51吃瓜

The term 鈥溾�� refers to the point at which AI surpasses human intelligence and begins to improve itself faster than humans can understand or control. Once that threshold has been crossed, technological change can become unpredictable. In June 2023, a by The New York Times argued that Silicon Valley was confronted with the idea that the Singularity had already arrived. Meanwhile, in January 2026, Elon Musk on X that we have entered it and that 鈥�2026 is the year of Singularity.鈥� Shortly after, on February 12, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, that we don鈥檛 know if the AI models are conscious.

Is, thus, the most decisive moment in the history of humankind, materializing before our eyes? It would seem so.

What really matters, however, is the gigantic gap that will begin taking place once the Singularity arrives. Locked in its biological prison, human intelligence will remain static at the point where it was surpassed, while AI will continue to advance at an exponential pace. 

The most decisive moment in the history of humanity

This pace is reminiscent of the emblematic of the grain of wheat and the chessboard, set in India. As the story goes, if we place one grain of wheat in the first box of the chessboard, two in the second, four in the third and the number of grains keeps doubling until reaching box number 64, the total amount of virtual grains on the board would exceed 18 trillion. The same will happen with the advance of AI.聽

The initial doublings, of course, will be impactful but not mind-blowing. Two to four, or four to eight, can be easily absorbed by the human mind. However, as well-known futurist Ray Kurzweil in 2005, the moment of transcendence should arrive 15 years after the Singularity itself. At that point, the explosion of non-human intelligence would have become truly staggering. However, that will be only the beginning.聽

As Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari , the two main attributes that separate homo sapiens from other animal species are intelligence and the stream of consciousness. While the first has allowed humans to take control of the planet, the second gives their lives meaning. Flow of consciousness translates into a subtle interweave of memories, experiences, sensations, sensitivities and aspirations.聽

According to Harari, though, human intelligence would become absolutely negligible when compared to the levels that AI can reach, whereas the stream of consciousness will become a manifestation of capital irrelevance in the face of algorithms able to penetrate the confines of the universe. Not in vain, in his terms, human beings will be to AI the equivalent of what chickens are to humans.

Transformational stages

Periodically, humanity goes through transformational stages that shake everything on its path. During these, values, beliefs and certainties are eroded to their core and replaced by emerging ones. In the case of Western Civilization, there have been three major periods of this kind in the last 600 years 鈥� the Renaissance, which took place in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Modernism that began at the end of the 19th century and reached its peak in the mid-20th century. 

The is understood as a broad-spectrum movement that led to a new conception of the human being, transforming it in the measure of all things. It represented, meanwhile, a major leap in scientific matters, in which, on top of great advances in multiple areas, the Earth ceased to be seen as the center of the universe.

The , on its part, placed reason at the center of everything. This was not only in the understanding of nature and society, but also as a conveyor of political legitimacy and a source of liberal ideals such as freedom, progress and tolerance. It was, concurrently, a period during which the notion of harmony was projected in all directions, including the understanding of the universe. During the Enlightenment, the scientific method began to be supported by verification and evidence. The Enlightenment represented a new milestone in the self-gratifying vision that humans had of themselves.

, understood as a movement of movements, led to an overturning of prevailing paradigms in almost all areas of existence. Among its numerous expressions were abstract art in its various forms: stream-of-consciousness literature, psychoanalysis, musical atonality and the theater of the absurd. Reason and harmony, as a result, were turned upside down at every step.

Following its own dynamic, but feeding back the above-mentioned process, science toppled the pillars of certainty. This included the harmonious universe built by English polymath Isaac Newton during the Enlightenment. The notions of time and space lost all their meaning under the theory of Relativity, while, going even further, made the universe a place dominated by randomness. Unlike the previous two major periods of change, this one eroded the self-gratifying vision humans had of themselves to the bones.聽

The Renaissance, the Enlightenment and Modernism unleashed and symbolized new ways of perceiving human nature and its surrounding universe. Each of them confronted humanity with new levels of consciousness (including the notion of the subconscious during Modernism). Through them, humans could feel more or less valued, more or less secure with respect to their own condition and to their position in relation to the universe.

However, a fundamental element remained unchanged: Humans were always the ones who studied themselves and their surroundings. Even as their nature and motives were questioned, their centrality to the planet was never challenged. As it had been since the Renaissance, humans were the measure of all Earthly things. 

The countdown towards the end

Singularity, however, is called to destroy that human centrality in a radical and irreversible way. As a result, human beings will not only confront their obsolescence and irrelevance, but will embark on the path towards becoming the equals of chickens. Everything previously experienced in the march of human history will dramatically pale by comparison.

We are, thus, within the countdown towards henhouse grounds. Or worse still, within the run-up towards the destruction of humankind itself. This is what , one of the greatest scientists of our time, envisaged as a result of the advent of the AI era. This is also what hundreds of top-level scientists and CEOs of high-tech companies expressed in May 2023, when they an open letter warning about the risk to human subsistence posed by uncontrolled AI. For them, such risk was on par with those of a nuclear war or a devastating human pandemic. Furthermore, at a 鈥渟ummit鈥� of bosses from large corporations, held at Yale University in mid-June 2023, believed that AI could destroy humanity in five to ten years鈥� time.

Cofounder of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, the danger involved in the following terms:

There are some people in the field 鈥� who say: 鈥淟ook, we program these AI models 鈥� We just tell them to follow human instructions, and they鈥檒l follow human instructions鈥� 鈥� And the other intuition is 鈥� They鈥檙e a new species. How can you imagine that they鈥檙e not going to take over? My intuition is somewhere in the middle 鈥� They鈥檙e more like growing a biological organism 鈥� AI systems are unpredictable and difficult to control.

The Doomsday Clock

In the short- to medium-term, and at the cost of massive unemployment, AI will spur gigantic advances in multiple fields. Inevitably, though, at some point in time, this superior intelligence may want to take control and pursue its own ends. If so (more so when), humanity would be doomed.

Unfortunately, a market-driven approach with regard to AI prevails in the US. The federal government, seeking to surpass China in AI development, has given a free pass to AI companies that, in turn, try to outrun one another amid what former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and political scientist Graham Allison called a 鈥�.鈥�

In this race to the top, there is neither time nor inclination to consider the consequences. Moreover, competing AI companies want to ensure that Congress doesn鈥檛 slow them down through regulation. To this end, they have amassed a war chest to influence the November midterm elections by ousting critics.

If something characterizes our historical period, it is the lack of instinct of self-preservation by humans. If nuclear war or climate change fails to get rid of the human species, AI will probably do it. The Singularity represents a major step in that direction. Not surprisingly, the has never shown such a short time to the midnight of humankind 鈥� just 85 seconds.

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The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.