Accelerating Future Lexicon:

accelerating change:
The frequently heard argument that overall change (and sometimes, "progress") in human civilization - or even the universe itself - has been accelerating over time. For example, if we say that the amount of change that took place between 1990 and 2000 seems roughly equivalent to the amount that occured between 1960 and 1990, we might extrapolate that and argue the same amount of change is likely to occur again, and then again, on ever-shortening timescales. Accelerating change is a controversial thesis that appears in a variety of forms, but is steadily gaining popularity and academic credibility. Notable thinkers on accelerating change include John Smart (SingularityWatch.com) and Ray Kurzweil (KurzweilAI.net). See also Institute for Accelerating Change, Moore's Law, Singularity, cognitive interpretation of, Singularity, sociotechnological interpretation of.

Accelerating Change Conference (ACC):
Institute for Accelerating Change's (IAC) yearly conference. "ACC03", IAC's first conference, took place at Stanford University, and featured attendees such as Eric Drexler, William Calvin, Robert Wright, and Ben Goertzel. ACC04 is scheduled to take place at Stanford again. Website: http://www.accelerating.org.

adaptive:
Used to describe behaviors in organisms that increase inclusive fitness. To avoid confusion, it's best to use this word within the context of biological evolution only, selecting different terms to describe cultural behavior in human systems or technological progress. The word "adaptive" has been so overused in the past half-century that it has acquired a very fuzzy and uncertain meaning. See also evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology.

Adaptive Artificial Intelligence, Inc:
Adaptive Artificial Intelligence, Inc. An Artificial General Intelligence project led by Peter Voss, located in Los Angeles. As of March 2003, A2I2 has seven full-time members on its programming team. A2I2 is currently aiming for "dog-level intelligence". Website: http://www.adaptiveai.com.

adversarial attitude:
In the context of benevolent AI design, the complex of beliefs and expectations which causes us to expect that AIs will behave anthropomorphically and hostilely. The adversarial attitude predisposes us to fear self-improvements by the AI rather than surfing the tide; the adversarial attitude causes us to fear the ability of the AI to comprehend and modify Friendliness, rather than regarding comprehension and improvement as the keys to self-improving Friendliness. The adversarial attitude predisposes us to expect failures that are human-likely rather than those that are actually most probable or worrisome. The adversarial attitude is the opposite of unity of will and does not permit us to cooperate with the AI. It leads us to try and enslave or cripple the AI; to build a tool, or a servant, rather than a Friendly but independent Martin Luther King. It leads us to try and reinforce patchwork safeguards with meta-safeguards instead of building coherent goal systems [Yudkowsky01]. Most AI researchers of the past few decades have been adversarial, which is a great obstacle to the construction of intelligent systems that are benevolent because they want to be, rather than because of some arbitrary programmer rules. (Which would be destined to break down above a threshold level of intelligence or when the AI gains access to its own source code, which is bound to happen given enough time.) See also Asimov Laws, Friendliness, Friendly AI, Friendship architecture.

Adversarial Swamp:
In the context of Friendly AI design, the swamp of AI inhibitions and meta-inhibitions, and programmer fears and anxieties, resulting from the adversarial attitude or the use of Asimov Laws. To enforce even a single feature that is not consistent with the rest of the AI - to use, as a feature of Friendliness, something that you perceive as an error on the AI's part - you'd need not only the error/feature, but inhibitions to protect the error, and meta-inhibitions to protect the inhibitions, and more inhibitions to cut the AI short every time ve tries for a new avenue of philosophical sophistication. Stupid and simple cognitive processes suddenly become preferable, since every trace of complexity - of ability - becomes a danger to be feared... this is the Adversarial Swamp, which inevitably drags down all who set foot in it; once you try to enforce even a single feature, the whole of the AI becomes a threat, and the programmers are forever doomed to swim against the current [Yudkowsky01].

AGI:
See Artificial General Intelligence.

AGI mailing list:
Mailing list focused on the subject of Artificial General Intelligence, moderated by AGIRI Director Dr. Ben Goertzel. Website: http://www.agiri.org/agilist.htm.

AGIRI:
See Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute.

AI:
See Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Intelligence.

AI Advantage, the:
Advantages that the first generally intelligent AI would be very likely to possess, by virtue of its inherent substrate and design. For some interesting summaries, see LOGI part 3 or Computer Programs, Minds-in-General, and the Human Brain. See also Singularity, impact of.

