The Primitive Expounder

The Technological Singularity is the point where advances in technology converge to create a smarter-than-human intelligence. Precise definitions vary, but thinkers such as Vernor Vinge regard it is a case of “when” rather than “if” the Singularity occurs.

Because a lot of these ideas were first suggested back in the last century, (before humankind began to fast- forward through the gradually-unfolding history of progress, like someone impatiently zipping through a YouTube clip in search of the best bits) the pace of technological advancement was greatly underestimated, and hypothetical singularities were generally timetabled for 2050 or beyond (although Vinge notably suggested a time window of 2005 – 2030).

So does the Technological Singularity lie in the future or is it already upon us? Has humankind already created an all knowing super-intelligent being?

The answer could be: “Yes. The Internet”.

The Internet is a Giant Hive Mind.

The Internet is essentially a gigantic shared brain connecting all of humanity to all of the machines. The barriers to entry are getting lower and lower for humans and non-humans alike. Increasingly we access services that are always available using wearable computers that are always with us. People in the developed, and even developing, world are within arms reach of an Internet device 24 hours a day. Disturbingly, the Internet is beginning to look less like a tool to be used and more like a giant life form in its own right with opinions, emotions and memory.

…and the Hive Mind has Opinions

From the Arab Spring to the swift defeat of SOPA to the great Rick Rolling madness of 2007, the Internet is increasingly throwing up Memes that can only really be understood as being of the internet. Sociological needs are formed, bounced and amplified until finally the Internet speaks with one clear voice: “Libyans- rise up!”, “SOPA is bad and must be stopped!”, “Nevagonnagiveyuuu-up!”. In a very real sense the Internet is telling people what to do.

…as well as a Perfect Memory

The Internet will not allow us to forget or to be forgotten. With the EU drafting laws to hobble the Internet’s memory, this issue is shaping up to be one of the Internet’s first proper fights with humanity. Anything that finds its way onto the net (ie just about everything), will be there forever. The distributed and fail-over nature of the Internet means that data no longer ‘degrades’ in the same way that it used to. Take Wikipedia as an example- not only are there 26,097,157 pages, there is also an online record of every single version of every single page. Furthermore, on the very rare occasions when a human steps in to do a “hard delete” from Wikipedia, the ‘deleted’ information lives on through the Wayback Machine, and in the various mirrors created from complete Wikipedia backups that are downloaded for free by thousands of third parties every day. And thats before you even take into account services like Google and Facebook which are actively doing their level best to find out as much as they can about everything and then store that information forever.

…Oh and did we Notice That The Hive Mind is Developing Actual Intelligence?

The Internet is becoming quite smart. Whereas in the past it was more of a knowledge database, now it is developing an active intelligence. You no longer have to laboriously dig up, and sift through documents like you did in the old (3 years ago) days. You simply ask the Internet questions and get increasingly useful answers. Any sort of logical, data-related or mathematical question can be answered with total precision simply by typing it into the Internet- sums, currency conversion, weather, plane arrivals, etc. In the last year, the way in which question-answer sites work has been greatly improved. Quora, Stackexchange and others throw up good answers to relatively complex and abstract questions, without the questioner actually having to do any more work than simply asking the question. And even the process of asking questions has become easier with technologies such as the Google Prediction API magically suggesting search results to you before you’ve even finished telling Google what you are searching for.

But dont worry about feeling isolated because:

…The Hive Mind Speaks to you as an Individual

Scarily the Internet now speaks to you as an individual. In the manner of a close friend or a good salesman, it actually modifies its appearance, message and language to tailor a unique reality just for you, in order to pander to your confirmation bias. In this way the Internet gets you to engage with it, trust it, and do its bidding.

So… Singularity?

Given that humanity has already created a super-intelligent being, albeit one that will look like the class dunce in about 18 months once technology has advanced even further, what are the next steps? Indeed are there any steps left between where we are now and a technological singularity?