You may already be familiar with the concept of singularity. It’s a futuristic idea about a time when artificial intelligence would advance to the point where it can self design and improve and, in some readings of the term, leave humans in the dust in terms of intelligence and perhaps even sentience.

The term dates back to the late 1950s to mathematician John von Neumann and was popularized later by scientist Vernor Vinge, but it has become closely associated in recent years with futurist Ray Kurzweil. […]