Seed AI is an hypothesized type of strong artificial intelligence capable of recursive self-improvement.

Technical Specifications

At its slowest, the seed AI would probably "think" at the speed of a signal in a cable, and likely network at the speed of electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum. Given that humans think at 5 to 25 meters per second (the speed of propagation for unmyelinated sensory neurons), and network (at least) at the speed of sound, the seed AI would perceive humans thinking at about:

2×10¹ mps/2×10⁸ mps = 1×10^-7

the speed that they do and would perceive humans networking at least:

3×10² mps/3×10⁸ mps = 1×10^-6

slower than they do. This is the same factor at which a jogger (going 6×10⁰ mps) would perceive the speed of a snail moving in the same direction (typically 6×10^-6 mps).

Why It's Hard to get There

The simplest seed AIs would self-optimize for efficiency and raw speed, as modern compilers do now, but these are not sufficient for the sort of open-ended recursive self-enhancement needed to create advanced, smarter-than-human intelligence. Existing program optimizers can examine their own code and rewrite themselves for greater efficiency, but they cannot do so recursively. The improved version of a given compiler may compile faster, but it cannot compile better. That is, an optimized version of a compiler will never spot new optimization tricks that earlier versions failed to see, will never innovate new ways of improving its own program, etc. Seed AI must be able to understand the purpose behind the various elements of its design, and design entirely new modules that will make it genuinely more intelligent. Needless to say, a true seed AI requires a vast amount of initial general intelligence, beyond that of any AI created so far.

Creating seed AI is the goal of several organizations. The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence is the most prominent of those explicitly working to create seed AI. Others include the Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute , creator of the Novamente AI engine, and Adaptive Artificial Intelligence Incorporated .

Singularitarians believe seed AI is the technology most likely to bring about a technological singularity.

External links

• What is Seed AI? -- A brief overview of seed AI from the Singularity Institute
• The Novamente AI Engine -- The project page for AGIRI's planned seed AI
• General Intelligence and Seed AI -- A lengthier explanation of seed AI from the Singularity Institute
• Levels of Organization in General Intelligence -- A formal explanation of seed AI design principles
• Adaptive AI Inc. -- A2I2 project website