Kismet, an autonomous robot developed by Cynthia Breazeal at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Kismet is designed to have social exchanges with humans. A wide variety of facial expressions allow Kismet to mimic or display emotions.
Credit: Photo © Sam Ogden
Credit: Photo © Sam Ogden
CREATIVITY: THE MIND, MACHINES, AND MATHEMATICS
Another important symposium was “Creativity: The Mind, Machines, and Mathematics,” held at MIT from November 30 to December 2, 2006. It marked the 70th anniversary of Alan Turing’s groundbreaking paper “On Computable Numbers,” which is widely recognized as having laid a theoretical foundation for the computer revolution of the 20th century. Specifically, the symposium explored the current understanding of human creativity from scientific and philosophical perspectives.
The symposium was co-chaired by Rodney A. Brooks, the Panasonic Professor of Robotics and director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, and by B. Jack Copeland, Professor of Philosophy and director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. It focused on creativity in the borderland between mathematics (computation), artificial intelligence, and neuroscience.
In particular, the participants debated whether there are any intrinsic differences between creativity of the mind and “creativity” of artificial intelligence, as well as whether or not the former can be captured or modeled fully by mathematical and/or mechanical processes. Among the big questions it addressed were: Is the logic of a Turing machine (or its extensions and generalizations) sufficient to capture the creative workings of a human brain? and Can there be a grand background theory that would encompass all systems that “exhibit” creativity?
Another important symposium was “Creativity: The Mind, Machines, and Mathematics,” held at MIT from November 30 to December 2, 2006. It marked the 70th anniversary of Alan Turing’s groundbreaking paper “On Computable Numbers,” which is widely recognized as having laid a theoretical foundation for the computer revolution of the 20th century. Specifically, the symposium explored the current understanding of human creativity from scientific and philosophical perspectives.The symposium was co-chaired by Rodney A. Brooks, the Panasonic Professor of Robotics and director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, and by B. Jack Copeland, Professor of Philosophy and director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. It focused on creativity in the borderland between mathematics (computation), artificial intelligence, and neuroscience.In particular, the participants debated whether there are any intrinsic differences between creativity of the mind and “creativity” of artificial intelligence, as well as whether or not the former can be captured or modeled fully by mathematical and/or mechanical processes. Among the big questions it addressed were: Is the logic of a Turing machine (or its extensions and generalizations) sufficient to capture the creative workings of a human brain? and Can there be a grand background theory that would encompass all systems that “exhibit” creativity?“Creativity: The Mind, Machines, and Mathematics” Symposium Participants
| Rodney A. Brooks Panasonic Professor of Robotics and director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT B. Jack Copeland Professor of Philosophy and director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing, University of Canterbury, New Zealand Manuel Blum Bruce Nelson Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University Margaret Boden Research Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Sussex Peter A. Cariani Faculty, Institute for Music and Brain Science, Boston |
Peter A. Cariani Faculty, Institute for Music and Brain Science, Boston David Gelernter Professor of Computer Science, Yale University David E. Goldberg Jerry S. Dobrovolny Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne Silvio Micali Professor of Computer Science, MIT Ronitt Rubinfeld Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT |
Madhu Sudan Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science, MIT Leslie G. Valiant T. Jefferson Coolidge Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Harvard University Avi Wigderson Herbert Maass Professor in the School of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton |
