What you are describing is language. Machines already did that. In fact, they operate on a completely different language structure than we do.
Again, you think that only humans can operate and name a new element. I disagree. AI is gaining a collective understanding of the world. It will frame it differently than we do. It is why results from prompts change when the same question is asked. It is not simply mirroring the data that was put in like traditional databases.
I only used one simple example. To continue on the hypothetical example, the machines of today won't be able to think of practical uses of the new element/metal. They can't think of creating something from nothing yet. Or creating something new that hasn't been discovered or created by humans. What you described in your second paragraph is AI. It is smart, but it is not yet at the point of singularity. The fact that we don't have inference and AGI, which are significantly lower than the capabilities of the singularity is proof.
The fact that we don't have inference and AGI, which are significantly lower than the capabilities of the singularity is proof.
Considering there is no agreed upon definition of AGI, how does anyone know. Some claim Altman has already achieved it. I dont know if he did or did not.
Hence, people want to ascribe terms to singularity where there is none. Some state it has to have superintellgence involved while others, focus upon compute. The point here is when we look at the definition of taking all the old rules, metrics, and norms that shape society as the basis of the definition, we have been there for years.
GDP, a baseline economic term, lost its validity decades ago. Growth rates also fall into that same area. The relationship between capital, labor, and economic productivity is no outdated.
This is just one field where all is being washed away. It was not a human creation.