Claim · 2017-09-07 · publication · Stated in source · Supported

Brooks's essay of September 2017 argues that abundant computing power does not mean programs are close to doing AI research and rewriting their own code, and describes belief in the singularity as resting on exponentialism.

One recorded claim. The claim panel gives its qualification, the source passages with their place in each source, and how it was checked.

What it connects

The Seven Deadly Sins of Predicting the Future of AI → contests → Fast or hard takeoff

Where it appears

Claim and evidence

The Seven Deadly Sins of Predicting the Future of AIcontests ↓Fast or hard takeoff

Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editorStated in sourceSupported

Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source

Date: 2017-09-07 · publication Records dated 2017 →
Role: Contesting
Register (kind of text): Nonfiction
Engagement: Engages a premise. It disputes the premise that programs able to do AI research and improve their own code are near.

Scope and limitsBrooks also characterises belief in the singularity as resembling religious belief; the record rests on his argument about self-improving programs, not on that characterisation.

The evidence 01

primary sourceSupports the claim

The Seven Deadly Sins of Predicting the Future of AI

Author's blog (rodneybrooks.com), essay in the series Future of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence · 2017-09-07

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Source excerpt

“Even if there is a lot of computer power around it does not mean we are close to having programs that can do research in Artificial Intelligence, and rewrite their own code to get better and better.”

Location in source Section "B. The Singularity", in the discussion of prediction types

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-10-31

Source details and check notes

Authors: Rodney Brooks
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29 (SHA-256 eeda8eb3461fe97e8c91422f74cccc25acd03e96100f646c952147b6c90600e0). Current blog page dated September 7, 2017 (text: "As I write these words on September 2nd, 2017"); retrieved 2026-10-29. The cross-family check retrieved it again on 2026-10-31; the bytes differ, and the check compared the quoted passages.
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-29
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Rodney Brooks, “The Seven Deadly Sins of Predicting the Future of AI”, 2017-09-07.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, arguments about catastrophic risk from advanced AI (research/risk-debate). The quotation (37 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. A cross-family machine check (2026-10-31, item 114) re-read the record’s source and found the quotation and stance supported. No human editorial review.

Status and meaning

Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor. An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.

Relation. A passage of the document disputes the proposition or a premise it depends on. The record documents the text’s position, not who is right.

Date. Date of posting.

Record ID rd-a4-brooks-2017-seven-deadly-sins