I’m on the Advisory Board of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence which is doing important work on the social consequences of artificial intelligence. On September 8-9, 2007 I spoke at their conference on AI and the Future of Humanity at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts. About 1000 people attended, including over 40 different media outlets. The audio for my talk is now available online:

Steve Omohundro talk on “The Nature of Self-Improving Artificial Intelligence”

as is the question and answer session:

Peter Voss and Steve Omohundro panel discussion

Eventually, edited video of the talks will also be available.

Two podcasts recorded in preparation for the conference are also available:

ZDNet Steve Omohundro interview with Dan Farber

Podcast Network Steve Omohundro interview with Cameron Reilly

There was lots of press coverage of the summit, some positive and some negative. One of the most thoughtful pieces was Ronald Bailey’s in Reason Magazine. It’s fascinating to see one’s reflection in the media. I was amused by Chris Matyszczyk’s description on Zdnet:

“Steve Omohundro is a very brave man. He’s tall, he’s confident, he’s enthusiastic. And he’s wearing an expensive leather jacket. He can be a hero. And he wants to design a perfect humanoid robot, one that does no evil.”

Copyright 2007 Stephen M. Omohundro