I learned about the singularity in 2013, a freshman in college. I remember thinking to myself about how my life would be in the 2030s. Now that we’re approaching it, it really does feel like a movie and someone handed me a preview of the script. I say this because I’ve know about the exponential trends of AI and no one around me seems to be aware of the massive amounts of change we’re about to experience whether good or bad.

I’m a believer that we need capitalism in order for us to continue in our current innovation. Competition is a great driving force for innovation. Will programmers want to work at a company if they aren’t paid appropriately? No. Until we reach a point where many of us are freed from labor, I think we need capitalism to incentivize others to perform the labor that will eventually lead us to a post scarcity, post work environment. I’m a trauma nurse and I don’t see a robot taking my job anytime soon. I don’t see a robot wiping my patients ass, changing the linens, inserting an IV, hanging primary and secondary tubing, etc in the near future. If I’m not paid appropriately I would not take the abuse of doctors, patients, coworkers, and family members. Capitalism helps to fill gaps in the workforce in our current economic state. It’s not perfect, but I view it as a necessary force for us to reach the singularity.

It actually does the reverse to me. It makes me not want to die even more hence why I’m much more aware of my surroundings now and the risks I expose myself to. But it just shows me the fragility of life. However, my job excites me about the singularity more. I’ve seen people on the brink of death recover intact. I’m hoping molecular and nano biology advances rapidly in the 20s and 30s.

I agree with some comments here. I’m a trauma ICU nurse. I have no clue if the singularity will come. There are so many branches to the future. I really do hope the singularity (a positive one for humanity) occurs and we live in some sort of utopia but hoping for it will get me nowhere. My field of work has let me see how short life really is. I deal with 20 something year olds often who die of traumatic brain injuries due to accidents that are not their fault. So I try to minimize my risk associated with any major injuries like riding motorcycles (by far one of the most common causes of death I see with patients), doing anything too strenuous, taking precautions like locking my car as soon as I get in the vehicle, watching to see if someone is following (not sure if you could tell but working in my field has affected me greatly mentally). But I digress, anyway, what I mean by all of this is even with all these precautions your life can end in an instant without warning. Try to enjoy it and live as though the singularity won’t occur. Go party, visit new restaurants, enjoy a movie/play/concert, save money for retirement, work on yourself financially, academically, professionally, because as of right now these seem to be working for the majority of us. Don’t waste your life on what ifs like the singularity. As long as you live safely, watch your health, and watch your finances, you should be good.

I made a similar post recently. I’m hoping 2023 is the year we really start to see AI in the mainstream. I think it’s interesting to see it slowly permeate through the internet. In 2021 I rarely saw anything related to AI on tiktok. But now every other post I see is about AI transforming someone into a character they prompt, or AI making a painting. So it’s interesting to me to see how a technology is slowly gaining its roots in popular media. Sort of like the iPhone. Initially, when the first iPhone came out, only a few people had it. Then it slowly became more popular, then better Wi-Fi/data services appeared and it became even more popular and now everyone has a smart phone.

Yes exactly, I work in the trauma ICU. Seeing so many people is really sad. What’s worse is seeing a brain dead patient’s family mourning over their loss. Their cries can be so loud. Death is a big deal. You lose so much when someone dies. First off, you lose your identity and awareness. Your family loses a loved one. Someone full of cherished memories and future plans. Someone with meaning to them. Death needs to be eradicated in my opinion at a persons own choice.

One argument that annoys the hell out of me is that death is “natural”. Yes, many organisms die, but we have immortal jellyfish. Their immortality (through metamorphosis) is just as natural as dying. Many times, I comment about the fantastic technological and medical advancements we see on YouTube and someone will comment about how we shouldn’t strive for living indefinitely because it’s not natural, I always comment back “Please do not use antibiotics, Tylenol, antivirals, don’t go to the hospital when you have a medical condition to help cure your disease. It’s natural right?”. They are the biggest hypocrites in the world. What I decide to do with my body is my own business, you cannot tell me what is right and wrong for me if I’m not hurting you or myself.

I have no clue! Hopefully it all comes asap and benefits all of us.

That’s fine.

I really am, but I live my life as if it won’t happen. Putting money in my retirement, saving money for emergency fund, living life and experiencing life because you never know when you might die. I work in trauma ICU as a nurse and I see so many young people die so I try to live my life in a way that satisfies me.

I always end the thought with, wow I sound crazy.

I agree with this. Seeing how well generative AI can produce vivid imagery and worlds is spectacular. I almost imagine future us will be capable of thinking of an environment and the AI produces said environment around us. Almost like when Wanda produces her Hex in Multiverse of Madness. So exciting! Just imagine with a flick of your wrist (just for show lol) you could change the entire landscape.

Behave as if the singularity won’t happen because there’s a chance it may never happen. Work, save money, grow your investments, build a retirement.

It’s pretty cool to think once the tech becomes more powerful and we start to obtain the use of BCI, we can enter worlds with just a phrase. Kind of like how the scarlet witch creates a hex with just a thought. I know that is years away but with the exponential progress of AI, I can hopefully see it in my lifetime.

It just reminds me of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. I could imagine us in the near future creating a “hex” just like Wanda did when she created an entire Apple orchard. Or even creating an entire city for that matter. Just some fun to think about.

I’ve known of the singularity since 2014, but joined the subreddit maybe 2016 but back then I didn’t really use Reddit. But as mobile platforms became widely more available in the last few years I’ve been using Reddit way more. It’s a daily site for me to check now. But I have waves of optimism filled with waves of pessimism. Sometimes when I scroll through YouTube looking up videos about technological progression, it saddens me to see people bringing up biblical bs like the singularity is the mark of the beast. Not that it affects me but as we have seen, a huge chunk of the US (where I live) is religious and will use their platforms to try to suppress technological progression. I.E. trying to convince people the vaccines are dangerous when it single handedly allowed us to escape the pandemic and I’m an ICU RN and seen firsthand how much death occurred from that virus during the pandemic. So I believe my biggest fear about technological progression is it’s own suppression by irrational individuals that try to create policies to suppress innovation. Don’t get me wrong, I am a strong advocate for safe technological use and research. However, to claim anything is demonic because they don’t understand technology is extremely annoying to me. I also find it quite annoying because as time moves on, I know the ones who are speaking out against our innovation will be the ones who use it in the future.