Singularity.FM

These are the videos of my presentation at the 2014 Podcamp Toronto. This year I decided that it is best not to speak about podcasting but rather focus on issues familiar to readers of Singularity Weblog – artificial intelligence, transhumanism, and the technological singularity. The session was intended to provide a brief introduction of the […]

Grady Booch is an IBM fellow, best-selling author, software engineer, geek, philosopher, storyteller, entrepreneur and former US air-force serviceman, who used to work on the secret space shuttle military program. If his bio is not enough to make you watch the interview on its own, let me just add that […]

Grady Booch is an IBM fellow, best-selling author, software engineer, geek, philosopher, storyteller, entrepreneur and former US air-force serviceman, who used to work on the secret space shuttle military program. If his bio is not enough to make you watch the interview on its own, let me just add that this was one of the most frank and fun conversations that I have had so far on Singularity 1 on 1. So don't waste any more time reading but hit the play button and watch the interview! During our 50 min conversation with Grady Booch we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: the moral and social implications of software engineering; his upcoming documentary on Computing the Human Experience; the 4 intellectuals who had the greatest impact on him; whether IBM is trying to create an AI or not; the coolest future apps for Watson and whether the NSA is interested; if intelligence is computable or not; the Penrose-Hameroff Orch OR theory of consciousness; determinism, free will and computability; Marvin Minsky and Noam Chomsky's claim that we are not making any progress in general artificial intelligence; Grady's take on the technological singularity and the Turing Test... My favorite quotes that I will take away from this fun interview with Grady Booch are: "Enjoy the beauty in what you are doing but also take and own responsibility!" and "There is a magical world behind that curtain. Open it up! You will be amazed by the things you'll see. [...] Join us on that journey!" (You can listen to/download the audio file above or watch the video interview in full. If you want to help me produce more high-quality episodes like this one please make a donation!)   Who is Grady Booch? Grady is currently developing a major transmedia project on computing; for more information, visit Computing: The Human Experience. Grady is recognized internationally for his innovative work in software architecture, software engineering, and collaborative development environments. He has devoted his life's work to improving the art and the science of software development. Grady served as Chief Scientist of Rational Software Corporation since its founding in 1981 and through its acquisition by IBM in 2003. He now is part of the IBM Almaden Research Laboratory serving as Chief Scientist for Software Engineering, where he continues his work on the Handbook of Software Architecture and also leads several projects in software engineering that are beyond the constraints of immediate product horizons. Grady continues to engage with customers working on real problems and maintains deep relationships with academia and other research organizations around the world. Grady is one of the original authors of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and was also one of the original developers of several of Rational's products. Grady has served as architect and architectural mentor for numerous complex software-intensive systems around the world in just about every domain imaginable. Grady is the author of six best-selling books, including the UML Users Guide and the seminal Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications. He writes a regular column on architecture for IEEE Software. Grady has published several hundred articles on software engineering, including papers published in the early '80s that originated the term and practice of object-oriented design (OOD), plus papers published in the early 2000's that originated the term and practice of collaborative development environments (CDE). You'll find some of those articles available for download at his ACM author profile. Grady is an IBM Fellow, an ACM Fellow, an IEEE Fellow, a World Technology Network Fellow, a Software Development Forum Visionary, and a recipient of Dr. Dobb's Excellence in Programming award plus three Jolt Awards. Grady was a founding board member of the Agile Alliance, the Hillside Group, and the Worldwide Institute of Software Architects,

Grady Booch is an IBM fellow, best-selling author, software engineer, geek, philosopher, storyteller, entrepreneur and former US air-force serviceman, who used to work on the secret space shuttle military program. If his bio is not enough to make you watch the interview on its own, let me just add that this was one of the […]

I first met Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro at last year’s GF2045 conference in New York. Dr. Ishiguro is known around the world for his android, geminoid and telenoid robots and I have been trying to get him on my podcast ever since we met. At last, last week we were able […]

