Thanks in part to the popularity of his books, movie, and speeches, Kurzweil now knows pretty much every AI researcher in the planet, and we can safely assume he's aware of even very obscure research projects in the field, both inside and outside academia.
Joining Google gives him ready access to data sets of almost unimaginable size, as well as unparalleled infrastructure and skills for handling such large data sets, putting him in an ideal position to connect researchers in academic and corporate settings with the data, infrastructure, and data management skills they need to make their visions a reality.
According to the MIT Technology Review[1], he will be working with Peter Norvig, who is not just Google's Director of Research, but a well-known figure in AI.
I just can't see Kurzweil being in the same league as Peter Norvig. Sure, he did some interesting work a long time ago, before he got weird. I can't see this working out well for Google, unless they just want a famous figurehead.
He's a "connector", a large company need people like him. Even if he was a sub-par engineer, and I bet he's not, he would still be a valuable hire, especially if they want to rebrand themselves as an "AI company".
Saw him give a talk promoting his latest book last month, was heavily disappointed. Ideas are presented in a way to fit nicely together, but ultimately lack any depth or critical insights. I recall someone calling it "creationism for people with an IQ over 140"; it's a fair description.
It's a shame, he's brought many great contributions to our field, but I fear he has jumped the shark a while ago. Maybe going to Google will force him to work on solutions to problems of which the correctness can be more easily assessed.
>I recall someone calling it "creationism for people with an IQ over 140"; it's a fair description.
Really? Because if so, then they stole that quote almost verbatim from Mitch Kapor when he was discussing the singularity in 2007. And it seems to have a lot less relevance to a book about how the brain works than it does to an imagined singularity.
>Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development Corporation, has called the notion of a technological singularity "intelligent design for the IQ 140 people...This proposition that we're heading to this point at which everything is going to be just unimaginably different—it's fundamentally, in my view, driven by a religious impulse. And all of the frantic arm-waving can't obscure that fact for me."
I tend to feel the same way about him and the state of his life at the moment.
I am very grateful for the inventions he brought forth and his work on AI but I think his current goals in life are unreasonable and of course, related to the death of his father.
As much as he doesn't want to be human anymore, his entire goal in life relies on the human condition...to reconnect with his father and transgress life in its current form.
I think he could do so much more at the moment if, like you said, he would focus on problems that can be solved as soon as possible and demonstrate a use of his solution.
"Ideas are presented in a way to fit nicely together, but ultimately lack any depth or critical insights."
While are a number of obvious problems with the theory, it's still an invaluable idea. Even if 2042 doesn't pan it, Kurzweil has still provided an enormously powerful tool to help understand the world around us. (Well, technically he didn't invent the idea, but he was the one who did most of the work aggregating the data.)
>It's a shame, he's brought many great contributions to our field
What field? The fluffsters? Saying stuff like, "Ideas are presented in a way to fit nicely together, but ultimately lack any depth or critical insights.", is saying nothing.
It's seemed pretty clear to me for some time that Google's real mission is AI/singularity oriented and everything else is just a step along that road. It may not be what the day-to-day view is in the trenches, but it seems like the high level plan.
A hire like this one certainly reinforces that perception.
I don't know if it's truly possible to accomplish, but it's fascinating to see a major company taking steps in that directions.
I've looked at Google this way since George Dyson wrote his "Turing's Cathedral" essay after he visited in 2005 [1].
The comments about book scanning led to some controversy at the time [2], which gave a glimpse into Google's AI motivations that have now become much more explicit, thanks to projects like Google Now, Google Glass, and self-driving cars.
"Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
If you take that to the limit, the logical consequence is some sort of planet-wise consciousness that can instantly pull up any of humanity's collective knowledge at a moment's notice.
Google has thousands of employees who all have a moderate amount of autonomy. I don't think they have a singular goal. They just do a bunch of stuff around organizing the world's data. Naturally AI/singularity oriented projects tend to emerge.
I'm somewhat surprised there are comments debating what use he could be to Google or what interest they might have in him - Google is one of the primary backers of Singularity University. They already have a working relationship. Now he's an employee. Don't get how this could be a stretch.
