Mindpixel is a World Wide Web based collaborative artificial intelligence project led by Chris McKinstry, a computer scientist and former Very Large Telescope operator for the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The project enlists the efforts of thousands of participants over the www and offers them a share in its value if it is successful. Hence its claim to be “The planet's largest artificial intelligence effort".

The project aims to create a database of millions of human validated true/false statements or probabilistic propositions. Participants create one line statements which will be objectively true or false to 20 other anonymous participants. In order to submit their statement they must first check the true/false validity of 20 such statements submitted by others. Participants who reply consistently out of step with the majority have their status downgraded and are eventually excluded. Likewise participants who make contributions which others cannot agree are objectively true or false have their status downgraded.

A validated true/ false statement is called a mindpixel.

Chris McKinstry believes that the database so constructed could be used in conjunction with a neural net to produce a body of human common sense knowledge which would have market value. Participants are awarded shares in any future value according to the number of mindpixels they have successfully created.

The database and its software is known as GAC (pronounced Jak) which stands for Generic Artificial Consciousness.

The project started in 2000 and has 1.4 million mindpixels as of January 2004. It was developed out of the earlier MISTIC (1996) AI project also created by Chris McKinstry.

External links

• Mindpixel Home page
• Interview with Chris McKinstry about the Mindpixel project on Slashdot, July 2000