Re: [singularity] Vinge Goerzel = Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop 2007
Any comments on this: http://news.com.com/2100-11395_3-6160372.html Google has been mentioned in the context of AGI, simply because they have money, parallel processing power, excellent people, an orientation towards technological innovation, and important narrow AI successes and research goals. Do Page's words mean that Google is seriously working towards AGI? If so, does anyone know the people involved? Do they have a chance and do they understand the need for Friendliness? Also: Vinge's notes on his Long Now Talk, What If the Singularity Does NOT Happen are at http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/vinge/longnow/index.htm I'm delighted to see counter-Singularity analysis from a respected Singularity thinker. This further reassurance that the the flip-side is being considered deepens my beliefs in pro-Singularity arguments. Joshua - This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983
Re: [singularity] Vinge Goerzel = Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop 2007
Joshua Fox wrote: Any comments on this: http://news.com.com/2100-11395_3-6160372.html Google has been mentioned in the context of AGI, simply because they have money, parallel processing power, excellent people, an orientation towards technological innovation, and important narrow AI successes and research goals. Do Page's words mean that Google is seriously working towards AGI? If so, does anyone know the people involved? Do they have a chance and do they understand the need for Friendliness? This topic has come up intermittently over the last few years... Google can't be counted out, since they have a lot of $$ and machines and a lot of smart people. However, no one has ever pointed out to me a single Google hire with a demonstrated history of serious thinking about AGI -- as opposed to statistical language processing, machine learning, etc. That doesn't mean they couldn't have some smart staff who shifted research interest to AGI after moving to Google, but it doesn't seem tremendously likely. Please remember that the reward structure for technical staff within Google is as follows: Big bonuses and copious approval go to those who do cool stuff that actually gets incorporated in Google's customer offerings I don't have the impression they are funding a lot of blue-sky AGI research outside the scope of text search, ad placement, and other things related to their biz model. So, my opinion remains that: Google staff described as working on AI are almost surely working on clever variants of highly scalable statistical language processing. So, if you believe that this kind of work is likely to lead to powerful AGI, then yeah, you should attach a fairly high probability to the outcome that Google will create AGI. Personally I think it's very unlikely (though not impossible) that AGI is going to emerge via this route. Evidence arguing against this opinion is welcomed ;-) -- Ben G Also: Vinge's notes on his Long Now Talk, What If the Singularity Does NOT Happen are at http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/vinge/longnow/index.htm http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/vinge/longnow/index.htm I'm delighted to see counter-Singularity analysis from a respected Singularity thinker. This further reassurance that the the flip-side is being considered deepens my beliefs in pro-Singularity arguments. Joshua This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983 - This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983
Re: [singularity] Vinge Goerzel = Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop 2007
I saw a talk about a year or two ago where one of the Google founders was asked if they had projects to build general purpose artificial intelligence. He answered that they did not have such a project at the company level, however they did have many AI people in the company, some of whom where interested in this kind of thing. Indeed a few people were playing around with such projects as part of their 20% free time in the company. Shane - This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983
Re: [singularity] Vinge Goerzel = Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop 2007
Ben wrote: That doesn't mean they couldn't have some smart staff who shifted research interest to AGI after moving to Google, but it doesn't seem tremendously likely. I don't agree. Google is a form of research engine that enables information in grose load. How you decyfer it, is up to the individual. Having the advantage of learning about so many new interests may lead to new conclusive ideas. Ben: I don't have the impression they are funding a lot of blue-sky AGI ... I would have to agree but I think they will become more wise regarding the how important research is regarding AGI. Ben wrote: So, my opinion remains that: Google staff described as working on AI are almost surely working on clever variants of highly scalable statistical language processing. So, if you believe that this kind of work is likely to lead to powerful AGI, then yeah, you should attach a fairly high probability to the outcome that Google will create AGI. Personally I think it's very unlikely (though not impossible) that AGI is going to emerge via this route. I think an AGI will be a mix of both a Google staff as well as a working clever variant. Thanks Anna:) On 2/19/07, Shane Legg [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I saw a talk about a year or two ago where one of the Google founders was asked if they had projects to build general purpose artificial intelligence. He answered that they did not have such a project at the company level, however they did have many AI people in the company, some of whom where interested in this kind of thing. Indeed a few people were playing around with such projects as part of their 20% free time in the company. Shane - This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983 - This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983
[singularity] Vinge Goerzel = Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop 2007
IEET fellow, Jamais Cascio, blogs Vernor Vinge Ben Goertzel concerning Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop in San Diego (Feb 4-5, 2007): blog post: http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20070208 snip: Instead, we ran right past the human++ scenario right into the Singularity---and with Vernor Vinge http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/vinge/misc/singularity.html in attendance, this is hardly surprising. (Not that Vinge is dead-certain that the Singularity is on its way; when he speaks next week at the Long Now seminar http://longnow.org/projects/seminars/ in San Francisco, he'll be covering what change looks like in a world where a Singularity doesn't happen.) This group of philosophers and writers really take the Singularity concept seriously, and not for Kurzweilian let's all get uploaded into Heaven 2.0 reasons. Their recurring question had a strong evolutionary theme: what niche is left for humans if machines become ascendant? The conversation about the Singularity touched on more than science fiction stories, because of the attendance of Ben Goertzel http://www.goertzel.org/, a cognitive science/computer science specialist who runs a company called Novamente http://www.novamente.net/---a company with the express goal of creating the first Artificial General Intelligence http://www.agiri.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page (AGI). He has a working theory of how to do it, some early prototypes http://www.novamente.net/engine/ (that for now exist solely in virtual environments), and a small number of employees in the US and Brazil. He says that with the right funding, his team would be able to produce a working AGI system within ten years http://www.goertzel.org/papers/tenyears.htm. With his current funding, it might take a bit longer. Uplift Academy's Good Ancestor Principle Workshop 2007: http://www.upliftacademy.org/wiki/index.php?title=GAP2007 - This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983
