

A Singularitarian is one who believes the concept of a Singularity, as defined by Extropian thinker Mark Plus (Mark Potts) in 1991. One who works to hasten the arrival of the singularity is now known by the term Singularity activist or friend of the Singularity..

Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit contains one of the earliest articulations of the singularitarian view that history is advancing toward a point of superhuman intelligence. He proposed four potential pathways by which the singularity could occur and thereby pose an existential threat to humanity:

The creation of artificial intelligences that are both aware and far more advanced than humans.

It's possible that one day, a massive network of computers (and the people who use them) will wake up as an artificially intelligent being.

A close enough relationship between computers and humans could lead to the assumption that their users are extraordinarily bright.

The field of biology may help us find ways to enhance our innate intelligence.

For the purpose of developing self-improving Friendly AI, Yudkowsky established the Machine Intelligence Research Institute in June 2000 with the help of Internet businesspeople Brian Atkins and Sabine Atkins. MIRI's writings support the hypothesis that self-improving artificial intelligence (Seed AI) would quickly progress to superintelligence. To these Singularitarians, the best way to reduce overall existential risk is to get to the singularity as soon and as safely as possible.

Some people think we can reach technological singularity without embracing the ethics of Singularitarianism. Although precise counts are impossible, transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom is a part of the small but growing Singularitarianism movement. With his 2005 book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil popularized Singularitarianism and his prediction that the Singularity will occur around 2045.

So, please explain the Singularity to me. It's a hypothetical time in the future when technological advancements happen so quickly and have such a profound effect that they fundamentally alter human existence. This era is neither utopian nor dystopian, but it will change the fundamental ideas that we use to make sense of everything from business models to the human life cycle (including death). As we come to terms with the Singularity, our understanding of the past and its significance will shift. Understanding it profoundly alters one's perspective on the world and on one's own life. A singularitarian is someone who, like me, has thought deeply about what the Singularity means for their own lives.

Opening in June 2009 at the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, the Singularity University aims to prepare the next generation of leaders to address the challenges of accelerating change with the help of NASA, Google, and a wide range of technology forecasters and technocapitalists.

The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) hosted a conference in July 2009, where many prominent Singularitarians spoke about the possible consequences of artificial intelligence and the rise of self-aware machines. They talked about the potential for computers and robots to develop some degree of autonomy, and the extent to which they might use that autonomy to cause harm (i.e., cybernetic revolt). They pointed out that some machines have developed partial autonomy, such as the ability to seek out their own fuel and decide for themselves which targets to use their weapons on. Some computer viruses, they warned, have developed cockroach intelligence and can thwart attempts to eradicate them. They argued that while full self-awareness a la science fiction is unlikely, there are other risks and traps to watch out for.

Many people, including some A.I. professionals who are generally optimistic, have voiced concerns about Kurzweil's singularitarianism. Among those who have criticized Kurzweil's claim that we will have human-level artificial intelligence by 2045 is Pulitzer Prize–winning author Douglas Hofstadter. John Horgan, a science journalist, shed further light on this concept when he compared singularitarianism to a religion:

Truth be told.

Singularity is more of a holy grail than a scientific goal.

The science-fiction writer Ken MacLeod has dubbed it the rapture for nerds, an allusion to the end-time, When Jesus takes his followers to heaven and we sinners are left behind.

Such a desire to go beyond, whether religious or scientific, is completely comprehensible.

Collectively and separately as individuals, Our problems are fatally serious, including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, overpopulation, poverty, famine, environmental degradation, climate change, resource depletion, and AIDS.

The world's problems require the expertise of engineers and scientists to solve, instead of distracting yourself with fictional, theories like the singularity are examples of pseudoscience.

In response, Kurzweil claims that the exponential growth of computing technology in the past is the basis for his predictions of the singularity.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Ray Kurzweil

Raymond Kurzweil (/ˈkɜːrzwaɪl/ KURZ-wyle; being a February 12th baby, US-born computer scientist born in 1948, author, inventor, and futurist.

The fields of optical character recognition and related ones have him involved (OCR), computer-generated speech systems, Recognition of Spoken Words, and digital pianos and other keyboards.

He's published some books on health, Intelligent machines (AI), transhumanism, The Singularity in Technology, and futurism.

Kurzweil is a prominent figure in the futurist and transhumanist communities, frequently speaking to the public about his optimistic outlook on the future of nanotechnology and life extension methods, robotics, and biotechnology.

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was awarded to Kurzweil in 1999, award in technology in the United States, from President Bill Clinton in a formal ceremony held at the White House.

He was the recipient of the $500 000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for 2001.

In 2001, he was recognized for his efforts to advance technology that facilitates interaction between humans and machines by being inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame included him in its ranks in 2002, created by the United States.

Patent Office.

He has been awarded 21 doctorates of honor, honors from three different American institutions.

presidents.

PBS named Kurzweil, along with 15 other revolutionaries who made America, for helping shape the nation's history over the past two centuries.

Inc.

ranking in the magazine No.

He was ranked #8 on the list of most fascinating American businesspeople, and he was dubbed Edison's rightful heir..

It was in Queens, New York, that Kurzweil spent his formative years. Kingsbury PS188, a public elementary school in New York City, was his alma mater. His parents were secular Jews from Austria who fled the country before the Nazi invasion. Through his upbringing in Unitarian Universalism, he was exposed to many different faiths. Fredric's dad was a famous pianist, conductor, and music teacher. Hannah, his mother, was an artist. His only sibling is an older sister named Enid.

At age five, Kurzweil knew that he wanted to make a living by creating new things. as if the home was a constant source of futurist and technological discourse.

In high school, Kurzweil studied at Martin Van Buren. He was notorious for holding on to textbooks during class as if he were actively participating, when in reality he was working on his own projects discreetly behind the cover. Young Kurzweil was introduced to computer science by his uncle, a Bell Labs engineer.

Kurzweil had written to Marvin Minsky when he was a high school student and accepted Minsky's invitation to visit him at MIT. Also, at Cornell, Kurzweil paid a visit to Frank Rosenblatt.

In 1970, he graduated from MIT with a bachelor's degree in both literature and computer science. He decided to follow