Reminds me of Roko's basilisk: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Roko's_basilisk
It's a bit annoying that you can't even talk about this stuff without the basilisk interfering. Maybe we're dooming ourselves by laughing at the basilisk incident instead of taking the potentially larger issue seriously.
Indeed, it's kind of a round about metaphor for John the Baptists 'repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'. Which also concisely demonstrates why many don't give the the singularity or related notions (even the possibility of strong ai) credence. It's a little to religious ie unknowable.