While I haven’t done too much art in the past year and a half, I have been busy in the computer science / programming realm.

 
Mobile Apps (iOS and Android)
I have planned a few mobile applications and am almost done implementing the first one for iOS. An Android version is planned to follow. Expect to hear more on this when it launches in the next few months.

 
Evolutionary Computation & Artificial Life
I have been doing a lot of work in the realm of Evolutionary Computation (EC): a subfield of artificial intelligence inspired by the processes associated with evolution.

I am currently working on two large projects that make use of EC. I am hoping to publish papers about both, and hopefully sell a commercial product associated with at least one of them. For this reason, I am again going to hold off discussing details until they are ready to be announced.

In addition to these large projects, I have been doing some smaller projects to get more familiar with the technique. I wrote a program that uses Genetic Algorithms to solve the Travelling Salesman Problem and a few simple optimization problems.

I also developed a simulation that makes use of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), a technique with strong ties to both Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life. Artificial Life is a field of research closely associated with Artificial Intelligence, though there doesn’t appear to be consensus on whether Alife is a subfield or an overlapping field, as it has strong ties to other fields such as biology. It is an interesting technique, which I may use again at some point in the future. I also used Genetic Programming (closely related to Genetic Algorithms) with this as well as some simple mathematical regression problems.

 
Learning Automata
As a part of my efforts to expand my understanding of AI, I have been doing a bit of work with learning automata (LA). They are lower-level entities than a lot of other AI constructs I have seen before, and can be represented using matrices. I implemented several different varieties of LA and coded the Goore Game (a voting game where voters endeavour to learn a voting policy based on the rewards or penalties returned by an individual overseeing the voting).

 
Presentations
I have given a few presentations in the past year. One on the History of Artificial Life (focusing on Core War, Tierra, and Avida — I will discuss these on the new blog as well!), and two on EC-related topics.

 
Haskell & The Nature of Programming Languages
Outside of the AI sandbox, I have been doing a bit of work with Haskell as a bridge to understanding some of the more fundamental issues associated with the nature of programming languages. While Haskell has some powerful features, it took some time to adjust to a functional programming language, after working primarily in object-oriented ones. I’ll just say it’s nice to be working with Java (and Objective-C) again

In addition to the new site, a more immediate change will occur soon regarding this blog. Currently, it is a mixture of updates about my work along with posts about topics I am interested in (e.g. artificial intelligence). I would like to post more on these subjects I have an interest in, but may not be directly working on, without having such posts overwhelm my own content. So, this blog will become my News blog, and I will be launching a new blog (probably with its own .com address) as a separate place to write about art, technology, and ideas.

While this site is really my homepage, I do want to push it in a slightly more professional direction, and I think these changes will accomplish that.

Also, to keep individual posts from cluttering up the main blog page too much, I will include the first paragraph or so, then a “read more” link as you should see below (click for the rest of this entry):

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Wikipedia

Most people familiar with technology will likely start with wikipedia when trying to acquire a general view into any field, before moving onto more specialized and scientifically vetted sources.

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Artificial Intelligence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence

Wikipedia’s general page on artificial intelligence provides a good, broad introduction to A.I., covering many facets of the field, including its history, the various problems A.I. is trying to solve, the different approaches that have been taken, and the tools used. Additionally, it provides a brief introduction to the philosophical dimension, and a number of links to other pages and external resources.

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Category:Artificial Intelligence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Artificial_intelligence

If you’ve read through the Artificial Intelligence page, some of the longer articles it links to, and now want to browse more thoroughly through other related pages, the Category page for Artificial Intelligence provides a listing of many of the wikipedia pages (directly) related to A.I.

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Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, by Stuart Russell & Peter Norvig
http://aima.cs.berkeley.edu/index.html (Website for the textbook)

This textbook, now in it’s third edition, is widely considered by many in the academic community to be one of the best starting points for those interested in getting into field. I have heard it colloquially referred to many times simply as “Norvig and Russell,” and read reviews acclaiming it as the “A.I. bible.” Hyperbole aside, it is an excellent resource, containing general information on the field’s various tools, history, challenges, and approaches. It also offers a slight dip into the field’s philosophy, and contains technical information pertaining to its many tools, including diagrams and pseudo-code. It is designed to be used as a textbook for an undergraduate course, but contains additional information at the end of each chapter that could be used in more specialized graduate study.

The textbook website contains a fair amount of useful information, including a particularly large collection of A.I. resources on the web (http://aima.cs.berkeley.edu/ai.html), and other A.I. books (http://aima.cs.berkeley.edu/books.html).

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I intend to start writing more about the philosophical aspects of A.I. in future posts, but below are two places to explore if you are interested in examining the philosophical dimensions of the field:

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Wikipedia

Philosophy of artificial intelligence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_artificial_intelligence

Provides a short introduction to many of the different questions and topics in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. Though the arguments are presented concisely, without much depth or surrounding discussion, this page provides a good starting point in understanding some of the relevant issues. It also does a good job at separating and explaining the differences in how A.I. researchers, philosophers, and cognitive scientists approach the field, laying out the different questions they ask.

