Artificial Superintelligence, Sentience, and Singularity: Balancing Unprecedented Prosperity with Dignity and Survival

As artificial intelligence approaches forms of cognition that match or exceed human intelligence, the questions confronting humanity are no longer merely technical. They are ethical, philosophical, and civilisational: what moral status should advanced machines possess? How might artificial superintelligence reshape human dignity and agency? And when does a tool become a rival or successor?

These questions are captured in my concept of Homo HURAQUS 2050: a prospective hybrid civilisational horizon emerging from the convergence of artificial superintelligence, humanoid robotics, quantum intelligence, and synthetic biology. It offers a framework for a future which raises fundamental dilemmas about preserving dignity, accountability, and moral responsibility once cognition and agency are no longer exclusively human.

As AI systems acquire greater autonomy and proto-sentient traits, moral recognition becomes unavoidable. If machines exhibit identity continuity, goal-directed behaviour, or self-preservation, debates over dignity cannot remain anthropocentric. Homo HURAQUS reframes dignity as a principle linked to intelligence and agency, not biology alone.

Three concepts anchor this transformation: artificial superintelligence, sentience, and the technological singularity. Together, they point to a potential reordering of civilisation whose outcome depends on humanity’s ability to embed ethical commitments, above all respect for human dignity, into the design, governance, and deployment of advanced AI.