I first met Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro at last year's GF2045 conference in New York. Dr. Ishiguro is known around the world for his android, geminoid and telenoid robots and I have been trying to get him on my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast ever since we met. At last, last week we were able to find an empty slot in his busy schedule and I was able to ask him a few questions. During our 50 min conversation with Dr. Ishiguro we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: how and why he got interested in building androids and geminoids; whether it is possible to build disembodied Artificial Intelligence; what is human; the cultural East-West divide on the perception of robots as being good or evil; the uncanny valley and the Turing Test; the importance of implementing emotions such as pleasure and pain; the differences (or lack thereof) of hardware and software; telenoid robots... (You can listen to/download the audio file above or watch the video interview in full. If you want to help me produce more high-quality episodes like this one please make a donation!)   Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories Mission Statement: The end of the information age will coincide with the beginning of the robot age. However, we will not soon see a world in which humans and androids walk the streets together, like in movies or cartoons; instead, information technology and robotics will gradually fuse so that people will likely only notice when robot technology is already in use in various locations. Our role will be to lead this integration of information and robotics technologies by constantly proposing new scientific and technological concepts. Toward this, knowledge of art and philosophy will be invaluable. Technology has made art "reproducible"; likewise, artistic sense has contributed to the formation of new technologies, and artistic endeavors themselves are supported by philosophical contemplation and analysis. Hereafter, human societies will continue to change due to "informationization" and robotization; in this ever-changing setting, artistic activities and philosophical speculation will allow us to comprehend the essential natures of humans and society, so that we can produce truly novel science and technological innovations in a research space which lies beyond current notions of "fields" and boundaries of existing knowledge. Who is Hiroshi Ishiguro? Ishiguro was born in Shiga in 1963. In high school and university, while growing up, Hiroshi was devoted to painting. At Dr. Hanao Mori’s laboratory in Yamanashi University, he got inspired to learn about robots and computers. Today as a scientist attracting global attention, Hiroshi is focusing his research on humanoid robots such androids, geminoids and telenoids. Having graduated Yamanashi university, Ishiguro started his PhD at Osaka University in 1988. He studied the methodology of research from Dr. Saburo Tsuji and has followed the principle "Seek the fundamental problem" to this day. Dr. Ishiguro has attended Yamanashi University, Osaka University, Kyoto University, University of California and Wakayama University, where has worked on distributed sensor systems and interactive robotics. Currently, Hiroshi is Professor of Department of Systems Innovation in the Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University (2009-). While going around universities, he has continued the research in ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute), and now he is Visiting Group Leader (2002-) of the Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories. He also participated the foundation of Vstone Co.,Ltd. , an academic-industrial venture company aiming for technical transfer. His principle is that robotics is just the philosophy. Dr. Ishiguro is author of Robot to ha nanika? (What is Robot?) and Android Science.

I first met Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro at last year’s GF2045 conference in New York. Dr. Ishiguro is known around the world for his android, geminoid and telenoid robots and I have been trying to get him on my podcast ever since we met. At last, last week we were able to find an empty slot […]

Alexander Hayes is an Australian researcher and Ph.D. candidate investigating the social implications of augmented reality (AR) technologies such as Google Glass. I met Hayes during last year’s ISTAS13 conference in Toronto and the consequent UAV Drones: Pros vs Cons symposium, where he was one of the key organizers. During […]

Alexander Hayes is an Australian researcher and Ph.D. candidate investigating the social implications of augmented reality (AR) technologies such as Google Glass. I met Hayes during last year’s ISTAS13 conference in Toronto and the consequent UAV Drones: Pros vs Cons symposium, where he was one of the key organizers. During the course of these events […]

Bre Pettis is the charismatic founder and CEO of MakerBot – one of the most disruptive companies ushering in a revolution in personal manufacturing. If you ever heard of or want to know more about the latest in 3D printing then you have to know about Bre and MakerBot. And […]

Bre Pettis is the charismatic founder and CEO of MakerBot - one of the most disruptive companies ushering in a revolution in personal manufacturing. If you ever heard of or want to know more about the latest in 3D printing then you have to know about Bre and MakerBot. And so I knew that I simply had to find a way to get Pettis on my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. During our 1 hour conversation with Bre we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: his personal journey from being a teacher, puppeteer and popular podcaster to starting the most disruptive 3D printing company; founding the NYC Resistor hacker space and writing The Cult of Done Manifesto; MakerBot and the commitment to firmware and software updates that make your 3D printer better; why specs such as printing resolution are less important than ease of use; his desire to empower people and democratize manufacturing; the pros and cons of open source vs a startup for-profit company; copyright and the thingiverse; the limits of 3D printing and recycling the world into filament... My favorite quotes that I will take away from this interview with Bre Pettis are: "If you want it badly enough - go out and make it!" and "Take your passion and apply a MakerBot to it!" (You can listen to/download the audio file above or watch the video interview in full. If you want to help me produce more high-quality episodes like this one please make a donation!)   Who is Bre Pettis? Bre Pettis has led MakerBot, a global leader in 3D printing technology, as CEO since its beginning in 2009, but has a long history of making things and inspiring others to make things. Prior to co-founding MakerBot, Pettis co-founded the Brooklyn hacker collective NYC Resistor, where MakerBot technology was first concocted, tested, and proven. He was instrumental in building the first prototypes of MakerBot’s 3D printers, and has become known worldwide as a leading evangelist for personal manufacturing. In 2006, Bre started the popular “Weekend Projects” video podcast for Make:Magazine, where he taught millions of viewers to make things from pinhole cameras to bicycles to hovercrafts. He also introduced the blog at the popular online handcrafts marketplace, Etsy. Prior to both endeavors, Bre was an art teacher in the Seattle Public Schools system. Today, he serves on the board of Local Motors, a company dedicated to reinventing the automobile through open-source, crowd-powered design. Bre is passionate about providing the tools for individuals and organisations to create the world around them. He has spoken publicly about empowering students to solve the problems of the future, and worked behind the scenes to bring professional-quality 3D printing technology into the hands of average consumers. In 2012, Bre was honored with the Disruptive Innovation Award from the Tribeca Film Festival, for "creating an entire ecosystem for desktop 3D printing." Foreign Policy named him #60 on their list of 2013 Global Thinkers. He has been a highly sought-after speaker and interview subject, gracing the cover of numerous magazines (most recently Wired), and been a guest on The Colbert Report, and many more. MakerBot was featured in the October 2012 edition of Fast Company as a 2012 Innovation by Design awardees, as well as in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Engadget, Make:Magazine, Rolling Stone, Time, IEEE Spectrum, CNN, Financial Times, NPR, Vogue Italia and many others. Bre lives in Brooklyn with his partner Kio Stark and their daughter, Nika.   Related articles Gabor Forgacs: We live in a time when it is really difficult to say “This is impossible!”

