The Singularity Summit took place over this weekend and has achieved a small amount of coverage in the press. Perhaps, as the idea gains greater familiarity, particular themes gain greater publicity and clarity but the overall package is losing visibility. Kurzweil is stating the same message to the same audience, slightly larger, and perhaps moving through interested parties by osmosis.
The Singularity Summit was a choir of the converted:
Before he started in on his talk, he produced a sheet from a yellow legal pad that he had periodically scribbled on all day. It was his own reflections on the summit's previous talks. Kurzweil then proceeded to comment on them all, admitting some theories into the canon of Singularity, and relegating others to the apocrypha.
I don't think Kurzweil thought he was personally ruling on the validity of theories, but that's how many in the audience took it. After all, his final talk wasn't about introducing new theories or dissecting his previous mistakes. It was about shoring up the faithful, calming any doubts they had about the sheer ambition of his claims, and presenting even stronger evidence that the Singularity is inevitable and impending.
The
blatant clarity and simplicity of his argument and evidence left no
doubts about Kurzweil's profound intellect. He could have simply
shown one slide, pointed to it, and walked away with everyone in the
audience convinced the Singularity was on its way.
Though, there is one grateful insight that we can take away. When Singularitarians organise an event, it is, as David Orban observed, "flawless". A hopeful portent for the activities they promote.