AGI-World

Ben will be speaking at upcoming AI Meetup

What: Ben Goertzel, Novamente LLC
When: Sunday September 7, 2008 12:00 Noon
Where: TechShop - 120 Independence Dr. Menlo Park, CA 94025
More: http://ai.meetup.com/94/calendar/8644333

Meetup Description: We canceled our AI meetups scheduled for Aug. 31 and Sept 14. Fortunately for us, Dr. Ben Goertzel from Novament will be in the area and has graciously offered to give a presentation of their current project on Sept. 7 (Monica Anderson)

Topic: OpenCog Prime: Design for an Open-Source Thinking Machine (Underlying Principles and Early Experiments)

OpenCogPrime is a highly detailed software design, aimed at powerful Artificial General intelligence at the human level and ultimately beyond, intended to be implemented within the OpenCog open-source AI software framework. A partial implementation exists and work on completing it is ongoing. This talk will summarize the cognitive systems theory underlying OpenCogPrime, and outline the key principles of OpenCogPrime in five areas: knowledge representation, knowledge creation, cognitive architecture, environmental and social interaction, and the dynamical emergence of structures. Current work using OpenCogPrime to control intelligent virtual dogs in the RealXTend virtual world will be discussed.

Dr. Ben Goertzel is CEO and Chief Scientist of AI firm Novamente LLC, a company focused on creating powerfully intelligent NPC’s for online games and virtual worlds. He is also CEO of bioinformatics firm Biomind LLC, and Director of Research of the nonprofit Singularity Institute for AI. Dr. Goertzel is the originator of the OpenCog open-source AGI framework, as well as the proprietary Novamente Cognition Engine AGI system. A research faculty for 8 years in several universities in the US and Australasia, he remains active in the academic AI community. He was the Program Committee Chair for AGI-08, the First Conference on Artificial General Intelligence, which was held in March 2008 at the University of Memphis; and is the Conference Chair for AGI-09 which will be held in March 2009 in Washington DC. He currently serves on the Board of the World Transhumanist Association. Dr. Goertzel has authored eight technical monographs in the computing and cognitive sciences, published by leading scientific publishers, most recently Probabilistic Term Logic, to be published by Springer in mid-2008; and also edited four technical volumes. He has also published over 80 research papers in journals, conferences and edited volumes, in disciplines spanning AI, mathematics, computer science, cognitive science, philosophy of mind and bioinformatics; and has developed two AI-based trading systems for hedge funds in Connecticut and San Francisco. AI software created by his teams at Novamente LLC and Biomind LLC has been used in numerous government agencies and corporations.

While at IDF in San Francisco (Aug-08), I had the pleasure of watching, from the front row no less, Intel’s CTO, Justin Rattner explain+support Ray Kurzweil’s concept of the technological singularity. This is big. Now, more and more high level executives will come out in support w/o fear of loosing their jobs.

Intel’s chief technology officer, Justin Rattner, had his eye firmly fixed on the future at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.

In his closing keynote speech Rattner said that Ray Kurzweil’s concept of ‘the Singularity’, a point when human and artificial intelligence merges to create something bigger than itself, could be just 40 years away.

Intel predicts singularity by 2048

At the Intel Developer Forum here, Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner showed off a number of technologies in computing, robotics, and communication that he cited as evidence that Ray Kurzweil’s concept of “singularity,” when machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence, is impending.

“We’re making steady progress toward Ray Kurtzweil’s singularity,” Rattner said.

Intel touts progress toward intelligent computers

google.com/search?q=rattner+singularity

Also of note, with Ray Kurzweil, Ben Goertzel and others, Justin Rattner plans to speak at the Singularity Summit (Oct 25, 2008) in San Jose (website forthcoming).

I think Susan and I hosted the first swingularitarian cocktail party…

…at our place in Redwood City, CA. Russell Whitaker is credited w/ coining the term when he, Moshe Looks and I were brainstorming new phrases in the kitchen.

In pic above, Nancy Kelly (on the Magical Blue Bean Bag), Greg Coladonato (Google), Susan Fonseca-Klein (SIAI, MF) and Jeff Hall (MF). Also joining us, Moshe Looks (Google), Matt Bell (Reactrix), Sonia Arrison (PRI, Lead21), Troy Byrd (Woz), Tyler Emerson (SIAI).

Bruno Bowden (former Keyhole, current Google Earth) brought a high res photo of the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

Jeff Hall, Bruno Bowden.

[photo credits, Russell Whitaker Aug-08]

VentureBeat’s Dan Kaplan reviewed Novamente from an informed perspective:

Nintendogs for the DS was a brilliant game. Its premise — pick a puppy and nurture it to adulthood — played on the digital pet theme that has driven high sales from Tamagotchi to Pikachu, and let you teach your dogs fancy tricks and skills that would improve over time, almost like it was learning.

But it wasn’t. A Nintendog’s behaviors were scripted, its personality restricted to a handful of breeds. On the other hand, Novamente a company that aims eventually to develop a super-smart artificial intelligence (AI), says that its current technology will make such limitations remnants of the past.

Ya!

spectrum.ieee.org/singularity

google.com/search?hl=en&q=IEEE+Spectrum+singularity

After a successful AGI-08 (videos online), AGI-09 is now planned for Arlington VA, Mar 6-9, 2009. It’s really gratifying to know that after Ben Goertzel and I brainstormed the concept of an AGI event back in 2006 on my couch in Bethesda, MD, we’re starting to see growing momentum toward a yearly conference w/ highly respected researchers/participants from fairly diverse AI backgrounds. In the end, we’re aiming for a unified thinking machine, but on the way, it will take many components to build such a mind.

Here’s a good, recent video, including Ray Kurzweil:

The InnerSpace Foundation and The IF Prize

The IF takes the position that the most rapid timelines to solving humanity’s most serious problems ” including providing complete and lasting cures for the most diseased and disabled ” will be accomplished through widespread improvement of memory and mind, rather than through the best efforts of people who are well-meaning but of naturally limited abilities. - Dr. Pete Estep

On Apr 30th, 2008 in Palo Alto, Dr. Pete Estep will discuss the InnerSpace Foundation (IF), a new nonprofit being developed to promote and support neuroengineering approaches for the enhancement of memory and learning “ biomedical goals that have the potential to improve not only the lives of those suffering from a specific malady, but everyone’s life.

InnerSpace Foundation & the IF Prize - Wed. Apr 30, 6pm
SAP, Building D, 3410 Hillview Ave, Palo Alto 94304
details…

With great support from the Accelerating Future People Database, we’re in the process of uploading AGI-08 talks. Thus far, Ben Goertzel’s introductory talk - AI and AGI: Past, Present and Future - has been uploaded, along with a few other.

“Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an ‘intelligence explosion,’ and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make.” - I.J. Good (1965)