Editorial Multiplicity Has More Potential Than Singularity

Abstract

Presents an editorial on the developing concept in artificial intelligence referred to as «muliplicity.» The term Singularity is used to describe a hypothetical punctuation point sometime in the future where Artificial Intelligence (AI) will surpass human intelligence. The concept has been popularized by science fiction author Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil. Superintelligence, a 2014 book by Nick Bostrom, explores a similar theme. Recently, Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates publicly expressed fears about the dangers of post-Singularity AI and robotics. Here, it is suggested that «Singularity» is distracting attention from a far more realistic and important development that we might call Multiplicity. Multiplicity characterizes an emerging category of systems where diverse groups of humans work together with diverse groups of machines to solve difficult problems. Multiplicity combines the wisdom of crowds with the power of cloud computing.