Simple Ways to Help

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The "technological Singularity" is the creation of smarter-than-human intelligence. This page takes it for granted that the reader believes such an advance is possible. The Singularity is an event expected to follow from scientific research on emerging technologies such as neurotechnology or general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI). Singularity activists, or Singularitarians, have arrived at the view that superintelligence is technically feasible and desirable if coupled with altruistic motivations. Altruistic superintelligence, by definition, would assist in maximizing human choice and freedom, while helping to avoid unintended consequences such as the accidental misuse of molecular nanotechnology or the deliberate sequencing and release of chimera viruses. A beneficial Singularity, by exploiting intelligence significantly beyond our own, could effectively help cure poverty and aging, clean up our environments, handle risks of new technical knowledge, and increase our own determination of our lives. However, were the development of the technological Singularity handled poorly, the result may very well be outright extinction, or a permanent curtailment of our potential for growth. This is the challenge the Singularity Institute was created to confront.

Based on our analysis, the Singularity is likelier to arrive through general-purpose AI, as opposed to neurotechnology or some other means. Thus, to best improve the likelihood that the Singularity will go well for humanity, our research and advocacy is focused on Friendly AI. Our initial strategy has been outlined in "Creating Friendly AI," the first serious attempt to establish a discipline of human-friendly AI goal systems. (The latest update on Friendly AI theory is "Collective Volition.") Secondly, the concrete theory of intelligence that guides our research, deliberative general intelligence, has been summarized in "Levels of Organization in General Intelligence." These research papers are an early foundation of our ongoing research into Friendly Artificial Intelligence.

To have a reasonable chance of succeeding in our project, we must have at least eight to twelve researchers - seed AI programmers - on our development team. Finding programmers who have the potential to be on our team is not simple, because the requirements, as summarized in "Becoming a Seed AI Programmer," are very high. At this time (October 2005), we have two team members. However, we don't yet have sufficient funding to pay them each a modest, full-time salary. This untenable situation should clearly convey the need for Singularity activists to begin doing as much as they can to advance the Singularity movement and our nonprofit's ability to pursue our work. Singularity activists can engage in a variety of productive roles related to advancing the Singularity Institute, roles that are just as necessary and critical as the researchers' roles. These include becoming donors, publicists, organizers, speakers, writers, graphic artists, grant writers, networkers and fundraisers.

The following are immediate ways that you can help:

1) Do the required reading. The Singularity concept and related ideas (cognitive science, smartness, transhumanism, futurism, nanotechnology, seed AI) are very complicated and difficult to understand. There are many contradicting interpretations of the Singularity and the aforelisted ideas, and it's important to be familiar with as many of them as possible, to avoid discussions where people are speaking past one another. Ideally there would be a universally available, nicely structured college class on these issues, but as of 2005 there is not. But that shouldn't stop Singularity activists from entering into a self-structured education program at a similar level of rigor to a college class. A Singularity newbie that knows little more than "the Singularity means smarter-than-human intelligence" shouldn't enter into an advanced Singularity discussion with any more confidence than a physics enthusiast entering a graduate-level discussion of black holes with only the knowledge that "black holes have gravity so powerful that they emit no light". The threshold of understanding necessary for contributing value to Singularity dialogues is very high.

Many of the popular ideas in society today are simple enough that they can be passed from person to person without the essential message being lost. A book will have a small core of key messages, with plenty of supporting points and illustrative anecdotes to bring the ideas to life. The Singularity concept is quite different. What is the Singularity? Why is it feasible? Why should we believe it represents a prediction horizon? Why should we think it will happen in our lifetime? Why is outcome X not inevitable? Why will AI come first? There are dozens of questions commonly posed to the Singularity advocate by unfamiliar audiences and discussion partners, and we owe it to them (and ourselves) to have well-informed, consistent answers to these questions. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And the claim that a Friendly AI project can permanently make the world a radically better place is perhaps one of the most extraordinary claims of all. To get informed about the relevant issues, check out our reading list.

