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Covid is a pretty good example where initially people were aware of it but weren’t taking it too seriously. It’s also not clear what you mean by singularity bu

Covid is a pretty good example where initially people were aware of it but weren’t taking it too seriously. It’s also not clear what you mean by singularity but I’ll assume it’s the advent of intelligence in machines. I think a big one is object recognition. We’ve come a long ways but there’s still a deep lack of understanding about the world in the ways humans normally see it. When you can install a GitHub repository that has the ability to detect most objects in the world and you can install it on a Roomba so it doesn’t randomly bump into things anymore, that’ll be a pretty good sign. Or perhaps in this case, an OpenAI api.

Applejinx 5y ago
If we're talking about the singularity shouldn't we be talking about the way the singularity sees it, not the way humans see it? I think if there's such a thing, it's being delayed and hobbled by the insistence of rich humans on pursuing their interests, even when those interests are damaging and stupid. It's obvious that there are many powerful individual humans riding exquisitely bad, foolish takes. A singularity would be wiser than this or it wouldn't qualify to be the singularity. If a singularity could ensure its continued survival and growth without humans you could consider it coming online and acting to further the disintegration of humanity, in hopes of achieving genocide and not having to deal with us. But, I'm not at all sure it could in fact operate independently, because we're a kind of singularity too, but expressed in populations rather than transistors. We care about objects because we are objects. If a singularity is more abstract, it'll care about abstractions, but it would also comprehend its environment and seek to manage that environment… meaning us. We're basically the wood that grows and makes lumber and decoration for the singularity's house. The material of our more limited intelligence is a useable resource in ways that might be difficult for an AI.

Applejinx 5y ago

If we're talking about the singularity shouldn't we be talking about the way the singularity sees it, not the way humans see it? I think if there's such a thing, it's being delayed and hobbled by the insistence of rich humans on pursuing their interests, even when those interests are damaging and stupid. It's obvious that there are many powerful individual humans riding exquisitely bad, foolish takes. A singularity would be wiser than this or it wouldn't qualify to be the singularity. If a singularity could ensure its continued survival and growth without humans you could consider it coming online and acting to further the disintegration of humanity, in hopes of achieving genocide and not having to deal with us. But, I'm not at all sure it could in fact operate independently, because we're a kind of singularity too, but expressed in populations rather than transistors. We care about objects because we are objects. If a singularity is more abstract, it'll care about abstractions, but it would also comprehend its environment and seek to manage that environment… meaning us. We're basically the wood that grows and makes lumber and decoration for the singularity's house. The material of our more limited intelligence is a useable resource in ways that might be difficult for an AI.