DOD's "Sentient" World Simulation

Apparently the US military is looking into developing a massive simulation of the entire geopolitical canvas of the Earth, with a node representing "every man, woman and child." Although I'm sure it involves lots of data and some serious computation, I sincerely doubt the predictions made by this system will be any better than that of a seasoned human analyst.

I suppose you could turn over strategic nuclear decisions to this thing and just wait for Judgment Day...

While articles of this type are often titillating, I know from first-hand experience that most far-out projects involving the military don't live up to the hype. For one thing, the military plays fast & loose with commonly used terminology. The word "sentient" actually means something; it shouldn't be used as a vacuous buzzword designed to woo congressional funding.

Maybe they should call it WOPR 2.0?

(Sometimes I just can't help myself with the cultural reference one-liners!)

Outline of Conscious Modeling Framework

First post in a long time. I had trouble falling asleep last night, and this is the idea that was floating around in my mind:

1. Scan input for modeling (this input could be a sentence, image, or even perfect knowledge of a closed system provided by some form of perception).


2. Identify & label things (nouns) as "objects," actions (verbs) as "functions," etc.


3. Use (& dynamically update) dictionary/knowledge base to fill out this working model by expanding characteristics & features of the component items to some reasonable limit.


4. Cross-reference with Google-like search of memory using something akin to PageRank to generate connections, etc.


5. Update PageRank scores with new data collected from current modeling.


6. Commit new ideas into permanent model.

But can something as simple as this be robust enough to build a foundation of consciousness from?

Dartmouth’s New Approach to AGI

Dartmouth College’s new Institute for Computational Science seems like a very promising approach to creating Artificial General Intelligence, combining elements of engineering, philosophy, neuroscience, and traditional computer science.

While the student paper article seems little more than a press release regarding the new Institute, the author raises and interesting issue about algorithms used by computational scientists to “re-create” elements of the real world for research & experimentation. Could sufficiently-complex modeling & simulation systems serve as the mechanism behind internal mental modeling for a conscious artificial mind? We regularly use similar tools for testing aerospace & fluidic systems, as well as modeling astronomic & quantum phenomena, so why not a generalized apparatus for predictive conscious thought? Such a system could provide the means for planning, intentionality, exploring cause & effect, as well as guessing what one will find around the next corner. Of course, expanding the domain of our modeling & simulation algorithms to be thoroughly general in nature is no trivial task, but it does open an interesting path to explore.

Using Guesses to Build Mental Maps

Purdue Univ researchers have constructed a robotic navigation system that utilizes predictive mapping to chart the environment of unknown areas. The robots create “mental maps” of unseen regions based on observed patterns recognized in previously-charted territory. Simulations have shown successful navigation while exploring as little as 33% of an environment.

This system seems well-suited for Grand Challenge driverless vehicle applications, which in the past have mostly relied on interpretation of real-time sensor telemetry. If this predictive mental mapping could be expanded beyond environmental navigation to contextual awareness in general, building abstract mental models of ideas and concepts, it could be another step on the path towards artificial consciousnesss.