Aug 11, 2007
After having studied publications and information on Radar Networks for a recent blog post, I decided I might as well write a Wikipedia article on them while I’m at it. Less than an hour (one hour!) after my initial publication of the article somebody had come along and tagged it, suggesting that it was written as an “advertisement”. Is it just my inexperience with Wikipedia, or does it seem a bit strange for someone to instantly slap a tag on it … even while I’m still doing modifications?
Aug 6, 2007
I’m back baby. Renourished and ready to roll. First thing’s first: Two weeks without a computer proved an interesting experience, but putting myself back into the web-savvy circles is proving even more interesting. Blog posts have piled up, along with email, news and all sorts of spam to sift trough. Yargh. The web monster demands my attention. (Doesn’t help that my mouse feels strangely unfamiliar.) I’m picking up a vision; yes, I see constant computer use and several liters of coffee in my future. Expect Think Artificial to kick back into full gear in the next few days. [Updated!]
Aug 2, 2007
There’s something very important you must always try to do when interviewed: Ask to review it before it prints! This may not be possible at all times. For example, it tends to be a lot easier to get a copy if the article is long and scheduled for publication with a few days notice. Nevertheless: ASK. It’s amazing how often quotes can get scrambled, your statements misinterpreted, ripped out of context, and so on and so forth. But it doesn’t always have to be bad to allow the reporter to have his way making the story sound more exciting on the expense of its accuracy.
Jul 27, 2007
The general media and science are truly an odd couple. Important details often get lost in translation, and sometimes the reporter himself is lost in the mazes of our architectures. In my run-ins with the media, I’ve come to understand a thing or two on how the general media can help you, and how to deal with them for maximum benefit to yourself, your project, and to the readers. Here’s a some basic advice for young scientists, making their way up the academic ladder.
Jul 21, 2007
If you’re into AI, you might have heard by now that Checkers has been solved. Solved, as in determining the final result of a game in which either player makes no mistakes whatsoever: The AI will always make the perfect play. Checkers has roughly 500 billion billion possible positions (5×1020) and is now the largest game that has been solved to date. It took dozens of computers running almost continuously around the clock since 1989 to solve. My advisor at Reykjavik University, Yngvi Björnsson, is a part of the development team and one of the authors of the article published in Science magazine, July 6th, introducing the solution to Checkers. My congratulations to Yngvi and the team for this achievement!
Jun 29, 2007
I was recently given the Thinking Blogger Award, but work has been keeping me too busy to write en entry on it. Chip of Chip’s Quips named me for the award — which has been making its round memetically for some time now on the blogosphere. The award is given by bloggers to their peers that make them think. I’m very happy to hear I’m inciting thought and give my humble thanks to Chip for the award.
Jun 26, 2007
When working on any software system there are various challenges. When a system is entirely new, there’s a ton. Here’s a short and generalized description of what’s involved in the process. In the interest of keeping this non-technical, let’s use some analogies of adventure and countryside (that we’re ruining with dams to power our systems, ironically). A system is a specific place that you want to go to, like Grandma’s Secret Hillside Bakery. The path that that leads to it are parts of the program you have to create.
May 11, 2007
Finally I got a better idea of how I might look in my old age. The Face Transformer Java Applet can morph your face into several different types — including old age, child, manga, Botticelli and others. Check it out. Here’s me — the first one is my actual face, followed by my asian version, old age and finally manga.
May 10, 2007
It’s hard to imagine what on Earth bird’s nests have in common with artificial intelligence. Yet, I found myself today calling half of Reykjavik looking for someone who owns or has access to one.
Apr 26, 2007
An excellent debate has been raging in comment threads the past few days, on the potential dangers and fear of artificial intelligence. In the last round, the following point was raised:
An AI destroying all of humanity might solve our currently existing problems, but I’m not sure if I’d like that to happen. I’d much rather take the Friendly ones - but those won’t be developed if nobody fears the possible consequences of AIs. Therefore, I can only hope for more fear. 
Read more…
I decided this deserved a blog entry and here we are. My answer is this:
Just wondering.