The Singularity Could Be Less Than 2,000 Days Away, Trend Shows

Artificial intelligence may not have gone full Skynet on us—yet—but an eye-popping recent benchmark suggests the world may be much closer than we thought to the tipping point where AI stops imitating us and starts outpacing us.

That’s the crux of one of Pop Mech’s most viral recent stories, “Humanity May Reach the Singularity Within Just 5 Years, Trend Shows.” Based on one Italian company’s surprising metric, the singularity—the theoretical moment when machines match or surpass human intelligence—isn’t a distant sci-fi concept, but rather, right around the corner.

Pop Mech readers have predictably reacted to that bone-chilling headline, but what does the claim actually mean? Watch editors Andrew Daniels and John Gilpatrick bat around the concept of the singularity, discuss why language translation is being used as a proxy for human-level intelligence, and unpack how a stat called “Time to Edit” is directly shaping our AI future.

Before you panic, Andrew and John also talk about why this milestone doesn’t have to be terrifying. If AI learns to master the quirks of human language, it could seriously help how we talk to each other around the world.

Watch the full episode above now, and find more installments of “The Astounding Pop Mech Show” on PopularMechanics.com.