Emergence Of The Era Of “Surpassing Human Intelligence” [Does Singularity Really Beckon?]

We live in an era where there is no limit to the advancements in technology. That is why we have seen amazing inventions technologically, that was not thought to be possible some decades ago. One of the major advances we have seen is in the field of “Artificial Intelligence”. This term is actually not a new term, except to the uninitiated. At least, it has been around for over 6 decades since it was coined by John McCarthy in 1955. And since then, AI has been evolving astronomically, and one of the evolutions we would consider is the emergence of “Technological Singularity”.

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Before now, the term “technological singularity” has been considered a science fiction because of the unfathomable proposition of bringing AI to “life”. And not only that, people have thought that it would be almost impossible for a complete merger of biology and technology. But this era has proven that this is a possibility already set to happen.

Before I continue, I would love to present to some; and reiterate to others; one of the predictions of Google’s Director of Engineering; Ray Kurzweil. This man has had 147 predictions, with about 126 of them coming to pass. That about 86% accuracy rate (which is statistically relevant). He said:

In the year 2029, artificial intelligence will surpass a credible Turing test and will attain the human-level of intelligence. – Ray Kurzueil. “Source” [paraphrased by me] 

From this prediction, you can infer that the level of human intelligence, which has distinguished humankind from other creatures, is about to be simulated by machines. But that is not all; another prediction has come from the same man; in the area of singularity.

In the year 2045, human intelligence would be merged by the intelligence they have created to boost the level of intelligence with over 1billion times. – Ray Kurzweil. “Source” [paraphrased by me]

Now, that is talking about the singularity. But he is not the only proponent of singularity. Elon Musk (CEO; Tesla and SpaceX) had a similar prediction of singularity in the year 2045.

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Would machines take over?

There has been a debate about the replacement of humanity with machines. But believe me, machines are already taking over.

During our last night’s group chat at SteemStem, a particular remark was quipped by @anarchyhasnogods and it reiterated what has been long predicated by peter Diamandis (a major proponent of Singularity)

“… Either humans are a system, which can be replaced, or they are gods, there is no in-between” – @anarchyhasnogods  

And since we are all aware that humans are not gods, at least scientifically, then the first option suffices the most. That means, it is theoretically possible to replicate and simulate every part and functionality of the human biological components.

In line with these waves of technological advancements, we have seen complexities incorporated in humanoid robots. What more can I say? We have seen the robot that sweats, robot that dreams, and even robots with facial expressions; of which Sophia is a practical example.

But the future could open up to the possibilities of having robots with full autonomous consciousness (void of human alliances). And believe me, the world is moving towards achieving that.

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A particular comment was made by one of the foremost and renowned physicists; Stephen Hawkings; in relations to the replacement of AI by humans (though scary, but I’ll still have to let us know about it). He said:

The development of AI would pose much threat to the evolution of humankind, that the only chance of survival could be our reliance to our abilities to be interplanetary species. – Stephen hawkings. “Source” [paraphrased by me] 

That means, machines (including cybernetics humans) have been proposed to take over the superiority and supremacy of the organic humans. Now, to say that machines would merge with humans; is just looking at the fair side of it. But on the flip side, the machines could one day replace humankind (organic humans).

Emergence of a new form of life

We are all aware that the organic humans evolved over some billions of years ago from prokaryotes; and that can be seen as the common ancestry of all living things, but technology is set to create another life form, but this time, from AI.

According to Bill Gates (CEO; Microsoft)

The emergence of advanced Artificial Intelligence would potentially lead to the demise of humankind. – Bill Gates [paraphrased by me]

Permit me to say that, what is proposed to be replaced here is the un-augmented organic human. And if humankind would be going into “oblivion”; a new life form would have to be formed, and that would be an “intelligence life form”. That would be said to be the brink of Singularity.

Conclusion

The fact; according to systematic reviews of the current technological advancements; is that humankind could be in the last days of existence as fully un-augmented biological entities.

Singularity beckons, and in my own opinion, we should brace up for impact.

Thanks for reading

References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5

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