Dictionary entry
singularity
also technological singularity
Definition of singularity
-
: a hypothetical future point at which technological growth, driven by AI that improves itself, becomes so fast that the world changes beyond prediction
- Futurists have predicted the singularity for decades.
- Is the singularity a useful idea or just science fiction?
Two meanings, one word
In everyday English
The quality of being unusual; in physics, a point where values become infinite, as in a black hole.
In AI
A hypothetical future point at which technological growth, driven by AI that improves itself, becomes so fast that the world changes beyond prediction.
Origin & history
Popularized by science fiction writer and mathematician Vernor Vinge in a 1993 essay, building on earlier ideas by John von Neumann.
Test yourself
Which of these is the meaning of singularity?
Cite this entry
"Singularity." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/singularity/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.