AI, The Singularity and the Future of Humanity

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Historically, social progress at scale has been driven by new perspectives and values that underpinned a totally new worldview. Scholars have recognised (since early last century) that this shift in the evolution in our consciousness has been developing for some time.

The historically observable co-evolution of human consciousness and society is the dominant force that shapes the future, despite the disruptive, and colonising narrative that presents technology as the only determinant of future possibility. It is unlikely that AI, Robotics, and Biotechnologies are the results of a new emergent level of human awareness. A new transformative evolution in human consciousness would be a transcendence of worldview, social issues, not more of the same.

The rapid rise, and worrying evangelical narrative of these technologies, together with their apparent accelerating development and deployment, and the growing inventory of adverse social impacts, may further fuel the evolution of human consciousness as it seeks a new level of awareness, and a new social order. A techno-futuristic vision that does not have humanity at the core of its narrative is doomed to fail.

The ‘Singularity’ is a technology vision of the future. Will we just accept the Singularity as our destiny, or will humanity map out its own journey?

Every day we wake to news from a troubled world. We are so consumed just getting through each day, against a backdrop of wars, cyber-attacks, political strife, economic insecurity… that we have no collective vision for the future, at least not one that has any kind of soul.

Daily we read about technology advances which against the dust and noise of life seem to act as a beacon of, at times excitement, and uncertainty.

Technology’s developments and vision are feeding into a narrative of technology’s inevitability. And, indifferent to the apparent chaos that forms the backdrop to our lives, it forges its own vision of the future.

The ‘Singularity’ is technology’s futuristic vision. For many technology zealots it is the Holy Grail.