2) Become a regular donor. The starting income for an average college graduate in 2005 is about $40,000/year. For about 2.5% of that sum, you can contribute $1000 per year to the Singularity Institute, greatly furthering our cause and laying a solid financial foundation for a Friendly AI research project. This translates to about $3/day. Even if this is too much for you to spare, remember that small donations do matter. The more resources we have to implement Friendly AI, the easier our task - the greater our chance of success. Each AI programmer could require as many as 50-100 regular, generous donors for financial support. Every person that takes that critical step beyond apathy sets an example for others, helping to create a snowball effect of support for the Singularity Institute. Becoming a regular donor, at any level of giving, is the most frequently avoided, but the easiest, way of contributing to the Institute. For more information on matters of funding, please see the "SIAI" portion of the Eliezer Yudkowsky Q&A.

3) Create a blog. Weblogs typically get more popular attention per hour of effort than conventional web pages. They are easy to maintain, because making small updates is easy, and becomes a habit (if you get into it). While the short sound-bite format of typical blog entries is not particularly conducive to discussing issues as complex or multi-faceted as accelerating the arrival of a safe Singularity, blogs can serve as a point-of-entry into relevant ideas, giving people a little taste without the full meal. The blog format is widely adored because the custom of daily updates and ongoing commentary gives the page a human feel, creating a deeper empathic link between the writer and audience. Although a new blog is created every second, quality blogs on cutting-edge issues such as the Singularity are rare and in high demand. Blogs are so numerous and popular that many people now spend far more time looking at blogs than they do looking at non-blog websites. (And if they are looking at a non-blog website, they probably found it via a link from some blog.) Popular tools for creating weblogs include WordPress (free) and TypePad ($5/month, arguably worth it).

4) Comment on blogs. Even despite the release of Kurzweil’s book and the increased press the Singularity concept has been receiving lately, only a minority of futurists (probably about a third) are familiar with it beyond being exposed to a few mere paragraphs. And out of that minority, an even smaller minority is aware of the Singularity from the perspective of increased smartness rather than the perspective of accelerating technology. Making blog comments (when relevant) alluding to the importance of the Singularity concept in technological and futurist discussions is a primary means by which we can show that SIAI’s approach to Singularity strategy has a popular following. If you're looking for blogs which discuss the topic of the Singularity, a good place to start would be here.

5) Create a personal website. It’s 2005 – everyone with access to an internet connection should have their own website. Nothing fancy is necessary – many personal websites consist of only a single page, listing one’s profession, contact information, primary interests and hobbies, and links to frequently-visited websites. It takes about half an hour and no technical expertise to set up a free website. If you want to go the extra mile, for about $10/year you can buy a domain name and host your website on a free service. It’s important that SIAI supporters set up their own web pages and refer to SIAI on them, otherwise it looks as if the Institute is run by a bunch of fringe thinkers with no support. If you have little technical experience (don't know HTML), then a good place to start with a free website is Bravenet.

Your website is your megaphone, your way of communicating with the world outside your physical location. Unless you are a high-profile academic, futurist or business professional, the ultimate relevance of your immediate physical encounters is tiny in comparison to what you can accomplish by putting your ideas on the Internet. There is a tendency, even among technophiles, to view the Internet as a place that's "not really real," to overestimate the importance of in person discussion with a few relative to discussion on the medium of the Internet. Your website will allow you to speak to more people than you could ever manage alone. Through the Internet, you can reach out, interact, and influence others, in important and lasting ways. Each unique thinker concerned with the Singularity can make their opinions visible to everyone, as long as they take the time to create a website and get others to link to it. Including keywords for relevant topics on your website will increase the chances that people find it during a Google search.

6) Sign up for StumbleUpon.com. StumbleUpon is an internet service whose usefulness is only surpassed by Google itself. Many Singularity activists use it. It’s a collaborative site-review tool that directs users to new websites based on their unique interests. The service requires installing a spyware-free toolbar that includes buttons for “thumbs-up”, “thumbs-down”, and comments on a given website. Your comments are saved on a personal, blog-like webpage. If a certain page is well-liked among Stumblers, it can acquire thousands of extra visits per month within a very short time. It seems wise to promote pro-SIAI websites by giving them a thumbs-up and positive reviews using SU. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. Only Google searches have given SIAI more traffic.

