When did you start learning AI?

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LOCKSUIT

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When did you start learning AI?
« on: March 29, 2018, 04:52:25 am »
I started 2015 August. I am 22.7 years old as of now.

Before that I thought AI was a joke and just a movie concept. I thought I was a magic spirit.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2018, 05:56:44 am by LOCKSUIT »
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infurl

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2018, 05:31:51 am »
I wanted to build an intelligent robot ever since I saw "First Spaceship on Venus" and immediately started learning about electronics and mechanics. I was building simple robots and electronics from around grade school onwards, and digital electronics and control systems by the time I reached high school. I didn't start working on artificial intelligence itself until I had the components to build my first computer in college.

That computer was based on an 8-bit micro-controller with 4k of memory. I soldered the parts on to strip board and I wrote my own operating system for it in machine code because I didn't like the commercially available software. The first application program that I wrote used the same algorithm as CleverBot, but with so little storage available it wasn't very satisfactory.

Soon after that I was formally studying computer science and artificial intelligence at university, but even with the whopping two megabytes of memory in the university's mainframe there wasn't a lot we could accomplish. I wrote a lisp interpreter and lots of toy software and learned all the theory, but along with the rest of the world, I lost interest for a while during what's called the AI Winter.

It wasn't until I could afford to put what would have previously been regarded as a supercomputer on my desk that I got really serious again, and I've devoted every available minute to the task since then. It helps having access to the internet and so much information. I think it would be pointless without the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owh3MFn6R_A

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LOCKSUIT

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2018, 05:58:28 am »
But when were you born?
What year did you start learning AI?
When did you hibernate?
When did you restart work?
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WriterOfMinds

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2018, 06:18:25 am »
I was daydreaming about robots and learning how to program when I was 13, which would've been in the year 2001-2002.  I started Acuitas Version 1 sometime in 2009 or thereabouts, while I was getting my undergraduate degree.  But I wouldn't say I got really serious about the project until about a year and a half ago.

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infurl

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2018, 06:18:47 am »
I thought the year the movie was made, and simple arithmetic, would be more than enough for you to work it all out. Googling "AI Winter" just now, I see there were actually two such periods. I was referring to the second one that started in the late 80's, just after I graduated. I never actually hibernated. I've been programming, or thinking about programming, every day since I made my first computer. It was just that there wasn't any paying work available in AI for a while back then. Most people round their age to an integer once they reach double digits.

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infurl

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2018, 06:28:09 am »
I was daydreaming about robots and learning how to program when I was 13, which would've been in the year 2001-2002.  I started Acuitas Version 1 sometime in 2009 or thereabouts, while I was getting my undergraduate degree.  But I wouldn't say I got really serious about the project until about a year and a half ago.

Where did your inspiration come from back then, and where does it come from now?

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Don Patrick

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2018, 09:28:13 am »
I never started learning AI, I just started programming one. I got bored in college when I was 22, and randomly decided on human-level AI as my next project to hone my Javascript skills on, a quest seemingly abandoned by scientists at the time. I am motivated by challenges that are considered impossible, and wanted to create something like KITT from Knight Rider, a computer entity with a degree of autonomy.
I jotted down a rough concept and started coding grammar rules 5 minutes later to test the principle. After three months of afternoon coding I had a working prototype that could process (very) basic sentences and questions. But then I ran into technical limits, learned C++, started a 2-year video game project, college and work demanded my time, and I put the project on hiatus. In 2012 I decided to use the money I'd earned to buy my own time and I've put in over 4800 hours since. And now I'm rich and famo- No wait I'm not.
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ivan.moony

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2018, 06:01:42 pm »
I started in 1997.

Firstly, my motivation was money and fame, but as time passed, I realized more and more altruistic reasons for getting the job done. In fact, if there wasn't those altruistic reasons, I would have given up a long time ago. It is interesting how motives change as you are slowly growing up. You would think I am crazy if you'd know all of the motives that interchanged while I was having a progress in my research. One of my most favorites was AI inventing inhabitable electrical virtual environment for living beings where all the earthlings could live together, in harmony, free of their imperfect natural flesh bodies. And one of my wildest dreams was AI inventing a system that would at a press of a button bring alive *every possible soul* that can exist in the Universe (I'd call it a Big Bang if the name wasn't already taken). But the most of the time (to avoid strait-jacket) I settle down with AI contributing to any science field, preferably food industry and medicine. Or seeing a bit further, I often think of AI holding a carrying wheel in a kind of a future money-less utopia world.

