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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.

8 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 Kingrames · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't talk to me about life.

      --
      If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
    2. 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."
    3. 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.
    4. 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. 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.
  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion