Anonymous asked:
how far away would you say we are from the singularity?
nationalmissiledefense answered:
ha you are humoring me. i have no idea when or if singularity will come and it depends on what you consider the singularity to be. whether or not technology will truly go “vertical” is almost a separate question from when it will become uncontrollable - because the latter is already here. the more immediate problem are the ramifications of our new capabilities in the current economic system. AI is centralized heavily within US capitalism and a very large amount of labor will soon be free. nobody is ready for this and i dont think anybody can really predict how the government is going to react. it could be heaven or it could be hell. i am an undergrad and the future isnt mine to decide
as an aside i have to say im gonna be very surprised if AGI really does show up- i get the sense that the entire world will be different by the time it does.
This is the sort of thing that makes me think “lol wait, this sounds like a plot point in some kind of sci-fi story.” There’s a reason we call it singularity theory, after all. And I mean, it doesn’t have to be as apocalyptic or sudden as people are afraid of – if anything, when you look at how quickly everything has changed so far, there seems to be less room for “infinite potential” than many seem to fear. But still, it would definitely feel really strange and unsettling to see something happen in your lifetime that was promised (and feared) by science fiction writers decades ago! It feels very different from seeing technology progress gradually over time.

















