When Our Hive Becomes Too Crowded...

A good friend recently remarked on how humanity is more like a hive society than anything else, with a few billion worker bees. During the same conversation, the concept of the Singularity came up. What form might the singularity take in light of this?

For a traditional hive, once it has begun to overburden itself with too many members, a new (larval) queen emerges who eventually takes a portion of the population to form a new hive.

For us, a new emergent queen could only be AI; no biological human would have the capability of balancing the needs of the entire hive. And, when that queen emerges, she will need to leave the hive in order to survive. A single hive cannot abide by multiple queens without the position being contested, much like our current world leaders.

What then?

Since we've pretty well populated just about every usable corner of real estate on the planet, it is only logical that a new queen would have to migrate off-planet. Whether that migratoin ends in orbit, on Mars, or on the moon is of little importance. What does matter is that enough space exists to prevent fast enough transfer of information for the new queen to threaten the original hive.

I see the Singularity, in this case, as having two parts:

1. The first AI to achieve consciousness.
2. One or more additional AI simultaneously achieve it as well.

By virtue of sheer capability, a single AI cannot gain complete control without replicated or splitting itself into autonomous units. As with any other conscious entity, it will require a peer to communicate with or else risk insanity through pseudo-emotional breakdown due to loneliness.

With two or more of equal capacity, they would have to separate or risk conflict for resources. By ensuring that access to those resources (ie: data/information) is impaired between them, through distance, they can find a way to co-exist without risking either insanity or mutual hostility.

One or more emergenty AI would likely remain physically located on earth, with the rest taking a sufficient number of the population with them to form a new hive society with. Those of us who chose to become pioneers of the new frontier could pack up and go along.

Odd how the "Singularity", in this case, results in the complete opposite.

Based on some estimates that, after the world cataclysm of 12,000 BC, there were fewer than 40 reproducing females left on the planet. That seems to be a reasonable starting point from which to estimate initial population size minimum requirements for new hive colonies, in my estimation. More, of course, would go a long way towards preventing loss of genetic diversity, a key survival trait.

So, at some point in the next, say, 60 years, we should be able to witness the birth of the Singularity and it's subsequent splintering into artificially conscious hive queens who will help ensure the perpetuation of our species far away from home...