AI & Machine Understanding - Future Day - Science, Technology & the Future

Future Day event (free, donations welcome) - Can we build machines that understand instead of merely predict?

Understanding is key to solving problems. Currently humans use AI to make novel predictions given appropriate models - though in the future, it is likely that machines will also 'understand' things like cause and effect, provide intelligible explanations for phenomena - which could be an invaluable resource for science and engineering. It's hard to estimate the impact of machine understanding - some people think that it could herald an intelligence explosion (or a technological singularity).

Speakers include:

• John S. Wilkins - "Human Understanding as Machine Learning":
  Can machines understand what they “know”? To answer this question, we need to first work out what understanding actually is, and the problem is that the notion of understanding is applied in many ways. I shall present my argument for thinking that instead of asking whether machines understand, it is perhaps more interesting to ask whether we humans do what machine learning systems do when they understand. This might shed some light on us as well as on them.
  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Wilkins4

• Kevin B. Korb - "Primitive Machine Understanding":
  There is much public concern nowadays about when an AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) might appear and what it might go and do. The expert community is less concerned, because they know we’re a long ways off yet. More fundamentally though: we’re a long ways off of API (Artificial Primitive Intelligence). In fact, we have no idea what an API might even look like. AI took off without ever reflecting seriously on what I, either NI or AI, really is. So, it’s been streaking along in myriad directions without any goal in sight.

AI as a research program has achieved a lot, and the technologies of AI look likely to revolutionize civilization, if politics and global warming don’t intervene first. In that respect, it’s rather like NASA’s moon shot: it brought us miniaturized computers (iphones), solar cells, cochlear implants, etc. AI’s spinoffs are impressive. But it might be good sometime to think about where the moon is at.
https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=RMtts8IAAAAJ&hl=en

• Ben Goertzel (online) "Are We Building a Psychopathic Idiot Savant Global Brain?" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Goertzel

• Hugo de Garis - AGI, understanding and the Artilect War

• There will also be some lightning talks (5 mins each) on the theme of 'understanding' - let us know if you would like to participate!

This event is FREE - donations are encouraged, as is supporting the venue by buying drinks and food :)

Themes:

• Artificial Intelligence & Machine Understanding*
• What will it take to achieve Machine Understanding?
• What is understanding?
• Ethics & philosophy of mind
• Human augmentation through collaborating with machines that understand
• How intelligent machines with understanding (and not just uber powerful prediction machines) could help mitigate Existential Risks, Global Catastrophic Risks
• Risks involved in developing a intelligent machines with understanding

Here is a list of links to previous conferences and events etc: http://www.singularitysummit.com.au

*What is meant by 'Machine Understanding' is not humans understanding machines, but AI that understands, with some subtle difference in it's focus to AGI, and why this might be useful for developing beneficial AI.

This event will be videoed.