[ image courtesy of Imagination Engines Inc. ]
Stephen Thaler founded a company named Imagination Engines Inc. to explore the possibilities of the Creativity Machine, a “thinking” machine based on artificial neural networks. If the machine works the way Thaler describes it, it’s indeed a beautiful, ingenious idea.
Here’s a documentary on the Creativity Machine:
From Imagination Engines Inc’s web page::
An artificial neural network that has been trained on some body of knowledge and then perturbed in a specially prescribed way tends to activate into concepts and/or strategies (e.g., new ideas) derived from that original body of knowledge. These transiently perturbed networks are called ‘imagination engines‘ or ‘imagitrons’. If another computational agent, such as a traditional rule-based algorithm or, even better, another trained neural network is allowed to filter for the very best of these emerging ideas, we arrive at an extremely valuable neural architecture, the patented Creativity Machine. Optional feedback connections between this latter computational agent and the imagination engine assure swift convergence toward useful ideas or strategies.
This new Artificial Intelligence (AI) paradigm is vastly more powerful than genetic algorithms (GA), efficiently generating new concepts on mere desktop computers rather than on the computational clusters required of GAs.
More info on the Creativity Machine:
- Experimental AI Powers Robot Army (Sept. 2006)
- Interview with Dr. Stephen Thaler (Feb. 2002)
- Autonomous Ultrahard Materials Discovery via Spreadsheet-Implemented Neural Network Cascades (April 1997)
- The creativity machine (Jan. 1996)
Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Creativity Machine, Imagination Engines, Inventors, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Neuromorphic Computing, Stephen Thaler
May 7, 2008 at 11:31 pm |
I’ve only looked briefly at these materials, but speaking as somebody who’s read a fair amount about neural networks, it seems like the basic idea is well known. This particular configuration reminds me a lot of Restricted Boltzman Machines and what you can do when you clamp some of the input parameters and let others converge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyzOUbkUf3M
May 7, 2008 at 11:50 pm |
John,
Thanks for your input (once again). And thanks for the video too (I am a big fan of Google Tech Talks).
I have been interested in Neural Networks for a long time, though I have (unfortunately) never found the time to study this topic in detail. As such, I can’t really assess how original Thaler’s ideas are. In any case, as someone who was trained as a scientist, I will be moderately skeptical until I actually see the details of the Creativity Machine, how it’s built, etc.
Nevertheless, the Creativity Machine is patented, so I don’t think any of us will have the chance to take a look at the interesting details.
May 9, 2008 at 10:48 pm |
John, with all due respect, these aren’t in any way Boltzmann Machines. Simulated annealing produces memories (i.e., they are associative memories) that require carefully crafted objective functions. Creativity machines produce confabulations that are seized upon by attendant neural networks as valuable notions (see the diagram posted here). The “magic sauce” is in the interaction between the neural networks that guarantee convergence toward optimal ideas. That’s why you don’t read about Boltzmann machines or Hopfield nets composing symphonies, controlling space vehicles, or devising whole new patents.
I’ve kept track of Thaler for more than a decade. From what I can tell, he is the father of what a big name west coast professor is now calling “confabulation theory.”
May 9, 2008 at 11:03 pm |
Sarah,
Thanks for your insight. I wish I were an expert in neural networks, so that I could add anything intelligent or meaningful. Since I am not an expert, I will be happy to follow the discussion somewhat passively…
June 30, 2008 at 2:45 am |
[...] a Reasonable Deviations post about the Creativity Machine, which incorporates an apropos feedback mechanism, that readily models [...]
May 14, 2009 at 12:35 pm |
Here’s more on the Creativity Machine and human cognition, http://imagination-engines.com/confabulation.htm. Contrast and compare UC’s claims against what was done close to 35 years ago. Oh, the con of man!