There is a great deal in the small article, and I will not discuss it all here, but it might of particular interest to note how A.I. researchers often consider the question of whether it is possible to create a machine that act intelligently, while philosophers consider whether machines may only be capable of acting intelligently, or if they may be capable of experiencing consciousness, perhaps in a first-person perspective, wherein they might possess mental states. If you read the article, take a close look the Chinese Room Argument and the discussion surrounding it.

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Ethics of artificial intelligence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_artificial_intelligence

Provides a very short introduction to some of the ethical issues in the philosophy of artificial intelligence, including the issue of robot rights (how they are similar to human and animal rights, and when we might need to seriously consider them), and potential effects on humanity.

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The Philosophy of artificial intelligence article at one point makes reference to “the basic position that most AI researchers” hold. Whether or not that claim is true, I would suggest that in approaching an academic field, do not prematurely bind yourself to a position because it is held by many in that field.

Thinking freely is important regardless of the topic under consideration. Technically, there is a great deal to learn from experts; it is important not to forget that we are merely “standing on the shoulders of giants,” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants). However, new ideas often come from those who think differently and bring forward new ideas. Within A.I. itself, there are many different schools of thought, such as ‘neat’ vs. ‘scruffy’ (described in the first link I included to the A.I. wikipedia page, and also in more detail here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neats_vs._scruffies).

On occasion, I, and others I have spoken with, have encountered some antipathy towards philosophy within the scientific community. While I do not wish to generalize, I simply mention it so that one may guard against such attitudes. Scientists focus primarily on the technical aspects of their field (A.I. or otherwise) and sometimes do not recognize or analyze all of the philosophical dimensions of their work. Philosophical reflection and analysis are important for many reasons. If we do not rigorously examine our beliefs and approaches, we carry on with an implicit, unexamined belief set. I intend to write more about philosophy in the future, but thought a short statement here would be useful given the links I am including.

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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a highly respected resource of philosophy, whose entries are written by experts in the particular sub-fields.

It is an excellent resource, and while there is no single article covering A.I., there are many related to specific domains and sub-problems within the field.

A few examples include:

Logic and Artificial Intelligence (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-ai/)
The Philosophy of Computer Science (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computer-science/)
The Philosophy of Technology (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/technology/)
The Chinese Room Argument (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-room/)

…

Each article is richly detailed, and densely packed with information. I will write a bit about specific articles from the site (including the sample links above) in the future, but to prevent this post from becoming an essay, will leave off here for now.

See: http://motherboard.tv/2010/10/5/rushkoff-s-call-to-program

In sharing that, I realized that there are a lot of other interesting technologies, articles, and other electronic trinkets I’ve stumbled across over the years while exploring the internet that I think the same people might find interesting.

I don’t want my blog to be excessively random, but I don’t see the need for it to be focused on just one thing either. So, I am going to try to keep my blog focused on the following subjects, though perhaps with the odd post on music, cooking, or some other random topic: {Technology & Computer Science, Philosophy, Art, Writing}

Just remember, if there is only one topic you are interested in, you can always pick a category (on the left side of the main page) and it will just show you posts from there.

A.I. to the… operating room (Aug 27, 2010)
http://motherboard.tv/2010/8/27/a-i-to-the-operating-room
Researchers have developed an AI-controlled robot arm that is capable of performing biopsies autonomously. The article includes a short video.

The article mentions that this has the potential to lower surgery costs. While this might become commonplace in a decade or two, there is a lot of testing and refinement that will have to be completed until people will be comfortable submitting to these new ‘robosurgeons’.

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Computer’s appearance on Jeopardy! More than just a numbers game (Jan 13, 2011)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/computers-appearance-on-jeopardy-more-than-just-a-numbers-game/article1869475/

An A.I. computer program faced-off against two of Jeopardy’s top human competitors (including champion Ken Jennings) in a preview round, in advance of appearing on the show. The A.I. narrowly beat its two human competitors. Beyond the obvious task of being able to search through massive stores of information quickly to find appropriate answers, those who created Watson (the A.I. program) had to include sophisticated natural language processing: the ability for the agent to understand English statements.

I’ve read a number of articles about this match recently, but I found this one to be the most concise and widely encompassing of the various AI issues involved.

More information can be found on IBM’s website: http://www.research.ibm.com/deepqa/index.shtml

Here is a clip from the preview round:

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Computer Beats Human at Japanese Chess For First Time (Oct 12, 2010)

http://gizmodo.com/5661796/computer-beats-human-at-japanese-chess-for-first-time
A program called Akara 2010 has beaten a top Shogi (Japanese Chess) champion in Japan.

Some people who are not that familiar with AI might still have heard of Deep Blue’s chess victory over chess world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Although computers know the outcome of every checkers game before a move has been made, and can beat chess champions, other games, such as shogi, and more obviously Go, still pose a challenge to non-human competitors. I will explain why this is soon…

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Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics (April 2, 2009)

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/newtonai/

A program was able to come up with the laws of physics (as mathematical equations) when given a simple list of mathematical operators (probably just +,-,*,/, maybe sin & cos, but the article doesn’t say) and the raw data related to the motion of a number of objects. It accomplished this using a genetic algorithm and performing mathematical regression on the data.

