The Singularity.

For any of my friends or acquaintances who have held a brief conversation with me over the past year, I may or may not have brought up the idea of the Singularity and its possible implications on the present and future timeline. For about a year, I've let it dictate my decision making in terms of pursuing a higher level of academics and definite career change. Some may have considered my views as a little off tangent and kinda loopy but with this post I'll attempt to clarify my views and explain why I'm so interested in it - and possibly why you should be interested in it too.

So, first of all, what is The Singularity (shortened form of the "Technological Singularity")? Wikipedia defines it as "a theoretical moment in time when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence that will 'radically change human civilization, and perhaps even human nature itself.'" Fair enough, but that sounds a little science fiction like, so I wouldn't be surprised if anyone reading the definition for the first time displayed some scepticism on the term. I was too until I discovered the idea was supported by credible and accomplished western academics, scientists, engineers like Verner Vinge, Ray Kurzweil, and Eric Drexler among countless others. As well, multinational technology corporations such as Google, Cisco, and Genentech also support the movement via direct sponsorship to the Singularity University. Google being the largest corporation to spend a hefty sum of it's Research and Development towards Singularity related paradigms such genetic engineering technologies to defeat ageing and death (Calico), automated driving cars (Google X Labs), and advanced cognitive computing (NASA and Google Quantum AI computing lab).

Second, we can all agree that the computing power is ever increasing and the cost for that power is decreasing at a linear rate. The graph below clearly depicts the increasing rate of transistor capacity as dictated by Moore's Law

As we reach petaflops and exaflops of computing within the next decade or two, the engineering community will find greater purposes for these super powerful computers. Those purposes may include advancing technologies in (but not limited to) genome sequence research, intelligent device manufacturing, and machine learning (or artificial intelligence). The area of machine learning is controversial but important nonetheless to any one whose main faculty is computer science, as it is considered the holy grail of computer science on a global scale. In a nutshell, as we continue to evolve technology we are getting stronger, faster computers, for the cheap and we are finding good uses for them for the benefit of humanity. The primary benefit being development of artificial intelligence and robotics, which is what the Singularity suggests will be the ultimate outcome of man - the merger between man and machine.

Lastly, and I will keep this one short as it is purely personal. Discovering and appreciating the possible benefits of the accelerated advancement of technology towards the Singularity gave me hope for humanity and my family. When my mom suffered a heart attack last year and stroke that left her paralysed I was desperate for an answer to save her somehow. I placed it upon myself to focus all my efforts, my gifts blessed from the Father, towards electrical and biomedical engineering. I convinced myself that this was my purpose; acquiring engineering knowledge and combining that with a personal agenda to save my mom, to save humanity, was my defining goal in life. And so I continue to this day, reading and learning about the advances of medical science and electrical and computer engineering; as well as upgrading my scientific and engineering knowledge and skill set to save mom and prepare myself for the coming brave new world; the Singularity is near and it will come in one form or another whether you like it or not.