RE: Singularity Institute - update

From: Ben Goertzel (ben@goertzel.org)
Date: Wed Apr 30 2003 - 19:15:32 MDT


> Any AI group that does not spend
> years thinking about FAI and then build their AI from the ground up using
> a deeply understood detailed correct theory of Friendly AI will not build
> a Friendly AI, period.

Well, if you could write a book or essay or even an epic hip-hop poem making
a convincing argument for this point, that would be excellent ;-)

> > b) Giving you more direct credibility. Scientific publications,
> > technical books, and mainstream credentials all increase your ability
> > to raise funds from private sources, acquire funds in the form of
> > grants, and convince others of your ideas.
>
> They increase them very little.

Actually, i don't think this is true. I think that official credentials
would significantly enhance your chances of raising funding. However, I'm
not sure they have to be *your* credentials. Having SIAI allied with a few
people who have good names in the AI community would certainly go a long way
toward enhancing the funding outlook.

Even if philanthropists are rationalists, they may not have time, energy or
inclination to follow all your deep arguments in detail. They may prefer to
rely on people with credentials to do the evaluation of your work's merit
for them. And the fact is that evaluators who have credentials tend to
place more trust in individuals with similar credentials. That is the human
world that we're living in, and raising money in.

> If
> someone is currently interested in AI, it means they have a head stuffed
> full of the misleading information that currently predominates in the
> field - philosophicalish anti-knowledge.

Hmmm... I have found that non-AI-experts who are interested in AI
(including potential donators/investors) have their heads relatively free of
misleading ideas about AI. In many cases, it's the AI experts who have
their heads more full of illusions about the nature of mind ;)

-- Ben G



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