Many experts believe that artificial intelligence will reach a level of capability comparable to or exceeding human intelligence sometime this century, known as the singularity. While predictions for what this future will look like vary widely, some possibilities include robots surpassing humans and turning against their creators, humans merging with technology to achieve immortality or vastly extended lifespans, and an economy and rate of technological progress that grows at an unprecedented pace that outpaces human ability to adapt. There are also concerns that superintelligent robots may not prioritize environmental sustainability like humans do.

5. It's been the fodder for countless
dystopian movies: a singularity
in which artificial intelligence rivals human smarts.
But though it sounds like science fiction, many
computer scientists say the singularity will arrive some
time in the 21st century.
Still, few people agree on what that future will look like. Some
envision epic battles between robots and humans, while others
believe the rise of super-intelligent machines will usher in human

7. It's the nightmare that fueled "The Terminator" — the
possibility that robots could end up vying with humans
for dominance. Engineers are already
developing robotic pack mules and
soldiers, while drones have become a mainstay in the
war against terror. At least a few apocalyptic visionaries
see super-intelligent robots turning on their human
makers sometime next century. Still, many computer
scientists say this isn't the biggest of the singularity.

9. Many people, such as the futurist Ray Kurzweil, believe thathumans
won't have to die after the singularity. Some envision a future where
humans port their brain into computers, essentially living within the
machines. Others imagine cybernetic parts to replace cancerous limbs
and aging hearts, radically increasing longevity. Either way, death
could be transformed from an inevitable aspect of life to a relatively
rare occurrence.

11. Once machines can match human
intelligence, it will be a simple matter of
copying intelligent agent software, which is
capable of programming an artificial
mind, from one computer to the next to
create more workers for the economy.
Whereas the economy doubled every
thousand years after the agricultural
revolution, and every 15 years after the
industrial revolution, a post-singularity
economy could double every month, then
week, Hanson said. That
blistering pace
of economic growth could be so fast that
humans couldn't keep up.

13. Because robots don't need
air, water or food, they won't
fear destroying the
environment like mortals do.
As a result, some believe
there's a greater risk of superintelligent robots draining all
of Earth's natural
resources, said Robin
Hanson, an economist at
George Mason University in
Washington, D.C., who is
writing a book about the
singularity. The robot
revolution could worsen
already dire environmental

15. Cybernetic implants could also
mean much smarter, superpowered humans. Kurzweil, now a
director of engineering at
Google, envisions a world where
most people make use of
cybernetic implants to be
smarter, see farther and be
stronger. Of course, that
might make humans cyborgs, but
most people would be too busy
using their newly acquired

17. As robots get smarter, humans just won't be
able to keep up. While simpler tasks may be
outsourced to robots at first, by 2045
Kurzweil predicts that machines will be
billions of times smarter than unaugmented human beings. Robots have
already replaced factory workers, and selfdriving cars are just around the corner. Still
other computer-science technologies, such
as the ultrafast stock trading programs that
cause "flash crashes," are being developed
without considering how they could
damage people or put them out of
work, said Bill Hibbard, a computer scientist
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.