The Singularity.

I keep talking about the Singularity. For a decent definition of the Singularity itself, check out the wikipedia.org article on the subject. In some ways, this article doesn't do the concept justice. I really think it's gonna get a whole lot weirder than anything that's been represented in fiction. The best example of Singularity fiction that I can think of is 'Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom', by Cory Doctorow of boingboing fame, though his variation of the singularity doesn't really account for exponential artificial intelligence.