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The Technological Singularity as the Emergence of a Collective Consciousness: An Anthropological Perspective

Resource type
Journal Article
Author/contributor
Title
The Technological Singularity as the Emergence of a Collective Consciousness: An Anthropological Perspective
Abstract
The technological singularity is popularly envisioned as a point in time when (a) an explosion of growth in artificial intelligence (AI) leads to machines becoming smarter than humans in every capacity, even gaining consciousness in the process; or (b) humans become so integrated with AI that we could no longer be called human in the traditional sense. This article argues that the technological singularity does not represent a point in time but a process in the ongoing construction of a collective consciousness. Innovations from the earliest graphic representations to the present reduced the time it took to transmit information, reducing the cognitive space between individuals. The steady pace of innovations ultimately led to the communications satellite, fast-tracking this collective consciousness. The development of AI in the late 1960s has been the latest innovation in this process, increasing the speed of information while allowing individuals to shape events as they happen.
Publication
Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
Volume
40
Issue
1-2
Pages
15-27
Date
02/2020
Journal Abbr
Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
Language
en
ISSN
0270-4676, 1552-4183
Short Title
The Technological Singularity as the Emergence of a Collective Consciousness
Accessed
3/7/25, 7:55 AM
Library Catalog
DOI.org (Crossref)
Citation
O’Lemmon, M. (2020). The Technological Singularity as the Emergence of a Collective Consciousness: An Anthropological Perspective. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 40(1–2), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0270467620981000