From: Colin Hales (colin@versalog.com.au)
Date: Tue Aug 27 2002 - 15:34:42 MDT
Damien Broderick
>
> Is he a dud? Why no, he's now an Associate Prof at Utah.
> http://www.cs.usu.edu/~degaris/
>
I have had a few email swaps with Prof De Garis, mostly related to the
safety and ethical issues of AI - as you may know - he's got his books full
of the 'Terran/Cosmist' divided future. I detect that fine line of the
recurrent depressive is being walked. There's no shortage of passion that
sometimes seems to put on the 'obsessive' clothing. [Something I can relate
to? Nah. :-) ]. I always remember him in that joint TV interview
with...Penrose?...I think it was.. He didn't look good - that was when the
personal life go the upper hand for a bit, I think. He still made the
Penrose argument look a bit shabby, but doing that has turned into a cottage
industry in recent years.
(Hugo's one of my mottley collection of 'mindsmiths' which I have been
quietly accruing. Eliezer just found out he's one too!. So far there's a
massive 8 of us. Slim pickings for the singularity. Quality, not quantity, I
say!)
I have a feeling that the AI side may get lost in the quest for quantum
computing. I also wonder if the belief in massive online optimisation of an
amorphous collection of neurons is missing some structure fundamentals and
therefore leading you to think that you need ....massive online optimisation
of an amorphous collection of neurons. There's stuff in the DNA, but there's
also a lot to learn from embryology (brain phylogenics). There may be a
little of the 'silver bullet' (evolutionary method) syndrome creeping into
his mindset.
Wherever he's been there's jetsam that still does something, even if it
wasn't what it started out doing. Worth keeping an eye on, I reckon.
Cheers
Colin
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