AI Box Experiment:
Experiment to gain insight into whether a "sandboxed" AI of human-similar or human-surpassing intelligence would be able to talk its way out of its restrictions, using a text-only channel. Current indications seem to point to "yes". Webpage: http://yudkowsky.net/essays/aibox.html. The moral of the results is that it is a horrible idea to build an AI of human-similar intelligence without ensuring that the AI is genuinely benevolent first. No matter how confident you are that you will be able to keep the AI under your control, it will outsmart you and circumvent its restrictions. See also Friendliness architecture, Friendly AI.

AIXI:
Theory of universal Artificial Intelligence based on sequential decision theory and algorithmic probability, by AI researcher Dr. Marcus Hutter. The theory argues mathematically that true superintelligence would be possible, given an infinite amount of computing power, although the resultant mind would be a psychological hedonist. Read an introduction at http://www.idsia.ch/~marcus/ai/aixigentle.htm. See also Hutter, Dr. Marcus.

AIXI-tl:
An attempt at scaling down AIXI, in an effort to yield a computable Artificial Intelligence. Analyzed in the paper "Towards a Universal Theory of Artificial Intelligence based on Algorithmic Probability and Sequential Decisions". See also Hutter, Dr. Marcus.

aleph:
A point or state where infinite information is stored and processed. It is currently not known if the laws of physics allow this, but several credible physicists are convinced that they might. If infinite levels of computation are indee possible, then subjective experience in this universe may be eternal. (An infinite amount of computing power would allow us to implement an infinite quantity of virtual realities and their inhabitants, assuming that conscious minds can be created through raw computation, which is the current consensus of practically anyone who studies the brain scientifically. This thesis is called casual functionalism.) Mitch Porter's term. Very speculative. See also Omega Point, Alpha-Line Computing, Shock Level Four.

Algernization:
Deliberate creation of Algernons via neurosurgery, cybernetic implants, or via other means. Non-speculative. See Algernon.

Algernon:
Any human who, via artificial or natural means, has some type of mental enhancement that carries a price. Algernons may possess surplus neurons or neuron-equivalents in certain brain areas while suffering deficits in others. Eliezer Yudkowsky's term, based on the novel "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. Non-speculative. See also Algernization, Brain-Computer Interfacing, neurosurgery.

algorithmic complexity:
An attempt at quantifying the objective amount of complexity in a given structure or algorithm, using algorithmic complexity theory. Sometimes used to estimate the difficulty of software or engineering projects. See Wikipedia's entry. See also Kolmogorov complexity.

Alpha-Line Computing:
Alpha-Line Computing is a repeated sequence of Alpha-Point Computing instances; universes continuously splitting off from their parent universes, perhaps tweaking the laws of physics to maximize available computation in the next universe in the sequence. Eliezer Yudkowsky's term. Very speculative. See also Shock Level Four.

Alpha-Point Computing:
A computing method whereby a new universe is split off from the home universe, and the infinite (or near-infinitely) hot and dense Big Bang of this new universe is utilized to perform computations. Articles have appeared in Popular Science and other mainstream publications suggesting that it may one day be possible to create a universe in a lab or a futuristic lab-equivalent. See this post from the SL4 mailing list: http://sl4.org/archive/0201/2572.html. Very speculative. See also aleph, Alpha-Point Computing, Omega Point Theory, Shock Level Four.

altruism:
True altruism means helping others without desire for personal gain in any form. Altruism requires that there is "no want for material, physical, spiritual, or egoistic gain" (http://barbaria.com/god/philosophy/zen/glossary.htm). Altruism is a moral philosophy whereby all sentients, and their respective moralities, are equally valued. Altruism is a complex type of behavior that requires the ability to model what other minds want, and the intelligence to fulfill those wants in ways these minds want them to be fulfilled. It would be ideal if the first Artificial Intelligence were entirely altruistic, which is what the field of AI Friendliness is going for. But since the minimum requirements for self-reinforcing altruistic behavior are not likely to be computationally simple, implementing altruism in AIs (or cognitively modified human beings) is not likely to be an easy task. If we do not succeed in this task, then we will face the risk of confronting smarter-than-human intelligences with goals that amount to indifference or hostility towards our welfare. See also Friendly AI.

altruist:
A person (AI, cyborg, or human, doesn't matter) who practices altruism sincerely.

An Intuitive Explanation of Bayesian Reasoning:
Webpage by Eliezer Yudkowsky, a tutorial on Bayesian reasoning - a class of reasoning that adheres to the axioms of probability theory. Located at http://yudkowsky.net/bayes/bayes.html. See also Bayes' Theorem, Bayesian.

Anissimov, Michael:
Advocacy Director for the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, co-director of the Immortality Institute, chair of the Bay Area Transhumanists Association, primary writer for AcceleratingFuture.com. See also immortalism, Singularitarianism.

