The Singularity is Coming

Artificial (General) Intelligent robots will be cleverer than us, able to do anything we can do, better, and faster, for twenty four hours a day, with no time off demanded either, except perhaps for an occasional self-service. Most of the jobs only humans could do before will be gone, and this situation will soon seriously begin to happen, well before the end of the next decade. What will that do to government unemployment figures? Some experts believe 80% is possible. Fully automated companies, with minimal labour costs, will probably do well financially, at first, but how will unemployed people buy their products? Some alternative, a guaranteed permanent Basic Allowance for example, will have to be introduced well before we reach that state of unemployment... or will we still need money by then?Later when ASI, Artificial Super Intelligence, arrives some experts even fear humanity may be facing extinction. The consequences, of this Singularity, this unprecedented hard to appreciate situation, are going to be devastating, even if the relevant authorities start planning for it immediately... and that is unlikely, knowing them the way we do. Will the subject even be mentioned in the next government's manifesto?This updated edition, for general readers of all ages, explains what experts believe will happen in only a few years from now. They do not all agree with each other. Their predictions range from A New Golden Age for us all, through Uncertainty, to Total Disaster. Readers must decide for themselves who will be proved correct.