By Alex Wissner-Gross
President and Chief Scientist of Gemedy; IACS Fellow, Harvard University
Harvard Institute for Applied Computational Science
2016

What is the critical path to achieving artificial superintelligence? This talk will explore the computational science and engineering issues associated with defining intelligence, the role of large datasets in accelerating AI breakthroughs, and strategies for detecting and managing the emergence of superhuman AI.

The question of whether Machines Can Think… is about as relevant as the question of whether Submarines Can Swim.

‒ Edsger W. Dijkstra

What is intelligence? (23’00”)

Intelligence is a force, or at least it can be modelled as a force, that maximizes future freedom of action either in thermodynamic terms if you are a statistical physicist or in information terms if you are a computer scientist.

Intelligent behavior can be defined as a force that tries to climb a gradient landscape and maximize the future freedom of action.