The Singularity is coming

Don't just stand there...

Image created with Midjourney V6

Setting up the board

Let’s start this conversation with a definition so that we are all on the same page as to what we are talking about. In this case, just for the fun of it, I asked ChatGPT-4 to define the term “Singularity” as used regarding artificial intelligence.

In artificial intelligence and its intersection with society, the term "Singularity" often emerges as a pivotal concept. At its core, the Singularity refers to a hypothetical future moment when artificial intelligence (AI) surpasses human intelligence in a comprehensive and profound way. This event is not just about a machine being more intelligent than a human in a specific task but about AI reaching a level where it can improve itself autonomously, leading to exponential growth in intelligence.

-GPT4 (based on work by a lot of humans, corrections by Grammarly)

The main takeaway from this definition is that AI reaches a point where it can improve itself, and as it does so, it grows in capability far faster than if it had to be developed by humans.

Playing by the rules

Now that we understand what we are talking about, let’s consider a simple question: How many software-writing AI demos have you seen this week alone? I have lost count of how many I’ve seen.

Everywhere you look, you find another video of a service or tool that can generate code. But that was easy.

We are now at the level where AI can write the code and review and correct it when it doesn’t work as expected. In these situations, it still asks for human users’ input on what is going wrong with the application being built.

While humans are still definitely in the loop, I just watched a person do in just over 12 minutes with the help of an AI what would have taken a pair of humans about two weeks to achieve in designing a website.

Let’s take another look at the definition of Singularity. “…AI reaching a level where it can improve itself autonomously, leading to exponential growth in intelligence.”

Consider that if the impact of being able to use an AI to help in website design is an increase of 240x in speed, the impact of using an AI to help design an improved version of an AI must also be significant, even if it is not directly proportional, due to the different nature of the software being created. Now, imagine if every person working on a project has their potential speed multiplied by, say… one hundred times.

A team with three people can now achieve results equivalent to three hundred.

When reality smacks you in the face

Multiplying many times, the productive capability of a professional is no longer a hypothetical scenario, whenever AI can be applied to software development or in other areas of digital creation.

You can stand around and wonder when real AI is going to come around, when we will achieve AGI, or if it is safe to use AI… All those are very interesting philosophical considerations. However, if you stand around too long, reality will smack you so hard that your head is going to spin.

For those of us trying to keep up with what is going on in the realm of AI development and application, it is already getting very hard to keep track of what is coming out. It is not only that there is new technology, new concepts and new applications that are coming out. It is also how people are making use of all these new possibilities to create new services and applications.

I can’t just stand by, can you?

With how fast all this evolution in technology is happening, we can’t just stand around and stare at it. I know, I know. It’s fascinating. However, if you just keep watching from afar, you are still going to get smacked in the face by reality.

I have been using AI-assisted tools every day, multiple times a day, since the start of 2023. This very same newsletter was created to reflect on the applications of these tools in all sorts of creative endeavors. I’ve used AI to help me translate a thriller. To write an e-book and translate it as well. I’ve used it to generate audio for podcasts and videos.

I’ve used AI to help make each issue of this newsletter better. By asking ChatGPT to criticize what I’d written, or by asking it to shift the tone of my text.

All of these applications are but a small piece of what is already possible at the start of 2024 and what will be possible before this year is over. I, for one, don’t intend to waste this opportunity. I will make use of every bit of technology that becomes available to create more, to create better, and to go beyond what used to be possible for a single human being. After all, AI offers the opportunity to multiply my capacity and my capabilities.

I don’t plan to regret unfulfilled possibilities in the future. Do you?