Singularity is a concept in artificial intelligence (AI) and futurism that refers to a hypothetical future point in time when machines surpass human intelligence, leading to an exponential acceleration of technological progress. This idea was popularized by mathematician and computer scientist Vernor Vinge in his 1993 essay "The Coming Technological Singularity." According to Vinge, the singularity will be brought about by the creation of smarter-than-human AI, which will then create even smarte