Fear the machine: Techies ponder AI

At the center of a black hole there lies a point called a singularity where the laws of physics no longer make sense.

In a similar way, according to futurists who gathered over the weekend, information technology is hurtling toward a point where machines will become smarter than their makers. If that happens, it will alter what it means to be human in ways almost impossible to conceive, they say.

"The Singularity Summit: AI and the Future of Humanity" brought together hundreds of Silicon Valley techies and scientists to imagine a future of self-programming computers and brain implants that would allow humans to think at speeds nearing today's microprocessors.