The AI Singularity. Will We Recognize It When It’s Here?
By: Anthony Bontrager, Managing Director, WestRiver Group
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
- Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park (1993).
The idea of an AI singularity has intrigued scientists for decades - painting a picture of a future where artificial intelligence surpasses that of humans and ushers in a new era of transformative technological advancements. And in the process, creating arguably one of the most powerful forces humanity has ever seen.
While prevailing wisdom suggests that we are not there yet, I think the bigger question we need to ask ourselves is “will we even recognize it when it comes?” The answer to that question, in my opinion, is a resounding no. The singularity will not be heralded by some momentous event or a sudden leap in intelligence propelling us into a new era. No Tony Stark Arc Reactor or Doc Brown Flux Capacitor for us. The more likely scenario is that it manifests itself as a gradual transformation of society, unfolding around us, unnoticed and underappreciated, and quietly reshaping our world.
You see, AI systems do not exist in isolation; they interact with each other and with human intelligence, creating a symbiotic relationship where each component reinforces and compliments the other, thereby leading to a transformative shift in overall intelligence. Voice assistants and personalized shopping recommendations are great examples. In each instance, we have integrated AI technologies into our daily lives, relying on them for assistance, decision-making, and information retrieval; and in the process blurring the line between human and machine intelligence.
And that’s just personal assistants which have been around for years. Now we are awash in ever accelerating technologies from large language models (LLMs) and Generative AI to autonomous automobiles, natural language processing (NLP), neural networks and a host of others. This continued “AI augmentation”, is expanding our collective intelligence beyond what was solely thought to be human.
Generative AI and large language models are just the latest trend; but their potency is demonstrated by rapid, successive, step-function advancements; something other technologies have been unable to achieve. The power that Generative AI has to expand our access to vast amounts of knowledge, harness powerful computational abilities and extend our own problem-solving capacity cannot be understated. Why else would large corporations such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, not to mention the VC industry (yes, including yours truly), pour billions into companies barely 2 years old over the past 12 months alone? It’s because both the disruption and value creation it represents will be something we’ve never witnessed before. The fact that it is coming on the heels of the Great Reset is just icing on the cake.
The point here is that the frenetic pace of all of this has made it difficult for us to observe the present, and ask ourselves "where are we really" in our search for the singularity? Is it already here? And if not, how do we put in place the proper safeguards against unintended consequences, biases, and misuse while we still have time. Taking heed of these ethical considerations is crucial to prevent harm to society at large especially since the transformative impact on society will be discrete at best.
The demarcation line between humanity today and the singularity of tomorrow is getting closer and yet harder to see at the same time. While we cannot conclusively determine if the AI singularity has already arrived (or not); considering alternative viewpoints as to its development stimulates critical thinking, fuels ongoing research, and is necessary to guide thoughtful and responsible AI development.
The alternative is the singularity coming upon us silently while we’re still, in our minds, racing to reach it - becoming in essence, the tail trying to wag the dog…
It will be here before we know it.
