STEVE OMOHUNDRO has been a scientist, professor, author, software architect, and entrepreneur doing research that explores the interface between mind and matter. He has degrees in physics and mathematics from Stanford and a Ph.D. in physics from UC Berkeley. He was a computer science professor at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and co-founded the Center for Complex Systems Research. He published the book Geometric Perturbation Theory in Physics, designed the programming languages StarLisp and Sather, wrote the 3D graphics system for Mathematica, invented many new learning algorithms (including manifold learning, model merging, bumptrees, and family discovery), and built systems which learn to read lips, control robots, and induce grammars.
Omohundro is president of Possibility Research and Self-Aware Systems, a think tank working to ensure that intelligent technologies have a positive impact. His work on positive intelligent technologies was featured in James Barrat’s book Our Final Invention and has generated international interest. He serves on the advisory boards of the Cryptocurrency Research Group, the Institute for Blockchain Studies, Dfinity Cryptocurrency, and the AI startup Cognitalk. He is an award-winning teacher and has given hundreds of talks around the world. Some of his talks and scientific papers are available here. He holds the vision that new technologies can help humanity create a more compassionate, peaceful, and life-serving world.