Dharmendra S. Modha

My Work and Thoughts.

Archives for August 2006

Sample Press Coverage for the 2006 Almaden Institute on Cognitive Computing

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I am indebted to my colleagues, Sara Delekta Galligan and Jenny Hunter, for compiling the following information:

Red Herring: Q&A: IBM’s Dharmendra Modha (5/6/06)
http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=16764&hed=Q%26amp%3bA%3a+IBM%e2%80%99s+Dharmendra+Modha#

ZDNet:  Blueprinting the human brain (5/10/06)
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6071061.html

CNET: Blueprinting the human brain (5/10/06)
https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/blueprinting-the-human-brain-1/

San Francisco Chronicle blog:  The Tech Chronicles:  Hal-like computer simulation rattles brain conference (5/10/06)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=5076

The J Curve (VC Steve Jurvetson’s blog):  Upload (5/10/06)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/144240941/

The J Curve (VC Steve Jurvetson’s blog):  Art Imitates Life (5/10/06)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/144309398/

Krasnow Director’s Column (Jim Olds–conference attendee) (5/10/06)
http://krasnow.blogspot.com/

CNET: This is your brain on a microchip (5/11/06)
http://news.com.com/This+is+your+brain+on+a+microchip/2100-11395_3-6071404.html

Red Herring: Making Computers Smarter (5/10/06)
http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=16834&hed=Making+Computers+Smarter

Pasta & Vinegar: From Artificial Intelligence to Cognitive Computing (5/7/06)
http://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/staf/nova/blog/2006/05/07/from-artifical-intelligence-to-cognitive-computing/

Positive Technology Journal (blog): Cognitive Computing (5/7/06)
http://gaggio.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/05/07/cognitive-computing.html

Ultimate Mind (R & D of the mind blog): (5/9/06)
http://www.cythor.com/cyblogs/index.php?title=2006_almaden_institute_conference_on_cog&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Krasnow Director’s Column (Jim Olds–conferenece attendee): Blogging on the road (again)  (5/9/06)
http://krasnow.blogspot.com/

AI in the News (american association for artificial intelligence) (5/6/06)
http://www.aaai.org/aitopics/html/current.html#head

BigNewsNetwork.com: RedHerring Q & A (5/7/06)
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=8f0a4dded0fe967e&cat=6034630751577834

Digg.com: Blueprinting the Human Brain (5/10/06)
http://digg.com/science/Blueprinting_The_Human_Brain_
 
TechNews Forum: Mapping the Brain (5/11/06)
http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/viewstory.php?p=622194

BetterHumans.com: 2006 Almaden Institute – Cognitive Computing (6/11/06)
http://www.betterhumans.com/blogs/sagan/archive/2006/06/11/8143.aspx

Red Herring: Q&A– Gerald Edelman (6/26/06)
http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17326&hed=Q%26amp%3bA%3a+Gerald+Edelman

New York Times: Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into Daily Life (7/18/06)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/technology/18brain.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th

United Press International: NewsTrack- Robots are becoming part of everyday life (7/18/06)
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060718-111526-7703r

Digg.com: Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into Daily Life (7/18/06)
http://digg.com/tech_news/Brainy_Robots_Start_Stepping_Into_Daily_Life

International Herald Tribune: Brainy Robots Roll Towards Real World (7/18/06)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/18/business/brain.php

Amherst Times (NY): Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into Daily Life (7/18/06)
http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2216&Itemid=27

Tuscaloosa News (AL): Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into Daily Life (7/18/06)
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/ZNYT01/607180368

The Ledger (FL): Brainy Robots Stepping Into Daily Life (7/18/06)
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/ZNYT01/607180413/1001/BUSINESS

Spartenburg Herald (SC): Brainy Robots Stepping Into Daily Life(7/18/06)
http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/ZNYT01/607180352/1051/news01

AOLNews.com: Brainy Robots Stepping Into Daily Life(7/18/06)
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/brainy-robots-start-stepping-into-daily/20060718104109990006

Red Herring: Dartmouth Marks AI’s Birthday (7/16/06)
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17590&hed=Dartmouth+Marks+AI+Anniversary&sector=Capital&subsector=EconomyAndPolicy

Red Herring, print issue: Computers That Think, Really (8/7/06)
http://redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=18008&hed=Computers+That+Think%2c+Really

ZDNet: Putting your brain on a microchip (5/12/06)
http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020439,39268542,00.htm

< p>Global Research: Blueprinting the human brain
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060516&articleId=2453

Bellacio:  Blueprinting the human brain
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=11977

The Latest Brain Injury News and Developments: 3D Computer Stimulation of Human Brain (5/22/06)
http://braininjury.blogs.com/braininjury/2006/05/3d_computer_sti.html

Read This Blog! High Order Ignorance (5/10/06)
http://readthisblog.net/2006/05/10/

