From: Leonardo Gonzalez (magos@extropian.net)
Date: Sun Nov 28 1999 - 03:32:48 MST
The following is a response to a query about funding on the self-aware AI
mailing list at topica.com. I am cross-posting to the extropian list in
hopes it will be of interest to others. Thank you for your input!
I started brainstorming...
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Sources of funding:
* Government organizations
|- Grants
|- Fellowships
|- Research stipends
* Professional associations
|- Awards
|- Fellowships
* Commercial enterprises
|- R&D funding/contracting
|- Venture capital for start-up
Is there anything I missed?
Optimally, these sources could be combined. For example, receiving a
fellowship to do research at a university, being paid a stipend, receiving
government grants and awards from professional associations, and as the
icing on the cake, having some corporation take interest in your project and
provide additional funding.
I am going to create a web site with resources of interest to researchers in
many fields including AI, which I should have ready some time in January. I
think funding opportunities would be a great asset, so I will do some
investigating in this area.
-------------
Research groups:
Some of the sources of funding will be for established research groups at
universities. Others will be for research at government institutions. Yet
others might be awarded to individual/independent investigators.
What goals should we pursue here?
* Do we each do our own thing, and try to find funding on our own?
This would make most sense in the context of us each being independent or
affiliated with our own universities or research institutions. Funding
sources would likely be university fellowships and/or government grants.
* Do we form a research group?
This would allow collaborative research and distributed development.
Funding sources might involve grants from government organizations. Perhaps
it would be possible to receive funding from and use resources at several
universities.
* Do we go commercial?
The commercial applications for a self-aware AI are boundless. We could
contract ourselves out to corporate R&D labs. We might sell or rent our
intellectual property. We could even create our own start-up company
specializing in self-aware AI R&D, creating innovative products and
providing unparalleled services, spinning off various commercial
subdivisions, and leasing our technology to other corporations.
The latter is my hope for Extropian Technologies, which alas, is only an
Internet Services and Technology Consulting company at the moment. Come to
think of it, our commercial enterprise might indeed involve Internet
services and technology consulting, though at an entirely different scale.
=)
My feeling is that these options might be best exercised chronologically
from first to last. First, we get involved in research at universities.
Then we'll run our own labs or programs there, and create the opportunity
for collaboration with other institutions. Eventually, we'll be in a
position to launch a joint project and create a new research institution.
We'll lease a few patents, contract at some corporate think tanks, and gain
enough industry experience to make the commercial transition a successful
one.
8)
Any thoughts?
Leonardo Gonzalez
Extropian Technologies
magos@extropian.net
Cellular: (831) 840-0433
Fax: (831) 840-0420
http://extropian.net
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