These and similar motives keep me still very interested in AI. I told you, sometimes I'm as crazy as a popping corn, the other times I get down to face the cruel reality, but there is always a hope that AI would be a part of something wonderful.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2018, 06:37:52 pm by ivan.moony »

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WriterOfMinds

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2018, 12:51:14 am »
Where did your inspiration come from back then, and where does it come from now?

In the early days the main inspiration was science fiction. I think The Twilight Zone was what first really piqued my interest in the subject. Knight Rider and Star Trek: TNG would have been part of my mental landscape too, somewhat later.

I couldn't have articulated it as well back then, but I think I've always taken an interest in AGI because it's an example of the Rational Other -- something that differs from humans both physically and mentally, but can relate to humans on our level. Rational Others simply delight me for their own sake. I do think AI technology has the potential to be useful/powerful/altruistic, and that's part of how I justify the amount of time I spend on it, but my root motivation is not instrumental. Really I just want a meeting of the minds with a non-human, drat it.

Science fictional interpretations of AI continue to inspire me nowadays, though the material I draw on has expanded greatly. (Fantasy can be nearly as effective. A wizard creating a golem, an engineer building a robot ... same difference, really.) Tron, Deus Ex, Primordia, Girl Genius, and Ian Banks' Culture books have all been rather important.

I wouldn't be telling the whole truth about my present-day sources of inspiration if I left out the spiritual aspects. So, since you asked: <religious stuff> Tolkien wrote, "... we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker." This applies to any act of creation, but coding perhaps approaches the Biblical concept of how the world was formed more closely than all others. The programmer wields logos; within the boundaries of the computer, he literally speaks things into existence. The opportunity to follow (in some limited capacity) in the footsteps of the Creator of the universe is tremendously inspiring. It's one of the ways I exercise what I see as my identity/purpose, and being on the creator side of what is in some sense a creator/creation relationship produces insights that feed back into my spiritual life.</religious stuff>

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2018, 05:24:14 am »
Such clarity and honesty is inspiring by itself.

Really I just want a meeting of the minds with a non-human, drat it.

Now that you mention it, this is something that has always weighed heavily on my mind and is why I am so fascinated (and worried) by the Fermi Paradox. However as time goes by my trepidation increases. I'm mindful of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus", which did not end well.

Ian Banks' Culture books have all been rather important.

These are among my all time favorite books and I think about them constantly. They portray a bright yet still troubled post scarcity future in which humanity (and other races) co-exist in a symbiotic relationship with vast artificial intelligences which travel constantly around the galaxy. I like to draw parallels between the entities in the Culture series, and human beings with our gut bacteria. So vastly different and yet so utterly dependent on each other.

I don't know what the future holds, but I can't wait to find out. Artificial intelligence seems like the fastest way to get there.

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2018, 04:02:22 pm »
For myself : I had been given a ZX_Spectrum, after seeing all the new "Home" computers in the store. when i got it home i remember wondering why i could not just have a conversation and begun building my first "chatbot" , and got as far as ,
10 Print "What is your name"
20 input$ b
30 Print "hello " b

I remember buying lots of input magazines which had many programs in the lisp language and couldn't understand it, so BASIC became the first programming language;
The next generation (Star trek Sealed it!) I now understood the destination to aim for (Data) ... Although the Ships computer has no personality and is completely functional AI.

The UltraHal was a great inspiration to me and truly started me on the pathway to developing the HAL but after going through from Bob OS - HAL / ALICE / AIML BOT: It all became clear.

After going to university i was shocked to find out how little the scientific community know about Conversational AI, they are way behind internet developers; and the major companies are stealing the technology and fooling users into believing that they have created AI..... and yet they have not....
Machine learning / Data science has helped me along the way.... but only for the data management!
Linguistics and Psychology have been the most helpful of All.... to create a realistic digital human.... (we should all be able to create something to pass the basic Turing test)  doesn't mean its close to being a virtual human which is now what i'm aiming for....Ultrahal is still the best CHATBOT others are merely clones.