I will discuss genetic algorithms and evolutionary computation more generally in a blog post soon. For now, rest assured that they are fascinating

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Mars Rover Receives AI, Thinks for Itself (March 24, 2010)

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/JPL-NASA-Mars-Rover,news-6243.html

Mars Rover “Opportunity” was transmitted a firmware update (programming update to it’s hardware) that allows it to identify and photograph objects on it’s own based on criteria chosen by scientists.

We now have intelligent machines on other worlds. It’s only a matter of time before rovers will be able to adjust the criteria for choice themselves as well.

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Alien hunters ‘should look for artificial intelligence’ (August 22, 2010)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11041449

S.E.T.I. (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is a project that has long combed the sky for signs of alien life, usually listening for radio or other signals. This article makes the very interesting claim that looking for signs of biological life might not be the most fruitful approach. Given how long it took us to evolve as a species (millions of years), versus how long it is taking us to move from the ability to broadcast into the sky (50 years ago) and then develop intelligent machines, it is far more likely that we would be able to make contact with the artificial successors of alien races.

One of the most interesting articles I’ve ever read. This idea has crossed my mind before, but I think watching Star Trek will do that do anyone. I highly recommend reading the original article.

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Computer program deciphers a dead language that mystified linguists (June 30, 2010)

http://io9.com/5576734/computer-program-deciphers-a-dead-language-that-mystified-linguists

A computer program deciphered an ancient language in a matter of hours with a relatively high degree of accuracy. Previously, the same language was translated by researchers over a period of years (decades? – article is a bit vague).

• I am studying A.I. and need to pick an area to research. Before I can pick, I need to explore a bit more, and will share a bit of this exploration.
• Family and friends often ask about A.I., and I think this would be a good way to give some insight to them, and anyone else interested in the field who stumbles across this blog.

Given that A.I. has so many subfields and different approaches, I hope to explore widely over the coming months. There should be something for everyone: general information to introduce any reader to the world of artificial intelligence, as well as details for seasoned A.I. researchers. In addition to A.I., I may write about other topics from time to time, introducing readers to some other fascinating areas of computer science and beyond…

To begin, here is a brief introduction I wrote a few months back, originally intended to be a video narration, before I decided to focus on this blog format:

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We live in a world of rapidly changing technology that continues to simultaneously transform, and adapt to reflect, the way we live our lives. It is embedded in some capacity, in almost everything we do. One approach to the development of technology, and scientific research more generally, is the area of computer science known as artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence, the design of intelligent agents, has captured the imagination of the scientific community, corporate industry, and the general public. However, interest in the field has not always been steady. Demonstrations by early A.I.’s were impressive, but ultimately led to expectations that could not be met when scaling up to more complex problems. Interest in the field has followed this pattern several times, fluctuating between deep interest with much funding and development, followed by descent into A.I. winters, in which the field hibernated. Currently, it appears to have emerged or is in the process or emerging, from the second A.I. winter.

When people think about artificial intelligence, they usually think of androids and robots, but A.I. and intelligent agents have a much wider range of applications.

A.I. is in your camera, as computer vision enables facial recognition.

It is behind search engines that crawl the web, analyzing websites, and understanding their relationships, returning likely matches to the queries users submit.

It is in other recommender systems, such as online book stores, and plays a part in online advertising that chooses ads based on your online footprints such as websites you visit, the country you are from, and even the web browser you use.

A.I. is in the games you play. It has beaten chess grandmasters, and has “solved” checkers, able to win or draw any game before a move has been made.

A.I. allows robots to navigate their environment autonomously and evolve to better interact with it.

A.I. helps enable the automated production of many of the items we buy and use.

It helps construct complex plans in minutes or hours that would take humans days or weeks; allowing NASA to send robots to Mars that schedule their own activities, and the U.S. Army to construct optimal loading and transportation schedules for the deployment of large numbers of resources.

A.I. classifies galaxies, mines data, understands concepts, mimics the brain, and so much more.

My name is Adam, and I am trying to learn as much as I can about artificial intelligence. I’m not an expert… yet, but I thought I would share some of my journey in exploring this fascinating field with you. I want to present the basics in a way accessible to everyone, and later get to some real depth. If this sounds fascinating, stay tuned, we might learn something, and have some fun. Either way, it should be interesting.

Some of the work-in-progress can be seen here.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AdamTSC

You can find the new photos on the Astrophotography page.

I’ve also tweaked two things:
- I’ve added some borders on the astrophotography page since some of the thumbnails were hard to see.
- I’ve fixed the trailer for George and the Steam Dragon (edit (2010/11/12): Now hosted on my YouTube Channel here) so it will not auto-start, put it on the main page, and now have the ‘full-screen’ button and function working.

Here:

adamtscohen.com Splash Screen by ~AdamTSC on deviantART

Here:

adamtscohen.com Menu by ~AdamTSC on deviantART

And Here:

adamtscohen.com Pages Preview by ~AdamTSC on deviantART

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