Singularity

In looking towards the future of technology, Singularity University as well as the work associated, has been increasingly featured in the media. But what is Singularity University? Is it actually a place? Who goes there? Not students surely. The following is a brief introduction to Singularity University as well as the topics they seek to explore.

" With the support of a broad range of leaders in academia, business and government, SU hopes to stimulate groundbreaking, disruptive thinking and solutions aimed at solving some of the planet’s most pressing challenges. SU is based at the NASA Ames campus in Silicon Valley." Taken directly from the "About" page from Singularity University, it seems like a pretty straight forward answer. On the "Faculty and Advisors" page are quite a few notable names including, Neil Jacobstein – Media X Program, Stanford University and Dan Barry, MD, PhD – 3-time NASA astronaut as the chairs of the University.

And there are indeed classes, as the website depicts showing students learning and gathered in small classrooms. The website states that the ideal student at SU is a future world leader, having a strong grasp of a multitude of topics as well as fluency of English, the language that SU courses are taught.

So now that we know who they are, what does Singularity mean? According to the SU website, Singularity "has been used to refer to a future time of rapid and accelerating development of various sciences and technologies including biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics and genetics." I am not sure about you, but this sounds a bit like the Matrix to me. But maybe there is more to it than that.

What is terrifying is that these are the people who know what is really going on better than any of us. If anyone knows how much trouble the world is in, it is likely this group of extremely intelligent, educated individuals. And here they are, dead set on doing what? Creating false humans, robots to live a safe life. I don't mean to get paranoid, but it seems that we should be worried.

An important note is that the attendance of SU is costly. Students pay anywhere from 15 - 25k for up to nine weeks of training. There are currently no scholarships available for selected students. It would seem to me that the people running this program would have more than enough money to pay for the housing and training of the highly selective group of students entering the program. Then again, just like any higher education in the United States, just because someone may be able to provide free tuition, it is no guarantee a waiver will be offered.

Although the SU website is seemingly transparent, it is clear there is an awful lot we do not know and that is possibly above most of our technological understanding. And that is okay with me. For now.