Singularity U as far as I understand is not really there so people can more quickly get to the point of uploading their brain to the cloud or anything - it's essentially for business strategists who want to have a better grasp of where things will be in 5-10+ years out. If the Goog believes strongly in the Kurz's ability to do this then it seems like a pretty nice score for the Goog.
> They already have a working relationship. Now he's an employee. Don't get how this could be a stretch.
Maybe because of his role at Google, "Director of Engineering". That's not a good description of what Singularity University offers their customers. They do maybe one or two field trips to BioCurious and call it quits.
Also, why is Singularity University managing TedxAustin? That was a bizarre email to see.
I see what DRF means, and The Singularity is Near did seem mostly a perfunctory literature review, with important issues not discussed, just skimmed over. (For example, he doesn't discussed the causes of accelerating returns, doesn't support the causes with data, only the effects. Another example: is it necessarily true that we are intelligent enough to understand ourselves? We're effective when we can something decompose hierarchically into simpler concepts... but what if there isn't such a decomposition of intelligence? i.e. the simplest decomposition is too complex for us to grasp. Hofstadner asks if a giraffe is intelligent enough to understand itself.)
But I thought he supported his basic thesis, that progress is accelerating, compellingly. Really did a great job (seems to be the result of ongoing criticism, and him finding ways to refute it).
Given Kurzweil's age and stated goals, I'm thinking there is no way he is going to Google unless they are investing in life extension / prevention of death.
Read between the lines - "next decade’s ‘unrealistic’ visions" - is likely nothing less than brain computer interfaces with the end goal of extending life by storing the entire human mind on a machine. Certainly not far off from Kurweil's timelines on Law of Accelerating Returns. I can understand why the PR does not say this, but it seems clear this is where Kurzweil would want to invest his time.
He's a visionary who can deliver a finished product. I think he must have some pretty specific ideas, and he wants to partner with Google.
A few guesses:
- New interfaces to replace keyboard/mouse/touch. Voice, gesture, face, brainwaves. Sign language with humming, blinking, and pupil pointing. Works with tablets, TVs, wearables, cars, buildings, ATMs, etc.
- SuperPets (r) that can pass the Turing test. And do the shopping.
- Surgically implanted Bluetooth. (It could literally be a tooth!)
- Hover skateboards.
- The Matrix. (Or the 13th Floor, which was a better movie in my not-so humble opinion.)
I don't think it'll have to do with life-extension though. That's just too crazy far out-there.
> - New interfaces to replace keyboard/mouse/touch. Voice, gesture, face, brainwaves.
Unfortunately, it turns out you can only get a limited number of bits out by looking at brainwaves (EEG). Gesture is much higher bandwidth, and keyboards seem to be the highest.
The problem is, and I don't want to be mean about it, is that Kurzweil is a crackpot and charlatan. This is not to take away from his intelligence or his technical achievements, which are indisputable. However, even Nobel prize winners can be outright crackpots and crazies (Nobel disease).
I don't know exactly what Google's motives are here, I suspect it's something less than actually bringing about some of his, let's say, loftier ideas.
For a long time it was the highest grade you could be hired in as since Google didn't feel like the title "Vice President" in Google meant the same thing as other places. I know VP's they gave offers to, who turned down the offer on the basis of having to take the title of director. At one time you had a limited amount of time post hire to 'prove yourself' or be managed out of the organization.
I found the hire curious from the standpoint that Kurzweil's tendency to handwave rather than retreat to data has historically been a red flag in the hiring process at Google. This tended to unfairly penalize theorists over experimentalists at Google. One wonders if they've changed.
I remember him giving a tech talk and talking about how many computers you'd need to simulate a brain and how nobody would put that together for years yet, and chuckling knowingly :-).
Signaling is important in the maintenance and direction of culture. Whoever made this decision is making a statement about what sorts of projects they want google to work on in the future.
Seems sad, I'd like to see Kurzweil form another startup and get bought by Google, rather than go work for them. I assume he could self-fund something, I don't how his hedge funds are doing.
But maybe he's been there and done that, and wants mucho resources from day one. Maybe the AI space has grown up and it's hard to start up companies now, you need the resources and big data sets to do anything significant? Or he's just after the free lunches.
