What is a singleton?

A singleton is a world order in which there is only one decision maker that controls most significant outcomes, as opposed to a multipolar scenario where there are multiple relevant actors. This decision maker would be able to prevent any other actor from threatening its continued control and would be able to achieve its desired outcomes unopposed. The decision maker may have internal complexity and be composed of multiple subagents: it could be a single dominant AI, a group of collaborating AIs, a small group of humans with AI assistance, a nation, or even “a strong set of global norms that include effective provisions for their own enforcement”. A singleton could be robustly aligned to the will of a person or group, or pursuing objectives that are not aligned with any human.

There are numerous pathways which could lead to a singleton. One example is if there is an extremely fast takeoff and the first superintelligence self-improves until it can overcome all opposing forces.

The concept was introduced by Nick Bostrom in 2005.