7) Speak out for the Singularity on mailing lists. Mailing lists are virtual conferences with hundreds of attendees. Posting on a mailing list is often an effective use of time - an excellent way for you to contribute. Many pro-Singularity arguments are well-developed and solid. If we have the appropriate background, we should not hesitate to share our arguments. It can be hard to get over that first threshold and start participating in mailing lists, in the same way that it's difficult for certain people to overcome the threshold of getting involved in computers or the Internet. But if you truly want to help the Institute, help spread our ideas on mailing lists. There are many fascinating discussions in store for you if you simply participate and engage with others. Public fora receptive to Singularity-oriented thinkers include WTA-Talk, Extropy-chat, SL4, and the Immortality Institute's Forums (see their Singularity forum).

8) Be a social networking butterfly. We recommend that you join Orkut, LinkedIn and Tribe - that you make postings, browse profiles and send messages to interesting people on these networks. It's fun and productive. Talking to other thinkers will ensure your own thinking and arguments stay fluid. If you're shy or lazy, you need to make a serious effort to change. The technological Singularity is an issue that could personally affect the lives of every human being on these networks; they at least deserve a heads-up. If someone isn't convinced that the creation of superintelligence is something worth paying attention to, then you can always move on to new people. Remember: We evolved in memetic environments where ideas were passed around within a ~200 person tribe. If your idea wasn't accepted by a chunk of the tribe within a week, then continued effort to communicate the idea was politically unwise. But in today's world, there are thousands or millions of people willing to listen. Even if you fail to convince 99.9% of your listeners, some ideas are still worth making the effort to considerately spread around.

9) Write articles, or learn how to write articles. Write two or three articles, add a short bio, and you've got yourself a website on the Singularity! We can't stress the importance of this enough. Most people capable of reading the necessary literature will also be able to write short articles on their thoughts. The factors holding back most Singularity activists from writing articles are very human - shyness, laziness, nervousness, lack of inspiration or motivation. We would guess that at least 80% of typical Singularity activists are fully capable of writing short articles. If you're part of that 80%, please spend some time writing down your thoughts on Singularity-related issues (again, there are many). Each article shows that another unique thinker is concerned about these topics. Even if the article is viewed by only a few dozen or hundred people per month, that is more than you would be able to talk with directly, and that is better than the alternative - no one.

A common objection to writing articles is, "What can I say that hasn't already been said?" The answer: a lot. Everyone has their own unique way of introducing and explaining the Singularity and related ideas, and every new perspective has the potential to inspire and inform readers in new ways. Plus, most casual surfers aren't aware of all the Singularity-related literature that you might be. Consider how many people you could introduce to these concepts who wouldn't have otherwise been introduced. This number could range anywhere from the dozens to the thousands, depending on how much exposure you receive. As a starting point, try explaining why you think the Singularity or Friendly AI is important, in your own words, and provide links to articles that examine the topics in more detail. Then upload the article to an available server, or ask Accelerating Future ( ) for a chunk of server space. Also, if you are interested in donating surfer space to host articles, please let us know ( ). JavaScript must be enabled to see email addresses.

Finally, to advance your writing skill, we highly recommend Strunk and White's invaluable The Elements of Style, Zinsser's On Writing Well, "Tips for Writing Productivity," and "Singularity Writing Advice."

10) Create or improve a Wikipedia article. Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to. Because it's an encyclopedia, editors want well-written, authoritative articles on topics the mainstream considers relevant. If you're a good writer who can handle formality, we encourage you to give it a try. (Wikipedia entries already exist for the Technological Singularity and Friendly Artificial Intelligence.) Before submitting an article, it is suggested that you share it with other Singularity activists for review. Poorly written articles will reflect negatively on Singularity activists and the idea of a technological singularity, while well-written contributions will do a lot for increasing the credibility of the Singularity movement. Any given Wikipedia page will get hundreds or thousands of hits per month, and be replicated on dozens or hundreds of additional websites.

11) Email us to find check if there's anything particularly worth doing at the moment. If you aren't sure what to do, email our Executive Director ( ) or Advocacy Director ( ),