Maybe Google has a monopoly on all the smartest people anymore, or, is just one-stop shopping for support for the biggest ideas. Ray's worth 27 million and as you said has many of his own companies, he doesn't need a salary.
In 2008, Ray Kurzweil said in an expert panel in the National Academy of Engineering that solar power will scale up to produce all the energy needs of Earth's people in 20 years.
Wow, Google's stock should rise on this news. Many folks may not know Kurzweil keyboards (for music), but they are excellent. I can't wait to see where he leads us next.
[+] [-] cs702|13 years ago|reply
Joining Google gives him ready access to data sets of almost unimaginable size, as well as unparalleled infrastructure and skills for handling such large data sets, putting him in an ideal position to connect researchers in academic and corporate settings with the data, infrastructure, and data management skills they need to make their visions a reality.
According to the MIT Technology Review[1], he will be working with Peter Norvig, who is not just Google's Director of Research, but a well-known figure in AI.
--
[1] http://www.technologyreview.com/view/508896/what-google-sees...
[+] [-] cschmidt|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brendano|13 years ago|reply
Um...
More important question: how many AI researchers respect the last 20 years of his work?
[+] [-] nnq|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtgx|13 years ago|reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zihTWh5i2C4
[+] [-] GuiA|13 years ago|reply
It's a shame, he's brought many great contributions to our field, but I fear he has jumped the shark a while ago. Maybe going to Google will force him to work on solutions to problems of which the correctness can be more easily assessed.
[+] [-] jere|13 years ago|reply
Really? Because if so, then they stole that quote almost verbatim from Mitch Kapor when he was discussing the singularity in 2007. And it seems to have a lot less relevance to a book about how the brain works than it does to an imagined singularity.
>Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development Corporation, has called the notion of a technological singularity "intelligent design for the IQ 140 people...This proposition that we're heading to this point at which everything is going to be just unimaginably different—it's fundamentally, in my view, driven by a religious impulse. And all of the frantic arm-waving can't obscure that fact for me."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil#Criticism
[+] [-] vecinu|13 years ago|reply
I am very grateful for the inventions he brought forth and his work on AI but I think his current goals in life are unreasonable and of course, related to the death of his father.
As much as he doesn't want to be human anymore, his entire goal in life relies on the human condition...to reconnect with his father and transgress life in its current form.
I think he could do so much more at the moment if, like you said, he would focus on problems that can be solved as soon as possible and demonstrate a use of his solution.
[+] [-] Alex3917|13 years ago|reply
While are a number of obvious problems with the theory, it's still an invaluable idea. Even if 2042 doesn't pan it, Kurzweil has still provided an enormously powerful tool to help understand the world around us. (Well, technically he didn't invent the idea, but he was the one who did most of the work aggregating the data.)
[+] [-] praxeologist|13 years ago|reply
What field? The fluffsters? Saying stuff like, "Ideas are presented in a way to fit nicely together, but ultimately lack any depth or critical insights.", is saying nothing.
[+] [-] waterlesscloud|13 years ago|reply
A hire like this one certainly reinforces that perception.
I don't know if it's truly possible to accomplish, but it's fascinating to see a major company taking steps in that directions.
[+] [-] mmahemoff|13 years ago|reply
The comments about book scanning led to some controversy at the time [2], which gave a glimpse into Google's AI motivations that have now become much more explicit, thanks to projects like Google Now, Google Glass, and self-driving cars.
1. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/dyson05/dyson05_index.html
2. http://www.zdnet.com/google-side-steps-ai-rumours-3039237225...
[+] [-] nostrademons|13 years ago|reply
If you take that to the limit, the logical consequence is some sort of planet-wise consciousness that can instantly pull up any of humanity's collective knowledge at a moment's notice.
[+] [-] dbyrd|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xianshou|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brandall10|13 years ago|reply
Singularity U as far as I understand is not really there so people can more quickly get to the point of uploading their brain to the cloud or anything - it's essentially for business strategists who want to have a better grasp of where things will be in 5-10+ years out. If the Goog believes strongly in the Kurz's ability to do this then it seems like a pretty nice score for the Goog.
[+] [-] kanzure|13 years ago|reply
Maybe because of his role at Google, "Director of Engineering". That's not a good description of what Singularity University offers their customers. They do maybe one or two field trips to BioCurious and call it quits.
