singinst.org

Tyler Emerson to me
show details Feb 28 (1 day ago)

Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence

February 2008 Update

---

ANNOUNCING OPENCOG

SIAI is sponsoring a long term initiative, the Open Cognition Framework, to be hosted at opencog.org. OpenCog exists to provide an open source software framework for the collaborative development of beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI) systems.

Web: www.opencog.org

OpenCog will offer research scientists and software developers a common platform to build and share artificial intelligence programs. The framework will include:

* Built-in LISP-like programming language
* Flexible and highly optimized in-memory database for knowledge representation
* Plug-in architecture for cognitive algorithms and a cognitive process scheduler
* And additional components to support AI research and development

Programs written or adapted for OpenCog may be combined and used in concert with one another for experimentation or to achieve better results compared to stand-alone counterparts. OpenCog borrows development philosophies from many projects, including Linux and Python. After OpenCog 1.0 is published, the project will maintain a highly-inclusive approach to contributions, encouraging a liberal variety of new and replacement components and cognitive architectures, while at the same time enforcing principles of code quality and software architecture consistency.

OpenCog is led by Dr. Ben Goertzel, Director of Research at the Singularity Institute, and CEO of Novamente and Biomind. He is joined in managing OpenCog by David Hart, Director of Open Source Projects at the Singularity Institute, and CEO of Atlantis Blue.

Joel Pitt (AI engineer and PhD candidate) and Gustavo Gama (systems programmer) have been brought on to work with Ben and David to create the initial OpenCog release.

No date for the initial release has been set at this time.

Currently, we would like to gather interested volunteers on a discussion group so that when OpenCog is ready, we know who is interested to help.

List Sign Up: http://groups.google.com/group/opencog

---

OPENCOG SAFETY

The ethical and social issues inherent to open source AGI development deserve serious analysis. At present, SIAI staff and colleagues are heavily involved in this analysis.

It is worth stressing that in the early stages, OpenCog's software capabilities will fall extremely short of AGI, hence OpenCog will confront the deeper ethical issues in practice only later on, even in the instance that the project is highly successful.

In regard to this issue, at the AGI-08 Conference, Dr. Bill Hibbard from the University of Wisconsin will present a paper specifically on the ethics of open source AGI development. Hibbard's view is that a broad community of AI developers can provide a level of oversight that is not possible in a small, insular team. On the other hand, there are obvious risks associated with the open source approach, as the level of intelligence of the system increases. We think this issue will be a major focus of discussion during the post-conference AGI-08 Workshop.

---

LEADERSHIP NEWS

1) Ray Kurzweil:
Ray served on the committee for the National Academies' "Grand Challenges for Engineering," announced on February 15th. Other members included inventor Dean Kamen, Google Cofounder Larry Page, and genomics pioneer Craig Venter. During the unveiling at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting, Ray spoke about the Challenges in relation to his writings, including The Singularity Is Near.

Audio:
http://tinyurl.com/3bs57h

Ray also gave a keynote this month ("The Next 20 Years of Gaming") at the 2008 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. He discussed the foreseeable ramifications of the accelerating price performance growth of information technologies, particularly in the videogame industry.

Transcript:
http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/people-blog/?p=1676

2) Peter Thiel:
Peter's interview with science writer Ronald Bailey for Reason Magazine, conducted at the 2007 Singularity Summit, hits newstands early April (May issue) and online in May.

3) Tyler Emerson and Bruce Klein:
Tyler and Bruce joined the World Transhumanist Association (WTA) Board of Directors. The WTA will be revamped in 2008, with educational outreach as its focus. In January, the first WTA Matching Grant was completed, with $65,000 raised, an eight-fold increase on the WTA's 2007 budget. Patricia Manney was also named the new Chair.

4) Steve Omohundro:
Steve was recently interviewed about AI and nanotechnology by MemeBox's Future Blogger.

Web:
http://memebox.com/futureblogger/show/22

Full Transcript:
http://memebox.com/futureblogger/show/21

5) Aubrey de Grey:
Aubrey and the Methuselah Foundation will host "Understanding Aging: Biomedical and Bioengineering Approaches" on June 27-29, 2008, at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Web:
http://www.methuselahfoundation.org/UABBA/

Aubrey also held his own this month on The Colbert Report.

Video:
http://tinyurl.com/3xzv25

6) Ben Goertzel and Eliezer Yudkowsky:
On January 28th, Ben, Eliezer, and entrepreneur Melanie Swan spoke at Santa Clara University, on "Future Trends: The Singularity Hypothesis." Full transcripts forthcoming.

Eliezer's transcript:
http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/people-blog/?p=1611

Eliezer continues to publish new material at a high rate at Overcoming Bias.

Web:
http://www.overcomingbias.com

In December, Ben published "Human-Level Artificial General Intelligence and the Possibility of a Technological Singularity" in the academic journal "Artificial Intelligence."

Abstract: An analysis of Ray Kurzweil's recent book The Singularity Is Near is given, along with Drew McDermott's recent critique. The conclusion is that Kurzweil does an excellent job of fleshing out one particular plausible scenario regarding the future of AI, in which human-level AI first arrives via human-brain emulation. McDermott's arguments against the notion of Singularity via iteratively self-improving AI, as described by Kurzweil, are considered and found wanting. However, it is pointed out that the scenario focused on by Kurzweil is not the only plausible one; and an alternative is discussed, in which human-level AI arrives first via non-human-like AI's operating virtual worlds.

Web:
http://tinyurl.com/yw6gvh

---

SIAI @ EVENTS

1) BIL Conference, March 1-2, Monterey, CA

BIL is an open, self-organizing, anarchic science and technology unconference. BIL is a free companion to TED (http://www.ted.com). Anyone can attend. Anyone can speak.

SIAI is a BIL Sponsor and Tyler is helping organize with a bunch of hooligans.

El Estero Park Complex
777 Pearl Street
Monterey, CA 93940

Web:
http://www.bilconference.com

Kevin Kelly on BIL:
http://tinyurl.com/3yjte5

BoingBoing on BIL:
http://tinyurl.com/38lzz3

2) AGI 08, March 1-3, Memphis, TN

The First Conference on Artificial General Intelligence runs March 1st-3rd at the FedEx Institute for Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis. Over 100+ researchers are expected. Bruce and Ben are lead organizers. See the 49 conference papers online.

FedEx Institute of Technology, University of Memphis
365 Innovation Drive, Memphis, TN 38152

Web:
http://www.agi-08.org

3) SciVestor Disruptive Technologies Conference, May 22, NYC

The Disruptive Technologies Conference brings together leading business and technology thinkers in AI, nanotechnology, robotics, life extension, virtual worlds, and technology investing, for an intensive daylong event in New York's financial district.

SIAI is a media sponsor of the conference.

Web:
http://www.scivestor.com/events

---

Send any thoughts, questions, or suggestions to Tyler Emerson, SIAI Executive Director, emerson@singinst.org

---

Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
P.O. Box 50182 | Palo Alto, CA 94303 USA
singinst.org | institute@singinst.org | 866 667 2524

---

This email was sent to dgoodness@gmail.com.
You can unsubscribe instantaneously by clicking the link below:
http://singularityinstituteforartificialintelligence.cmail5.com/u/351722/81rd4dy4/