Anthropic Principle:
Why does Earth seem so precisely tuned for life? Because if it weren't, we wouldn't be here to ask that question to begin with. The Anthropic Principle refers to the automatic selection effects taking place all the time based on who we are, what we are doing, and where we happen to be. This effect has come to the attention of an international group of top philosophers and even physicists. Here's the canonical website: http://www.anthropic-principle.com. Non-speculative.

anthropics:
The field of study applying the Anthropic Principle and awareness of observer selection effects. Non-speculative.

anthropocentrism:
The narrow-minded habit of interpreting the world exclusively in terms of human values, tendencies, and experiences. Originally a mental shortcut for survival in the brutal social systems of our ancestry, this way of thinking becomes more obsolete by the day. Anthropocentrism strikes hardest when we try to wrap our minds around complex, hypothetical objects or entities with nonhuman qualities and characteristics. If we mess up the creation of transhuman intelligence, anthropocentric thinking will likely be to blame. See also anthropomorphic, minds-in-general.

anthropomorphic:
Literally "human-shaped". Anthropomorphic thinking mistakenly attributes properties to minds-in-general that are specific to naturally evolved minds, imperfectly deceptive social organisms, or human minds [Yudkowsky01]. See also anthropocentrism.

Apotheosis:
From Eliezer Yudkowsky's webpage: "The Singularity holds out the possibility of winning the Grand Prize, the true Utopia, the best-of-all-possible-worlds - not just freedom from pain and stress or a sterile round of endless physical pleasures, but the prospect of endless growth for every human being - growth in mind, in intelligence, in strength of personality; life without bound, without end; experiencing everything we've dreamed of experiencing, becoming everything we've ever dreamed of being; not for a billion years, or ten-to-the-billionth years, but forever... or perhaps embarking together on some still greater adventure of which we cannot even conceive. That's the Apotheosis." A successful Singularity (creation of an intelligence smarter than us with the ability to recursively self-improve its own hardware) might not be capable of ushering in an "apotheosis", but this depends heavily on how we define it. The possibility of Apotheosis depends heavily on the difficulty of implementing a peaceful equilibrium state across the whole (or a significant portion of) civilization. Even if apotheosis is unachievable, better medicine, social structures, and a roof over everyone's head would still be nice, and the creation of transhuman intelligence could still provide a much faster route to these luxuries than traditional human-instituted progress. Somewhat speculative. See also Friendly Singularity.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI):
Artificial Intelligence capable of learning and solving complex problems in a variety of domains, without programmer supervision, presumably of human-similar intelligence but likely displaying different patterns of domain competency than human beings. A true AGI may be intelligent and conscious, but unable to pass the Turing Test, if the knowledge and cognitive prerequisites for communication with humans are absent. For example, a young AGI might be better at writing computer code than painting masterworks, although it could write the code underlying the ability to paint masterworks fairly rapidly if the cognitive prerequisites for recursive self-improvemement were available. Often abbreviated as 'AGI' or 'GAI'. Both the AGI mailing list and the SL4 mailing list routinely discuss the prospect of Artificial General Intelligence. Non-speculative. See also A2I2, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute, general intelligence; Goertzel, Ben; Singularity, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence; Voss, Peter; Yudkowsky, Eliezer.

Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute (AGIRI):
Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute, an organization engaged in developing General Artificial Intelligence (as opposed to narrow-domain Artificial Intelligence). Their commercial affiliate is Novamente LLC, which currently develops tool-level AI for application in bioinformatics. AGIRI is headed by Dr. Ben Goertzel, an Artificial Intelligence researcher and entrepreneur. Website: http://www.agiri.org.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):
A full, complete intelligence built deliberately by another intelligence, rather than through the unfolding of a genome created by natural selection. The word "Artificial Intelligence" is often used to mean "software programs that are competent in narrow domains", but this is essentially just a marketing scheme. A true Artificial Intelligence would need to be exactly as the word indicates; intelligent. An Artificial Intelligence need not be a "computer" or a "robot" any more than a human is a cell or a gene. Regarding the issue of AI morality; an AI might want to help humans regardless of how they treat it, hurt humans regardless of how they treat it, treat humans based on how they treat it, or treat everyone based on moral rules which don't make distinctions between "humans" and "AIs", but ground in totally different criteria which only an expert could predict in advance (let alone engineer). All of these factors depend on the AI's initial design and how the AI chooses to modify its goal structure (if it has that ability). Artificial Intelligences are sometimes referred to using feminine pronouns or gender-neutral pronouns such as "ve", "ver", or "vis". Non-speculative. See also AI Advantage, design-contingent philosophy, Friendliness, Singularity, recursive self-improvement.

Asimov Laws:
Famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics", a plot device invented in the 1940s. They are;