Also, why is Singularity University managing TedxAustin? That was a bizarre email to see.
[+] [-] dhughes|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cheeseprocedure|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 6ren|13 years ago|reply
I see what DRF means, and The Singularity is Near did seem mostly a perfunctory literature review, with important issues not discussed, just skimmed over. (For example, he doesn't discussed the causes of accelerating returns, doesn't support the causes with data, only the effects. Another example: is it necessarily true that we are intelligent enough to understand ourselves? We're effective when we can something decompose hierarchically into simpler concepts... but what if there isn't such a decomposition of intelligence? i.e. the simplest decomposition is too complex for us to grasp. Hofstadner asks if a giraffe is intelligent enough to understand itself.)
But I thought he supported his basic thesis, that progress is accelerating, compellingly. Really did a great job (seems to be the result of ongoing criticism, and him finding ways to refute it).
[+] [-] jonmc12|13 years ago|reply
Read between the lines - "next decade’s ‘unrealistic’ visions" - is likely nothing less than brain computer interfaces with the end goal of extending life by storing the entire human mind on a machine. Certainly not far off from Kurweil's timelines on Law of Accelerating Returns. I can understand why the PR does not say this, but it seems clear this is where Kurzweil would want to invest his time.
[+] [-] rdl|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nealabq|13 years ago|reply
He's a visionary who can deliver a finished product. I think he must have some pretty specific ideas, and he wants to partner with Google.
A few guesses:
- New interfaces to replace keyboard/mouse/touch. Voice, gesture, face, brainwaves. Sign language with humming, blinking, and pupil pointing. Works with tablets, TVs, wearables, cars, buildings, ATMs, etc.
- SuperPets (r) that can pass the Turing test. And do the shopping.
- Surgically implanted Bluetooth. (It could literally be a tooth!)
- Hover skateboards.
- The Matrix. (Or the 13th Floor, which was a better movie in my not-so humble opinion.)
I don't think it'll have to do with life-extension though. That's just too crazy far out-there.
[+] [-] kanzure|13 years ago|reply
Unfortunately, it turns out you can only get a limited number of bits out by looking at brainwaves (EEG). Gesture is much higher bandwidth, and keyboards seem to be the highest.
[+] [-] dinkumthinkum|13 years ago|reply
I don't know exactly what Google's motives are here, I suspect it's something less than actually bringing about some of his, let's say, loftier ideas.
[+] [-] Lost_BiomedE|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nonsequ|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|13 years ago|reply
I found the hire curious from the standpoint that Kurzweil's tendency to handwave rather than retreat to data has historically been a red flag in the hiring process at Google. This tended to unfairly penalize theorists over experimentalists at Google. One wonders if they've changed.
I remember him giving a tech talk and talking about how many computers you'd need to simulate a brain and how nobody would put that together for years yet, and chuckling knowingly :-).
[+] [-] mvgoogler|13 years ago|reply
I don't know the specifics of this situation though, so take it with a grain of salt. reply
[+] [-] nazgulnarsil|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mememememememe|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ilaksh|13 years ago|reply
I mean even if you don't believe in the Singularity, you must believe in Google, right?
[+] [-] majormajor|13 years ago|reply
Believe that they'd never be mistaken?
[+] [-] vertr|13 years ago|reply
This makes "the singularity" sound very much like a religion.
[+] [-] Devilboy|13 years ago|reply
-- The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999)
[+] [-] zephjc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alperakgun|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pbw|13 years ago|reply
But maybe he's been there and done that, and wants mucho resources from day one. Maybe the AI space has grown up and it's hard to start up companies now, you need the resources and big data sets to do anything significant? Or he's just after the free lunches.
[+] [-] queensnake|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scarmig|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] samskiter|13 years ago|reply
In 2008, Ray Kurzweil said in an expert panel in the National Academy of Engineering that solar power will scale up to produce all the energy needs of Earth's people in 20 years.
lololololol
[+] [-] joey_muller|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] nnq|13 years ago|reply
> 1%... you're pretty much finished... try that with product submission schedules [1]
...so now we know who to blame for future Google product delays.
[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zihTWh5i2C4
EDIT: added the source link
[+] [-] TommyDANGerous|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
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