The Singularity Summit 2007

The Singularity Summit 2007

The Singularity Summit

The Symbolic Systems Program and CSLI are pleased to host the Singularity Summit at Stanford, a rare gathering of thinkers to explore the rising impact of science and technology on society. The summit has been organized to further the understanding of a controversial idea – the singularity scenario.

Summit Speakers

Message from Ray Kurzweil

The coming merger of human and machine intelligence will mark the next stage in the evolution of life. Based on models of technology development that I've used to forecast technological change successfully for more than 25 years, I believe computers will pass the Turing Test by 2029, and by the 2040s our civilization will be billions of times more intelligent. The implications for all aspects of human existence of this "singularity" are profound; but until now, few have begun to consider what may be the most important event in their lifetimes. I'm pleased to invite you to an exploration of the future awaiting us.

What's your question ?

Would you like to participate as more than an audience member? A selection of questions submitted will be answered at the summit. You can address your question generally or to a specific participant. Let us know what you want answered and whether we may use your name.

What Others Have Said

If you invent a breakthrough in artificial intelligence, so machines can learn, that is worth 10 Microsofts.

— Bill Gates

What is the singularity ?

For over a hundred thousand years, the evolved human brain has held a privileged place in the expanse of cognition. Within this century, science may move humanity beyond its boundary of intelligence. This possibility, the singularity, may be a critical event in history, and deserves thoughtful consideration. More

Is the Singularity Near?

Ray KurzweilWith his new book, The Singularity Is Near, Ray Kurzweil has taken all the strands of the singularity meme circulating in the last decades and has united them into a single tome which he has nailed on our front door. I suspect this will be one of the most cited books of the decade. Like Paul Ehrlich's upsetting 1972 book Population Bomb, fan or foe, it's the wave at the epicenter you have to start with.

— Kevin Kelly
Senior Maverick, Wired

Message from Douglas R. Hofstadter

A growing number of highly respected technological figures, including Ray Kurzweil and Hans Moravec, have in recent years forecast that computational intelligence will, in the coming two or three decades, not only match but swiftly surpass human intelligence, and that civilization will at that point be radically transformed in ways that our puny minds cannot possibly imagine. This bold hypothesis, now often called "The Singularity," strikes some as wonderful and strikes others as abhorrent. But whether it is wonderful or abhorrent, is the singularity scenario even remotely plausible, or is it just science fiction? If the singularity scenario is plausible, is the time frame proposed ridiculous or realistic?

To any thoughtful person, the singularity idea, even if it seems wild, raises a gigantic, swirling cloud of profound and vital questions about humanity and the powerful technologies it is producing. Given this mysterious and rapidly approaching cloud, there can be no doubt that the time has come for the scientific and technological community to seriously try to figure out what is on humanity's collective horizon. Not to do so would be hugely irresponsible.

Speaker Interviews

Interview with Max More

Symposiums on Symbolic Systems and Society

The Symbolic Systems Program at Stanford periodically hosts conferences, panels, and speaker events focusing on the relationships between symbolic systems and the social world. With the Singularity Summit at Stanford, this series is being formally named "Symposiums on Symbolic Systems and Society." Previous events under this theme have included Secrets of Silicon Valley: a screening and panel discussion with the filmmakers and people profiled in the film (2001), Symbolic Thought and the Atrophy of Culture – a talk and discussion with John Zerzan (2002), Access: Broadband and the Digital Future – Who Is in Control? (2003), the LaborTech/Access Conference (2004), and Online Deliberation 2005/DIAC-2005: The Second Conference on Online Deliberation – Design, Research, and Practice (2005).

Co-Hosts

The Symbolic Systems Program at Stanford

The Symbolic Systems Program (SSP) is an undergraduate and master's degree interdisciplinary major at Stanford, bringing together students and faculty interested in the relationships between computation and the human mind through the study of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction. The program's goal is to prepare students with the vocabulary, theoretical background, and technical skills to understand and participate in interdisciplinary research into questions about language, information, and intelligence in people, machines, and human-machine systems. More

CSLI at Stanford

The Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) is an Independent Research Center founded in 1983 by researchers from Stanford University, SRI International, and Xerox PARC (now just PARC). CSLI is devoted to research in the emerging science of information, computing, and cognition. This new science had its origins in the late 1970s as computer scientists, linguists, logicians, philosophers, psychologists, and artificial intelligence researchers, seeking solutions to problems in their own disciplines, turned to one another for help. More

Co-Sponsors

Media Sponsors

Coverage of the Summit