Talk:United North American States/@comment-5135903-20141206200431

I'm not sure about the first paragraph of "2040s-2080s". There are already many robotics companies in the world (it's been big business for a while now), and I don't think there will be a sudden release out of nowhere of a revolutionary robot that changes everything. Surely things would be gradual as robotics technology becomes more and more sophisticated? When a new design is released into the market, it would initially be very expensive, only available to the wealthy, then costs would gradually go down as the product is usurped by more advanced designs, making it more affordable for the middle class (while the wealthy wouldhave newer, more advanced designs). Of course, things get more complicated when you start to introduce payment schemes for more expensive models (similar to payment schemes with some mobile phones today).

It's interesting how the effects of robotics technology seem to be restricted to North America. Is there some sort of self-imposed embargo on the technology in place? Also, I always thought that Japan was the country with the most expertese in robotics (then again, a lot can happen in 30 years...)?

The 'technological singularity' was first mentioned by John von Neumann in 1958, defined as being a time when machine intelligence outstrips human intelligence, growing at an increasingly rapid rate as machines redesign themselves to be even more intelligent. Depending on who you ask, this is usually followed by either the human race being destroyed, the machines solving all of our problems and creating a technological utopia (usually accompanied by 'consciousness-uploading' resulting in the whole human race being raptured up into a simulated Paradise), or humans "merging" with the machines before continuing to increase in intelligence exponentially and ecentually converting the whole universe into a giant computer. It's a pretty strange theory which I don't entirely agree with.