On February 17th this year the Icelandic newspaper DV published an interview with IIIM intern Thorbjorn (Tobbi) Kristjansson with the heading “Could mean the end of humanity if we don’t play it right”. The interview was about Mr. Kristjansson’s warning about the pitfalls of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Following in his footsteps (metaphorically speaking, of course), last week the famed scienctist Stephen Hawking authored an article in The Independent asking us whether we are taking AI seriously enough. His article was triggered by the movie Transcendence, in which Johny Depp plays an AI researcher intent on creating “real AI” – machines that can really think and can rival humans in their intelligence. Like Tobbi, he warns that while real AI could be the most amazing thing humanity has ever accomplished, “it could also be the last.” Continue reading Stephen Hawking Follows in the Footsteps of IIIM Intern Tobbi Kristjáns→
Dr. Kristinn R. Thórisson closed IIIM Open Day 2013 with a talk on Spatio-Semantic Knowledge for Intelligent Household Robots. He discussed how these robots will perceive and understand their environment, and could change the face of robotics.
This presentation is part of a series of presentations that were held on IIIM & CADIA Open Day in spring 2013.
The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
From its inception IIIM has submitted proposals to – and been awarded numerous grants from – the Student Innovation Fund (NSN). This year an investigation into the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) was lead by Master’s student and IIIM intern Thorbjorn Kristjánsson, under the guidance of Dr. Kristinn R. Thórisson (IIIM & Reykjavik Univ.) and Dr. Morten Dige (Aarhus Univ.). The project made some waves; it was the subject of a big article in DV and runner-up to the President’s Student Innovation Award, being among the 12 projects shortlisted for this honor. We congratulate Thorbjorn on this success, a noteworthy achievement, as the number of projects competing for this Prize was over 200. Continue reading Shortlisted for the Student Innovation Award→
On IIIM & CADIA Open Day Dr. Leifur Thór Leifsson, Assistant Professor at School of Science and Engineering at Reykjavík University, presented the Laboratory for Unmanned Vehicles (LUV) and its projects. Vehicles that are being developed at LUV are Flapping-Wing Unmanned Air vehicle (UAV), Quadcopters, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and more. Leifur is looking at potential usage of such vehicles, surroundings that have to be taken into account, etc. Flapping-Wing UAV is explored in more detail during this presentation. Continue reading Video Presentation from IIIM & CADIA Open Day – Laboratory for Unmanned Vehicles→
Catalyzing innovation and high-technology research in Iceland
