RedViking
Nord of the South
Sam Altman has declared that the moment the AI industry has spent a decade anticipating has arrived.
“We’re now, like, in the singularity,” the OpenAI CEO said on the Relentless podcast, published on 25 July 2026. “This is the moment.” He expects it to be “incredible, hugely positive, awesome for the world”.
Elon Musk agreed on X: “We are in the Singularity.” Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis has been more careful, placing humanity at the “foothills”.
Prominent researchers are not persuaded. Asked whether he thinks we have arrived, UC Berkeley professor Stuart Russell told Forbes: “No, and nor does Altman”, noting that Altman’s own forecasts put the necessary capabilities years away. Computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy said: “Rapid progress is not itself the singularity.” ...
... Prof Benjamin Rosman accepts Sidley’s yardstick. But he does not accept the verdict. A Wits professor of computer science and applied mathematics and founding director of its Mind Institute, he was named to Time’s 100 most influential people in AI last year.
“The singularity often refers to a point at which AI systems can improve their own capabilities rapidly enough that technological progress becomes difficult to predict, understand or control,” Rosman said. “This is often referred to as recursive self-improvement. For that reason, passing the Turing test is not a particularly useful measure. A model can be convincing in conversation without being capable of driving recursive improvements in its own intelligence.”...
Continue reading here: https://techcentral.co.za/sa-experts-split-on-whether-the-singularity-has-begun/284446/
“We’re now, like, in the singularity,” the OpenAI CEO said on the Relentless podcast, published on 25 July 2026. “This is the moment.” He expects it to be “incredible, hugely positive, awesome for the world”.
Elon Musk agreed on X: “We are in the Singularity.” Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis has been more careful, placing humanity at the “foothills”.
Prominent researchers are not persuaded. Asked whether he thinks we have arrived, UC Berkeley professor Stuart Russell told Forbes: “No, and nor does Altman”, noting that Altman’s own forecasts put the necessary capabilities years away. Computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy said: “Rapid progress is not itself the singularity.” ...
... Prof Benjamin Rosman accepts Sidley’s yardstick. But he does not accept the verdict. A Wits professor of computer science and applied mathematics and founding director of its Mind Institute, he was named to Time’s 100 most influential people in AI last year.
“The singularity often refers to a point at which AI systems can improve their own capabilities rapidly enough that technological progress becomes difficult to predict, understand or control,” Rosman said. “This is often referred to as recursive self-improvement. For that reason, passing the Turing test is not a particularly useful measure. A model can be convincing in conversation without being capable of driving recursive improvements in its own intelligence.”...
Continue reading here: https://techcentral.co.za/sa-experts-split-on-whether-the-singularity-has-begun/284446/
