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Two AI Pioneers, Two Bizarre Suicides

Posted by Soulskill on from the unfortunate-losses dept.

BotnetZombie writes "Wired tells the quite sad but very interesting stories of Chris McKinstry and Pushpinder Singh. Initially self-educated, both had the idea to create huge fact databases from which AI agents could feed, hoping to eventually have something that could reason at a human level or better. McKinstry leveraged the dotcom era to grow his database. Singh had the backing of MIT, where he eventually got his PhD and had been offered a position as a professor alongside his mentor, Marvin Minsky. Sadly, personal life was more troublesome for them, and the story ends in a tragic way.

19 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Skynet got them! by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... and we're coming for you next.

  2. They just wanted... by KodaK · · Score: 3, Funny

    to make friends. :(

    --
    --J(K) DOS is like Unix in exactly the same way that a pinto is like an aircraft carrier.
    1. Re:They just wanted... by mixenmaxen · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think you mean Geek tragedy

    2. Re:They just wanted... by Chrutil · · Score: 2, Funny

      >> That's about as close to Greek Tragedy as you can get.

      Indeed. This Geek Tragedy is only an 'r' away from being Greek.

    3. Re:They just wanted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      imagine yourself pulling your pants down and manly claiming "Here's the wild anaconda for you baby!". And your loveBot bursts into uncontrollable laughing. Now that's novelty.

    4. Re:They just wanted... by Kingrames · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't talk to me about life.

      --
      If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
    5. Re:They just wanted... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      This Geek Tragedy is only an 'r' away from being Greek.

      And it's only an AI away from "I take ye dagger."

    6. Re:They just wanted... by king-manic · · Score: 4, Funny

      You could easily just manually change emotions (erm. . state values) and the algorithms that define them, etc. Think of it as putting your robot on anti-depressants. People are like this as well. If you want to set the "batshit crazy" value in your GF just say "hey honey, I'm going for coffee with my Ex-GF."
      --
      "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
    7. Re:They just wanted... by Plutonite · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're growing boobs and the irony is that unlike most men, you wouldn't even get turned on by fondling them. ???

    8. Re:They just wanted... by AJWM · · Score: 2, Funny

      This Geek Tragedy is only an 'r' away from being Greek.

      So then, Geek Tragedy is like Greek Tragedy but without the pirates?

      --
      -- Alastair
    9. Re:They just wanted... by unlametheweak · · Score: 2, Funny

      why would you want to give robots feelings? I mean the novelty would be great, but the whole point is to make robots that do our bidding, not ones that go around moping half the time. I think Marvin would disagree, you androidaphobe!
    10. Re:They just wanted... by dotancohen · · Score: 4, Funny

      My thoughts exactly. I get turned on by fondling my own dick, but I'm not gay.

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
    11. Re:They just wanted... by fractoid · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think it is more akin to what the mapping of the human gnome project is. Mapping human gnomes?
      ...first they came for the gnomes, but I did not cry out, because I was not a gnome. O.o
      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  3. Re:McKinstry was a kook by Splab · · Score: 2, Funny

    You just answer "mu".

  4. Ah yes, Mindpixel by xC0000005 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Chris was best remembered on K5 for his article on how exciting it was to see what a cat sees by chopping the eye out and wiring it up. I suggested that he perform a simpler test - fill the cat's bowl with food and set the bowl down. If the cat sees the bowl and comes, we know what the cat can see - its food bowl. No cats were harmed in the making of my experiment. Despite this, it was still informational.

    --
    www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
  5. My How Innovative by Layth · · Score: 2, Funny

    A "fact" database.. where ever did they get the idea of storing knowledge as a resource for intelligence?

    That is totally out of left field.
    I feel like a child by the ocean, dwarfed next to such massively innovative thinking.

  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. Genuine people personalities? by Cheesey · · Score: 2, Funny

    WISE OLD BIRD: Now listen. Our world suffered two blights. One was the blight of the robot.
    ARTHUR: Tried to take over did they?
    WISE OLD BIRD: Oh my dear fellow, no, no, no, no, no. Much worse than that. They told us they liked us.
    ARTHUR: No?!
    WISE OLD BIRD: Well, it's not their fault, poor things, they'd been programmed to. But you can imagine how we felt, or at least our ancestors.
    ARTHUR: Ghastly.
    Eerily prescient, that. AI is "Clippy" - the computer guesses what you are trying to do and tries to help you, invariably making any task more difficult unless you can second-guess the heuristics. Don't pretend you want to help me! Give me a shell and obey my commands, that's all I ask.
    --
    >north
    You're an immobile computer, remember?
  8. I have this old e-diary of Chris'... by patagoniantoothfish · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...but all it says is "My responses are limited. Please try to ask the right questions"