Changing kids what you said Bacchus brilliantly in his reply, the term refers to that moment or single point (of singular, hence the term Singularity) in history in which technology (focused on AI - artificial intelligence) would become so advanced that machines would have an infinite processing capacity and predictability, so that they would cease to be merely slaves based on instructions and would go on to make wider and limitless decisions, in a way that is superior and incomprehensible to human capacity.
In the cinema such situation was approached in a fictitious way in films like Matrix (1999), The Terminator of the Future (1984), A.I - Artificial Intelligence (2001), among others.
Some renowned scientists have predicted such an event decades ago. To name a few, such as the well-known mathematician Alan Turing:
In his 1951 article entitled Intelligent Machinery: A Heretical
Theory, Alan Turing wrote about machines that eventually
will surpass human intelligence:
"Once the machine’s method of thought has begun, no
It will take too long to overcome our weak powers. ... In any
moment, we must wait for the machines to take control,
manner that is mentioned in Samuel Butler’s Erewhon ".
Another famous American scientist, Vernor Vinge, introduced the term technological uniqueness in the January 1983 issue of Omni magazine specifically linked to the creation of intelligent machines:
"Soon we will create intelligences greater than ours. When that
happen, human history will reach a kind of uniqueness,
an intellectual transition as impenetrable as space-time tied
in the center of a black hole, and the world will pass far beyond our own
understanding. This uniqueness, I believe, already haunts several
science fiction writers. This makes extrapolation impossible
realistic for an interstellar future. To write a story of
more than a century, it takes a nuclear war between ... so that the
world remains intelligible".
Later, he further developed the concept in his essay The Coming Technological Singularity (1993):
"In thirty years, we will have the technological means to create
superhuman intelligence. Soon after, the human age will be ended.
[...] I think it is fair to call this event a singularity. It is a
point where our models must be discarded and a new reality
is valid. As we get closer and closer to this point, it will be
wider and broader on human affairs until the notion is
make it a common place. However, when it finally happens, yet
can be a great surprise and a greater unknown".
It is important to emphasize that, for Vinge, the singularity can occur in four ways:
- The development of computers that are "awake" and
superhumanly intelligent.
- Large computer networks (and their associated users) can
"waking up" as a super-humanly intelligent entity.
- The computer/human interfaces can become so intimate that the
users can reasonably be considered super-humanely
intelligent.
- Biological science can find ways to improve the intellect
natural human.
As the subject is broad and interesting, so as not to get too extensive, I finish the answer here. I hope it helped a little more in understanding.
I used as research source the site below, which still provides 17 definitions of the term relating their respective scientists:
https://www.singularityweblog.com/17-definitions-of-the-technological-singularity/
We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resisting is useless.
– Victor Stafusa
Johnny Depp made a film about it, in which he was the uniqueness
– Jefferson Quesado
@Jeffersonquesado You’ve seen the movies of the series Terminator?
– Victor Stafusa
@Victorstafusa my childhood was in the 90s, Terminator 2 was the movie my parents put to calm me xD
– Jefferson Quesado
I quoted from Johnny Depp because he’s new and he handles very interesting things. https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendence the movie
– Jefferson Quesado
@Jeffersonqueso excellent his quote from this film, this film is an adaptation of the book that best treats this theme "The Age of Spiritual Machines" of Kurzweil .
– Raul Nascimento