Technological Singularity: An Inevitable Nightmare or Putative Paranoia?
Ever since the publication of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, on the first day of January 1818, the fear that technological singularity would one day catch up with humankind has taken hold in the dark places of our subconscious thoughts. Motion pictures, such as Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, have also challenged us to ponder our human limitations at the prospect of technological hegemony.
Technological singularity is the proposition that technological advancement would someday reach an inevitable point where human intelligence would be transcended by artificial intelligence, and that the latter would take on a life of its own rendering us mortals obsolete.
It’s something that we collectively fear, being the self-absorbed and self-centered species that we are, and it is not unlike the fear we all share that there just might be a superior species out there in the universe, which would threaten our own superiority, here on earth.
Truth be told, mankind has “evolved” to the point where our own long-held and religiously-based sense of humility has been transformed into an exaggerated sense of self-esteem. Essentially, we have become the masters of our own destiny and nothing outside of ourselves can knock us off our high perches of superior thought…i.e. the pride that cometh before the fall (Proverbs 16:18).
Could it be that technology has, or soon will have, reached the point where we as humans can no longer control the evolution of hyper-intelligence?
Most all of us who have lived through the onset and acceleration of computer technology have all paused, at one point or another, to ponder whether or not we as individuals can keep up with the accelerated pace of technological improvement. For those of us of a certain age, we grudgingly marvel at the ease with which our progeny runs circles around our own ability to interact with smart phones, computers and even synchronization of our remote controls. With the advent of smart devices and virtual software agents, such as Alexis™, Echo Spot™, Siri™ and Google Assistant™, we become dependent on such technology to make our lives easier- but at what price?
More importantly, should the devices break down and become inoperative, will we remember how to do certain tasks without the assistance of these devices? It’s the same question that we might ask ourselves, “What to do when the Garmin™ or Tom-Tom™ breaks down- do we go back to reading maps?”
As much as we hate to admit it, given our all-too-human predilection towards excessive ego, we can very easily become slaves to the technology of our own invention. Hence, the inability to even drive a car once its governing technology of the power-train control module (PCM), consisting of the engine control unit (ECU) and the transmission control unit (TCU), goes on “the fritz.”
So, the thought of technological singularity may not be so far-fetched, as we would otherwise like to delude ourselves into thinking, and now that the “technological toothpaste” has exited the “tube,” how can we ever put it back into the “tube” and thus preserve our own pre-eminence in the world of intellect and thought?
Or maybe…just maybe…we drank too much coffee this morning from our automated coffee-maker, set in advance the night before.
Happy Sunday.
-Drew Nickell, 29 April 2018
© 2018 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.
author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”
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