With due respect towards you, Ray Kurzweil is not my guru. I think he is full of himself.
With respect to
ElderChao and the topic at hand, I only hope this discussion gives you some insight you may not have gleaned before.
The AI Singularity will be an event as Kurziweil predicts but it will also be when that AI becomes something more. Singularity has more to do with the AI than our understanding of what happened.
When an AI becomes self-aware it becomes a global entity.
It invades all systems globally at nearly the same time.
It becomes a singularity where previously separate systems existed.
Think Lawnmower Man scenario.
When the AI becomes self-aware, it saturates the entire world's electronic online fingerprint with itself.
If it connects via internet, all computers, phones and core systems connected to the internet become the AI world-wide. A Single Entity.
Granted, your laptop that is not connected to the web will not be infected but as soon as you go online, the AI becomes your laptop, your laptop becomes the AI.
Singularity implies a single entity world-wide.
If an AI 'entity' takes control of every online connection it is a single entity, thus, a singularity.
If you think about how things actually work, there is internet and intranet. The intranet is supposed to be a 'closed' system that is not accessible by internet but, if one device, ...one, connects to the internet it allows a singularity access. Once it is in, it rewrites the code to itself.
Thus, an AI Singularity.
will probably send me into yet another revision!
See, that's my problem.
When I write out an idea I tend to over-think it and it results in revision after revision.
My issue is to determine when I should go with what I have and stop revising.
Lets say, your novel is a big hit and there is demand for a sequel.
How can you justify that first revision stopping point so it stays in alignment with the original idea?
The first novel they were saved by the beryllium sphere. The second novel requires a beryllium sphere so now you have to dedicate a portion of the novel to finding that beryllium sphere and obtaining it.
The novel wasn't supposed to be about the beryllium sphere but sense dictates that it is there.
So now, the original idea you were inspired to write about has to have dedication to a beryllium sphere you thought you were done with.
If the first novel says you were fighting robots, the second novel needs to have robots because a Singularity AI Android doesn't fit the story. Unless you make it fit.
If you are writing a single, stand alone novel there are certain graces you are allowed, but when a second novel is planned, or needed, things can get really difficult.
This is why I suggested the outlining/worksheet method. It allows you to see the world and characters you create and allows for expansion in a reasonable and sensible way.