Hans Moravec
Hans Peter Moravec | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 30, 1948[1] |
| Residence | Austria[1] Canada[1] Germany[1] United States[1] |
| Nationality | Canada (U.S. Permanent Resident)[1] |
| Alma mater | BSc: Acadia University[1] MSc: University of Western Ontario[1] PhD: Stanford University[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | robotics, artificial intelligence |
| Institutions | Carnegie Mellon University[1] Stanford University[1] |
| Thesis | (1991) |
| Doctoral advisor | John McCarthy, Tom Binford [1] |
Hans Peter Moravec (born November 30, 1948, Kautzen, Austria) is an adjunct faculty member at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He is known for his work on robotics, artificial intelligence, and writings on the impact of technology. Moravec also is a futurist with many of his publications and predictions focusing on transhumanism. Moravec developed techniques in computer vision for determining the region of interest (ROI) in a scene.
Background[edit]
Moravec attended Loyola College in Montreal for two years and transferred to Acadia University, where he received his BSc in mathematics in 1969. He received his MSc in computer science in 1971 from the University of Western Ontario. He then earned a PhD from Stanford University in 1980 for a TV-equipped robot which was remote controlled by a large computer. The robot was able to negotiate cluttered obstacle courses. Another achievement in robotics was the discovery of new approaches for robot spatial representation such as 3D occupancy grids. He also developed the idea of bush robots.
Moravec was a cofounder of Seegrid Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[2] in 2003 which is a robotics company with one of its goals being to develop a fully autonomous robot capable of navigating its environment without human intervention.
He is also somewhat known for his work on space tethers.[3]
He is an atheist.[4]
Publications[edit]
- 1988 - Sensor Fusion in Certainty Grids for Mobile Robots[5] appeared in AI Magazine.
Books[edit]
In his 1988 book Mind Children (ISBN 0674576187), Moravec outlines Moore's law and predictions about the future of artificial life. Moravec outlines a timeline and a scenario in this regard,[6][7] in that the robots will evolve into a new series of artificial species, starting around 2030-2040.[8]
In Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind (ISBN 0195136306), published in 1998, Moravec further considers the implications of evolving robot intelligence, generalizing Moore's law to technologies predating the integrated circuit, and extrapolating it to predict a coming "mind fire" of rapidly expanding superintelligence.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke wrote about this book: "Robot is the most awesome work of controlled imagination I have ever encountered: Hans Moravec stretched my mind until it hit the stops."[9] David Brin also praised the book: "Moravec blends hard scientific practicality with a prophet's far-seeing vision."[10] On the other hand, the book was reviewed less favorably by Colin McGinn for the New York Times. McGinn wrote, "Moravec … writes bizarre, confused, incomprehensible things about consciousness as an abstraction, like number, and as a mere "interpretation" of brain activity. He also loses his grip on the distinction between virtual and real reality as his speculations spiral majestically into incoherence."[11]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/hpm.cv.html
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-04-19.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Momentum-Exchange Tethers
- ^ http://www.primitivism.com/superhumanism.htm
- ^ http://www.aaai.org/ojs/index.php/aimagazine/article/viewArticle/676
- ^ Moravec, Hans (1998). "When will computer hardware match the human brain?". Journal of Evolution and Technology. 1. Archived from the original on 2006-06-15. Retrieved 2006-06-23.
- ^ Moravec, Hans (June 1993). "The Age of Robots". Retrieved 2006-06-23.
- ^ Moravec, Hans (April 2004). "Robot Predictions Evolution". Retrieved 2006-06-23.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-511630-5: Cover praise for Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind, by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, 1999
- ^ ISBN 0-19-511630-5: Cover praise for Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind, by Dr David Brin, 1999
- ^ McGinn, Colin (January 3, 1999). "Hello, HAL". The New York Times.
External links[edit]
- Hans Moravec's official website at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Center
- Hans Moravec's official biography page
- Hans Moravek's webpage at the Robotics Institute
- Moravec Bush Robot Final Report
- NOVA online interview with Moravec in October, 1997.
- Moravec, Hans (March 23, 2009). "Rise of the Robots--The Future of Artificial Intelligence". Scientific American.