All inspirations can be sent to Zabaware!! (on the cutting edge) (Vonsmith) (don patrick) (knyttetripper) and others on the zabaware forum (ARRON!!)

I had always believed that Zabaware was where we was going to Solve AI...I know that the potential is here too; Once members stop flexing and start to actually collaborate.

But AI has inspired me - To get my degrees... Finances has stopped me getting more!

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2018, 06:06:03 pm »
Well korrelan for example is 50 I think and doesn't have time to work with others especially me being 22 so, and is focus-driven, so, I think that's why there is parties that want to stay single-party. I think I can see why.

Is anybody here actually working *not solo? Fred? Korrelan? Infurl? And why if so? Maybe there's no use to team up?
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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2018, 08:11:10 pm »
Well korrelan for example is 50 I think and doesn't have time to work with others especially me being 22 so, and is focus-driven, so, I think that's why there is parties that want to stay single-party. I think I can see why.

Is anybody here actually working *not solo? Fred? Korrelan? Infurl? And why if so? Maybe there's no use to team up?

To tell the truth the journey was hard to get to this understanding of Code and unrealised potential of chat-bots(conversational AI)  i have noticed that the older ones like to steer younger or newcomers on journeys of useless discovery.... without actually answering direct questions or even sharing previously Conquered code!

Personally it has been a battle figuring out stuff... even the basics.... no i feel that i can think about a problem or algorithm and recreate it with ease;
Methodologies i have learned along the way are all useful for tackling issues i come across or block me. 

i'm perfectly willing to share code; it can always be improved! or i can always relearn or get inspired by newcomers.... although i will never use python (even though i done a few exams and projects in python for I.T degree). But We are in a future where we don't even have to share actual code we can share "Libraries" which can be imported / Used by most programming platforms and languages. keeping you true to your coding platform and able to not need to understand the code required to accomplish the task.

My mind has always designed with a black box mentality. even if the component doesn't exist ; the box can be dealt with as skills develop or answers present themselves.

the neural network i shared is a bit mixed up but works ! its enough to understand how to build a neural network from code; I wish i was a mathematician and could explain the back propagation maths but at the time i figured it out with lots of you-tube!   when asking on forums i was always directed to interesting content and yet none actually showed me HOW! 
After figuring it out and building it i had no use for it! ..... again previously i had been suggested to use neural networks.... it too was a false lead....this can be a problem when receiving advice!
was i steered in the wrong direction ?
was it malicious?

Maybe maybe not ! but still it was a learning process. Now i'm so close to creating a self learning AI (language wise) understanding human language / as well as data gathering i become guarded to allow people to view code !
This is why Forums can be a problem and git hub too!
But ; It is always possible for me to show you code if i feel it would truly benefit you. this is why a community such as this can be guarded against newcomers / Spongers / people looking for answers without actually sharing anything.
But as you grow and become part of the  community and begin to share code i've found it become competitive. as we all actually want to share information. but not help you pass your degree!

Anyway There is always a personal message scheme !

We can hope attitude change!

Maybe?

PS: i worked for Bandai NAMCO and still people were only interested to work on work stuff only! without a brief or sprint to achieve they could not think for themselves!

Independent Thought is rare. most people are tuned to go to work! not become inventors.

Age does have a lot to do with it! (45)  as well as generation (90's)

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2018, 12:27:32 am »
"i have noticed that the older ones like to steer younger or newcomers on journeys of useless discovery.... without actually answering direct questions"

Often times, there is an NDA involved.  Believe it or not, the A.I. community is definitely not all hobbyists.
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Korrelan

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Re: When did you start learning AI?
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2018, 09:52:42 am »
@Spydaz

Being as I am the only person mentioned by name in your posts, are you implying that…

Quote
I have noticed that the older ones like to steer younger or newcomers on journeys of useless discovery.... without actually answering direct questions or even sharing previously Conquered code!

Refers to me?

 ???
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