Ever since reading Ray Kurzweil’s books, I’ve thought about what will happen when we finally reach the technological singularity. There are many of us who believe in “the singularity” or the point in time where we can no longer predict what the future will hold for humanity.
Most believers view this as the point in time when we will encounter superhuman intelligence – a merger between human and machine intelligence. Artificial intelligence (AI) with tech like Google Home is now commonplace, but by the time the singularity occurs, which is predicted by Kurzweil to be 2045, superintelligence will be much more common.
I wrote about the singularity in my article, “Too Late for the Singularity,” where I speculated that I might be too old, i.e. too late, to take advantage of life extending technologies. The year 2045 is only 27 years from now, so I’m expecting to experience some extraordinary technology in the meantime.
We all understand the idea of exponential growth in technology. Kurzweil predicts a gradual ascent to the singularity through a series of paradigm shifts brought on by technological growth. Others believe the singularity will occur quickly with technological advances becoming so commonplace, that it’s barely noticeable!
Whether it comes in quickly or slowly, do we really think the singularity will just happen, and nobody will resist it?
My theory is that a large portion of humanity will accept advanced technological changes, and they may evolve into something we may not recognize as human. But, I also believe a significant portion of humanity will resist change, and they will remain as a recognizable human community.
I call my theory “Humanity’s Resistance to Change,” or HRC. I wanted to see what would happen if I included the HRC factor in a simple exponential growth formula. A simple formula for exponential growth is f(x)=xa, where a > 1.
When we include the HRC factor, as shown in the chart below, where the letter “h” represents HRC in an exponential rate of change formula, f(x)=xa/h, the larger the “h” becomes, the more horizontal the line becomes, and the greater the deviation from the exponential growth of technology.
In his book, “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology,” Kurzweil mentions that humanity may resist technological change, but I believe it will be more profound than he expects. My theory shows Humanity’s Resistance to Change and a slowing of the growth of technology as it relates to human beings.
Click on the link below to test the exponential growth formula on your own:
https://www.desmos.com/calculator/d7dnmu5cuq.
Although we can assume that humans will benefit from advances in genetics, nanotechnology, robotics, and computing and artificial intelligence technologies after the singularity, we will still eat, breath and interact as humans do now.
We may scrub genetic diseases from our genome, communicate entire concepts with one word, and have access to additional memory and computational resources at a thought, but we will still think and act like humans. We will feel emotions, hunger and pain. And, we will still feel love and have children.
That’s really the point of this article. I think humans will resist change and will resist becoming non-human. I believe the HRC factor will likely be high as we approach the singularity and it will likely inhibit the growth of technology that humans incorporate into their bodies and minds.
It’s scary to think about the singularity and what will happen. But, I’m positive about the future. Technology and artificial intelligence will be guided by humans, and as long as we have great minds working on it, resisting it where needed, and advancing it for the good of mankind, we’ll continue on as humans, existing and evolving!