Read This Blog! Avoiding Deepest Ignorance (5/11/06)
http://readthisblog.net/2006/05/11/avoiding-deepest-ignorance/

KurzweilAI.net Newsletter: Almaden Institute’s ‘Cognitive Computing’ videos available online (6/5/06)
http://www.kurzweilai.net/almaden-institute-s-cognitive-computing-videos-available-online

Inorganic Brain: Awesome!!! web site and information (06/05/06)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=36024782&blogID=129334010

Traveling Through the Wire: Almaden Institute’s Cognitive Computing Videos (6/6/06)
http://www.lvx23.com/weblog/archives/2006/06/cognitive_compu.html

LVX23Cab Driver for the Soul (6/6/06)
http://www.lvx23.com/weblog/archives/2006/06/cognitive_compu.html

“anthromorphizing robots and deconstructing humans”

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Today, at Almaden, we had a wonderful time with David Calkins who is the President of the Robotics Society of America.

David gave an engaging talk describing several robots: Sony’s Aibo, Honda’s Asimo, Kawada’s Promet, TMSUK, Kokoro Dreams’ Dinosaurs, Actroid, Sony’s QRIO, a traffic directing robot, Stanford’s Stanley, and Sanryu’s fire-fighting robot. He also reported seeing trumpet playing robots from Toyota! It is quite interesting to note that most robots on this list are made in Japan.

He described several competitions, for example, Trinity College’s Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest.

He lamented the fact that Sony sunset Aibo and QRIO.

He described a number of fascinating potential applications: remembering names at a cocktail party, reading emails, building a relationship with elderly and young, early detection of lonely dead people in homes, entertainment, security, fire-fighting, etc. Without mincing words, he said that we need robots for (guilt-free) "slavery"!

We had an obligatory discussion on whether robots will take over the world!

People feel intimidated when dealing with robots that are taller than themselves. This explains the size of Honda’s Asimo.

Looking to the future, the basic thought is that while we can build extremely smart mechanical contraptions and equip them with complicated "if-then-else" rules, these machines do not possess cognitive intelligence. For example, it is hard to recognize faces, to detect dirty clothes, to distinguish a dangerous fire from a pleasant fireplace or just a hot light bulb, or to distinguish a real person from a photograph. He feels that cognitive intelligence will eventually be conquered, but machines exhibiting consciousness will never be built.

He ended with a beautiful statement that he is (and, sometimes, all of us are) guilty of "anthromorphizing robots and deconstructing humans". He is currently searching for a definition of a robot!

2006 Almaden Institute on Cognitive Computing

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On May 10-11, 2006, I chaired IBM’s Almaden Institute on Cognitive Computing.

The Institute examined scientific and technological issues around the quest to understand how the human brain works. And, examined approaches to understanding cognition that unify neurological, biological, psychological, mathematical, computational, and information-theoretic insights. We focussed on the search for global, top-down theories of cognition that are consistent with known bottom-up, neurobiological facts and serve to explain a broad range of observed cognitive phenomena. The ultimate goal, of course, is to understand how and when can we mechanize cognition.

The Institute featured prominent speakers and panelists: Nobelist Gerald Edelman, The Neurosciences Institute, Henry Markram, EPFL/BlueBrain, Robert Hecht-Nielsen, UCSD, Jeff Hawkins, Palm/Numenta, James Albus, NIST, Theodore Berger, USC, Kwabena Boahen, Stanford, Ralph Linsker, IBM, Jerry Swartz, The Swartz Foundation, V. S. Ramachandran, UCSD, John Searle, UC Berkeley, Joaquin Fuster, UCLA, Leslie Valiant, Harvard University, Toby Berger, University of Virginia, and Christof Koch, Caltech.

The Institute brought together over 165 attendees from over 57 different institutions:

    UNIVERSITIES: Brandeis, CalTech, EPFL, George Mason, Harvard, SFSU, Stanford, Rockefeller, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC Merced, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, University of Massachusetts, University of Nevada, USC, University of Virginia, The Neurosciences Institute,

    GOVERNMENT:  Air Force, CIA, DARPA, NIST, NIH, ONR

    INDUSTRY & GOV LABS: Allen Institute of Brain Science, Honda, Hitachi, House Ear Institute, Intel, JPL, LBNL, MSRI, Mitsubishi, PARC, Samsung, Santa Fe, SRI, Yahoo!

    START-UPs/VENTURE CAPITALISTS: Draper Fisher Jurvetson, KPMG, Numenta, Posit Science, Security First Corp., Symbol Technologies, Sutter Hill Ventures, Technology Partners, The Intellisis Corporation

    MEDIA: CNET, New York Times, Red Herring, San Francisco Chronicle, Scientific American, The Register, Wired

    PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS: Kavli, Swartz

The videos and presentations from the Institute are now online: http://www.almaden.ibm.com/institute/agenda.shtml