August 18, 2008
Does "Openness" Lead to More Innovation?
Kevin Boudreau has written an interesting paper on the question of whether making a platform "open" leads to more innovation than leaving it closed. His nuanced conclusions are worthy of attention in light of more frequent claims that purely open or closed models are the best way to promote innovation.
Posted by Robert at 06:00 AM
category: Technology Industry
August 15, 2008
Two Heads (One Silicon, One Carbon) Are Better Than One
Using computers to automate inventing does not mean that humans become irrelevant. To the contrary, the most effective kinds of invention automation often involve cooperation between human and computer, a partnership in which each member does what it does best. Interactive evolutionary computation strives to take advantage of such synergies.
Louis von Ahn has developed a specialty in creating computer games which double as human-computer teams for solving problems that neither could solve by itself, such as:
- The ESP Game, which shows the same image to two people and requires them to type in a word describing it, ostensibly to read each others' minds, but also to create a text-searchable database of images (a problem which computer algorithm designers have yet to crack);
- Tag a Tune, a similar game using songs instead of images; and
- Verbosity, in which one player is shown a secret word and must provide clues from which a second player attempts to guess the secret word, all with the effect of creating a database of word meanings.
Posted by Robert at 06:00 AM
category: Artificial Invention
| Design & Engineering
August 12, 2008
Software (Re)Invents the Wheel
Evolutionary software has invented the wheel.
Not impressed? Then consider that a circle is not the only shape which maintains a constant height when rolled across flat ground. Can you figure out what the other shapes are? If not, then don't feel bad. They were not discovered until the late 19th century. Yet an evolutionary algorithm rediscovered them in under an hour.
Posted by Robert at 06:00 AM
category: Artificial Invention
August 09, 2008
See Evolved LEGO Structures in Action
Check out the Brandeis DEMO (Dynamical and Evolutionary Machine Organization) web site for videos of LEGO bridges, cranes, tables, and other structures designed using evolutionary algorithms.
Posted by Robert at 06:00 AM
category: Artificial Invention
August 06, 2008
Combining Real and Simulated Evolution for Aircraft Design
Most of the examples of automated inventing described on this web site to date were generated using computer simulations. In contrast, Will Regan, Floris van Breugel, and Hod Lipson of Cornell University have used a combination of simulation and a real-world hardware implementation of a "hovering flapping ornithopter" -- essentially an aircraft with flapping wings -- demonstrate the feasibility of this kind of flight (which, as we all know, is not how the airplanes we know and love work). Their paper includes images of both the simulated and physical models they used.
Posted by Robert at 06:00 AM
category: Artificial Invention
August 03, 2008
Computer Game Opponents Evolve
Steffen Priesterjahn and others at the University of Paderborn in Germany have used evolutionary algorithms to generate smarter computer players for the game Quake 3. They generated a set of players which played with an initial set of strategies, then played them against the standard computer opponent. The strategies of the best-performing players were combined (mated) with each other to produce offspring, some of which were also mutated. After multiple generations this evolutionary process created computer players that were significantly more difficult for human players to beat.
Posted by Robert at 06:30 AM
category: Artificial Invention
July 31, 2008
Automated Invention of a Thrombin Inhibitor
Matrix Advanced Solutions has used its "artificial creativity" software to create an orally-available thrombin inhibitor to act as an anticoagulant. The thrombin inhibitor, which was developed without the use of any expert knowledge, is now in pre-clinical trials.
Posted by Robert at 06:00 AM
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category: Artificial Invention
