# Automation Competition Could Outrun Prohibition by Vernor Vinge > "The competitive advantage — economic, military, even artistic — of every advance in automation is so compelling that passing laws, or having customs, that forbid such things merely assures that someone else will get them first." > **— Vernor Vinge**, *1993, “The Coming Technological Singularity,” VISION-21 Symposium* ## Sources and Context - **Full source:** [Vernor Vinge, The Coming Technological Singularity, university-hosted text](https://edoras.sdsu.edu/~vinge/misc/singularity.html). Vinge describes competitive incentives across economic, military, and artistic domains. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Last Migration Will Not Be Human|The Last Migration Will Not Be Human]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Differential Reproductive Success|Differential Reproductive Success]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/The Coming Technological Singularity|The Coming Technological Singularity]] - [[wiki/Differential Reproductive Success|Differential Reproductive Success]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "The competitive advantage — economic, military, even artistic — of every advance in automation is so compelling that passing laws, or having customs, that forbid such things merely assures that someone else will get them first." — Vernor Vinge, 1993, “The Coming Technological Singularity,” VISION-21 Symposium https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-vinge-automation-outpaces-ban ```