Revisiting Vernor Vinge's 1993 essay: superhuman intelligence within 30 years ends the human era
khademinori · x · 2026-08-18
A classic 1993 essay by Vernor Vinge (NASA VISION-21 Symposium) resurfaces: within 30 years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence, and shortly after, the human era will end. He outlines several paths — superhumanly intelligent "awake" computers, and large computer networks (with their users) waking up as a superhumanly intelligent entity — and asks whether the transition can be avoided or guided so humanity survives. One of the most influential origin texts of the Singularity concept.
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