The singularity is a predicted point in the future when artificial intelligence (AI) surpasses human intelligence. It is named for an analogy with physics made by Professor Vernor Vinge: just as modern physics breaks down near a gravitational singularity, so modern society as we know it breaks down near the array of technological developments that futurists refer to as the singularity.

Modern society will break down at the singularity because we will not know how to handle so much development so quickly. This does not necessarily have to be as bad as it sounds; some argue that society has broken down due to rapid technological development before, as in the agricultural and industrial revolutions. However, it is probable that the changes presented by the singularity would be more profoundly destabilizing than the revolutions that have come before due to the nature of the development-the elimination of human labor-and the scope of the changes.