Introduction
The
New York Times, in a front
page article on August 31st ("Scientists
Report They Have Made Robot That
Makes Its Own Robots" By
Kenneth Chang) reported on the
work of Jordan Pollack and his
Brandeis University colleague
Hod Lipson: "For the first
time", The Times reported,
"computer scientists have
created a robot that designs and
builds other robots, almost entirely
without human help."
"I
work on this question of self-organization,
using evolution, neural networks,
games, problem solving, and robotics,"
says Pollack. "And the way
that we work on it is by trying
to set up non-equilibrium chemical
reactions in software which dissipate
computer time a form of
energy — and create structure.
Some of that structure we can
actually make real in the form
of robots, and although robots
are much more exciting to cameras
and the media than problem-solvers,
games and language learning, our
fundamental work is in trying
to understand where complexity
itself comes from, without a designer."
He
sees "a merger of bio-informatics,
biotechnology, and information
processing. As we understand cellular
processes, neural representations,
and develop microelectronic and
nanoscale technologies, our artifacts
will be able to interact with
our biological forms at a most
fundamental level. Unfortunately,
we really haven't fathomed the
complexity of nature yet to know
what to do with it."
—
JB
JORDAN
POLLACK, is a computer science
and complex systems professor
at Brandeis University. His laboratory's
work on AI, Artificial Life, Neural
Networks, Evolution, Dynamical
Systems, Games, Robotics, Machine
Learning, and Educational Technology
has been reported on by the
New York Times, Time, Science,
NPR, Slashdot.org and many
other media sources worldwide.
Jordan is a prolific inventor,
advises several startup companies
and incubators, and in his spare
time runs Thin Mail, an Internet
based service designed to increase
the usefulness of wireless email.
Click
here for Jordan Pollack's Edge
Bio Page
