Steve Omohundro on Singularity 1 on 1: It’s Time To Envision Who We Are And Where We Want To Go

Summary: Steve Omohundro is a scientist, professor, author, and entrepreneur who has a Ph.D. in physics but has spent decades studying intelligent systems and artificial intelligence. His research into the basic "AI Drives" was featured in James Barrat’s recent book Our Final Invention and has been generating international interest. And so I was very happy to get Dr. Omohundro on my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast. During our 1 hour conversation we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: his personal path starting with a PhD in physics and ending into AI; his unique time with Richard Feynman; the goals, motivation and vision behind is work; Omai Ventures and Self Aware Systems; the definition of AI; Rational Decision Making and the Turing Test; provably safe mathematical systems and AI scaffolding; hard vs soft singularity take-offs... (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 Steve Omohundro? Steve Omohundro has been a scientist, professor, author, software architect, and entrepreneur doing research that explores the interface between mind and matter. He has degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Stanford and a Ph.D. in Physics from U.C. Berkeley. Dr. Omohundro was a computer science professor at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and co-founded the Center for Complex Systems Research. He published the book Geometric Perturbation Theory In Physics, designed the programming languages StarLisp and Sather, wrote the 3D graphics system for Mathematica, and built systems which learn to read lips, control robots, and induce grammars. Steve has worked with many research labs and startup companies. He is the president of Self-Aware Systems, a Palo Alto think tank working to ensure that intelligent technologies have a positive impact on humanity. His research into the basic "AI Drives" was featured in James Barrat's recent book Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era and has been generating international interest.   Related articles Marvin Minsky on Singularity 1 on 1: The Turing Test is a Joke! Noam Chomsky: The Singularity is Science Fiction! Chris Eliasmith on Singularity 1 on 1: We Have Not Yet Learned What The Brain Has To Teach Us! Roman Yampolskiy on Singularity 1 on 1: Every Technology Has Both Negative and Positive Effects! Singularity 1 on 1: James Barrat on Our Final Invention Stephen Wolfram on Singularity 1 on 1: To Understand the Future, Explore the Computational Universe