MONDAY, JULY 20, 2020 -
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/
singularity
[ sing-gyuh-lar-i-tee ]
noun
a hypothesized future era or event when exponential improvements in computer intelligence and advances in technology will result in an acute change in human society and evolution.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF SINGULARITY?
Singularity comes from Middle English singularite, singulerite “solitude, solitary living; personal gain or advantage; individual or particular things; singleness of purpose,” from Old French singulerte, singulariteit “singular character or quality; peculiarity” or from Late Latin singulāritās (inflectional stem singulāritāt-) “a being alone or by oneself,” a derivative of the adjective singulāris “alone, alone of its kind, one by one, singular.” The computer or technological sense, “a hypothesized future in which exponential improvements in computer intelligence and technological advances result in an acute change in human society and evolution,” is closely associated with the computer scientist and science fiction author Vernor Vinge, who popularized this sense in his writings, most notably in his 1986 novel Marooned in Realtime, and later in an article titled “Technological Singularity” published in Whole Earth Review in 1993. Singularity entered English in the 14th century.
HOW IS SINGULARITY USED?
A lot of smart people are thinking about the singularity, when the machines grow advanced enough to make humanity obsolete. -MATT SIMON, "THE WIRED GUIDE TO ROBOTS," WIRED, APRIL 16, 2020
But fulfilling the wishes of a revered biological legacy will occupy only a trivial portion of the intellectual power that the Singularity will bring. -RAY KURZWEIL, THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR: WHEN HUMANS TRANSCEND BIOLOGY, 2005
oo00oo
This definition meant nothing to me and the following makes much more sense.
singularity -
https://www.bing.com/search?FORM=U523DF ... ingularity
[sɪŋɡjʊˈlarɪti]
NOUN
singularity (noun) · singularities (plural noun)
the state, fact, quality, or condition of being singular.
"he believed in the singularity of all cultures"
synonyms:
uniqueness · distinctiveness · difference · individuality · particularity
a peculiarity or odd trait.
"it is a singularity of the book that it contains such a wealth of illustrations"
synonyms:
idiosyncrasy · quirk · trait · foible · peculiarity · oddity · eccentricity · abnormality
physics mathematics
a point at which a function takes an infinite value, especially in space–time when matter is infinitely dense, such as at the centre of a black hole.
(the singularity)
a hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence and other technologies have become so advanced that humanity undergoes a dramatic and irreversible change.
"maybe the singularity just happened, and we didn't notice"
Origin
Middle English: from Old French singularite, from late Latin singularitas, from singularis ‘alone (of its kind)’ (see singular).