Re: [agi] AI on TV

[maitri]

Ben,   I just read the Bio.  You gave alot more play to his ideas than the show did.  You probably know this, but Starlab has folded and I think he was off to the states...   The show seemed to indicate that nothing of note ever came out of the project.  In fact, it appeared to not generate one new network .  What they didn't detail was the cause of this.  It could have ben hardware related, I don't know.  They were also having serious contract problems with the Russian fellow who built it.  He had effectively disabled the machine from the US until he got some more money, which eventually killed the whole thing.  What a waste.  Maybe you can buy the machine off Ebay now.  They said it would be auctioned...   They did give alot of play to his seemingly contrarion ideas about the implications of his work.  It was a rather dismal outlook on societies lack of general acceptance of AI and\or enhancement.  I hope he was off base in this area, but I wouldn't be surprised if a small group of radical anti-AI people emerge with hostile intent.  Another good reason to not be so visible!!   Kevin ----- Original Message ----- From: Ben Goertzel To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, December 09, 2002 11:26 AM Subject: RE: [agi] AI on TV   There was a show on the tube last night on TechTV.  It was part of their weekly Secret, Strange and True series.  They chronicled three guys who are working on creating advanced AI.    One guy was from Belgium.  My apologies to him if he reads this list, but he was a rather quirky and stressed character.  He had designed a computer that was basically a collection of chips.  He raised a million and had it built on spec.  I gather he was expecting something to miraculously emerge from this collection, but alas, nothing did.  It was really stressful watching his stress.  He had very high visibility in the country and the pressure was immense as he promised a lot.  I have real doubts about his approach, even though I am a lay-AI person.  Also, its clear from watching him that its sometimes good to have shoestring budgets and low visibility.  Less stress and more forced creativity in your approach...    Kevin:  Was the guy from Belgium perhaps Hugo de Garis??  [Who is not in Belgium anymore, but who designed a radical hardware based approach to AGI, and who is a bit of a quirky guy?? ...]   I visited Hugo at Starlab [when it existed] in Brussels in mid-2001   See my brief bio of Hugo at    http://www.goertzel.org/benzine/deGaris.htm     -- Ben G