Years ago I had coffee with a friend who ran a startup. He had just turned 40. His father was ill, his back was sore, and he found himself overwhelmed by life. "Don't laugh at me," he said, "but I was counting on the singularity." My friend worked in technology; he'd seen the changes that faster microprocessors and networks had wrought. It wasn't that much of a step for him to believe that before he was beset by middle age, the intelligence of machines would exceed that of humans--a moment that futurists call the singularity.

Years ago I had coffee with a friend who ran a startup. He had just turned 40. His father was ill, his back was sore, and he found himself overwhelmed by life. "Don't laugh at me," he said, "but I was counting on the singularity." My friend worked in technology; he'd seen the changes that faster microprocessors and networks had wrought. It wasn't that much of a step for him to believe that before he was beset by middle age, the intelligence of machines would exceed that of humans--a moment that futurists call the singularity.

Years ago I had coffee with a friend who ran a startup. He had just turned 40. His father was ill, his back was sore, and he found himself overwhelmed by life. "Don't laugh at me," he said, "but I was counting on the singularity." My friend worked in technology; he'd seen the changes that faster microprocessors and networks had wrought.

By Shray Ambe This post was written as part of a class assignment from students who took a neuroethics course with Dr. Rommelfanger in Paris of Summer 2016. My name is Shray Ambe and I am a rising senior at Emory University. I am a Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major who is pursuing a career in the medical field. Outside of the classroom, I am involved in organizing the booth for Emory's Center for The Study of Human Health at the Atlanta Science Festival Expo every year and also enjoy volunteering at the Emory Autism Center and the Radiology Department at Emory University Hospital. At the 2016 Neuroethics Network in Paris, France, bioethicist and philosopher John Harris gave a lecture titled "How Smart Do We Want Machines to Be?" During his lecture, Harris discussed the potential impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and stated "it doesn't matter how smart they are; obviously the smarter the better."

Years ago I had coffee with a friend who ran a startup. He had just turned 40. His father was ill, his back was sore, and he found himself overwhelmed by life. "Don't laugh at me," he said, "but I was counting on the singularity." My friend worked in technology; he'd seen the changes that faster microprocessors and networks had wrought. It wasn't that much of a step for him to believe that before he was beset by middle age, the intelligence of machines would exceed that of humans--a moment that futurists call the singularity.