Bre Pettis is the charismatic founder and CEO of MakerBot – one of the most disruptive companies ushering in a revolution in personal manufacturing. If you ever heard of or want to know more about the latest in 3D printing then you have to know about Bre and MakerBot. And so I knew that I […]

The first time I saw Dr. Gabor Forgacs was at last year’s fantastic Idea City conference in Toronto and, after his passionate presentation on bio-printed suffering-free leather, I knew that I will have to find a way to get him on my podcast. Dr. Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned […]

The first time I saw Dr. Gabor Forgacs was at last year's fantastic Idea City conference in Toronto and, after his passionate presentation on bio-printed suffering-free leather, I knew that I will have to find a way to get him on my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. Dr. Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned tissue-engineer turned entrepreneur. His companies are pioneering 3D bio-printing technologies that will produce tissues for medical and pharmaceutical uses, as well as for consumption, in the form of meat and leather. During our 45 min conversation with Gabor we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: his journey from theoretical physics into bio-printing and entrepreneurship; the founding and goals behind Organovo and Modern Meadow; bio-printing of human organs, meat and leather; "cultured" vs "in-vitro" vs "Frankenstein" meat; his greatest dream... My favorite quote that I will take away from this interview with Dr. Forgacs is: "Dream, dream, dream! [...] We live in a time when it is really difficult to say: "This is impossible!"" (You can listen to/download the audio file above or watch the video interview in full. If you want to help me produce more high-quality episodes like this one please make a donation!)   Who is Gabor Forgacs? Dr. Gabor Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned bioengineer turned innovator and entrepreneur. He is the George H. Vineyard Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Executive and Scientific Director of the Shipley Center for Innovation at Clarkson University and scientific founder of Organovo, Inc. and Modern Meadow, Inc. He was trained as a theoretical physicist at the Roland Eotvos University, Budapest, Hungary and the Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics, Moscow, USSR. He also has a degree in biology. His research interests span from topics in theoretical physics to physical mechanisms in early embryonic development. He is the co-author of the celebrated text in the field, “Biological Physics of the Developing Embryo” (Cambridge University Press, 2005) that discusses the fundamental morphogenetic mechanisms evident in early development. These mechanisms are being applied to building living structures of prescribed shape and functionality using bioprinting, a novel tissue engineering technology he pioneered. He is the author of over 160 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 5 books. He has been recognized by numerous awards and citations. In particular, he was named as one of the “100 most innovative people in business in 2010” by FastCompany   Company Profile: Organovo At Organovo, we design and create functional human tissues using our proprietary three-dimensional bioprinting technology. Our goal is to build living human tissues that are proven to function like native tissues. With reproducible 3D tissues that accurately represent human biology, we are enabling ground-breaking therapies by: Partnering with biopharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers to design, build, and validate more predictive in vitro tissues for disease modeling and toxicology. Giving researchers something they have never had before: the opportunity to test drugs on functional human tissues before ever administering the drug to a living person; bridging the gulf between preclinical testing and clinical trials. Creating functional, three dimensional tissues that can be implanted or delivered into the human body to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissues.  

The first time I saw Dr. Gabor Forgacs was at last year’s fantastic Idea City conference in Toronto and, after his passionate presentation on bio-printed suffering-free leather, I knew that I will have to find a way to get him on my podcast. Dr. Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned tissue-engineer turned entrepreneur. His companies […]