Most technologists are ruled by logic, facts, 1's and 0's, and they tend to see and describe things from an obviously biased perspective. At times, this tendency can be beneficial. However, when examining an uncertain conclusion, like the Singularity, their descriptions can become trapped and they can not see with a new perspective.

In this session from the 2007 Singularity Summit, Paul Saffo provides a potentially fresh approach to advanced AGI and the Singularity. Saffo points out that the debate and discussion surrounding the Singularity is arriving at a turning point, where the inventors and the scientists hand-off the field to popular culture. He then submits that from that point onwards, it’s an interaction between popular culture and invention that will make things happen.

To validate his prediction of a coming hand-off, Saffo makes a link between the science fiction classic "Nueromancer" written by William Gibson and the boom of the Internet during the 1990's. Saffo claims that Gibson's lack of training as a “computer scientist” and therefore his ability to interpret things differently provided a vision of cyberspace that shaped the 1990s Internet revolution.

Finally, Saffo provides an example of how popular culture can provide new ways of looking at the Singularity, when he reads a poem from Richard Brautigan. The 40-year old poem offers up a positive, compelling vision of the Singularity that ordinary people can buy into. Ultimately Saffo hopes that these earlier visions are a powerful reminder that we are not hapless bystanders, but active participants in what this future should look like.