“Singularity” is achieved when human and machine become united. This would become possible when a computer’s processing power is integrated with human intelligence, or when computers become so complex that they could think. An exponential growth in intelligence so that centuries of progress can be achieved in months could become possible when singularity is achieved. Singularity was recognized in the 1950s. John von Newman, a computer scientist, said that the “progress of technology” would lead to “singularity.” In the 1960s Irving John Good, a British mathematician, said that “the survival of man depends on the early construction of an ultra-intelligent machine.” Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist, said in the 1990s that “artificial intelligence is near.” In 2005 he said that “artificial intelligence is nearer.”
