Projects Intro
I normally work simultaneously on a number of AI projects, from testing robots in learning confines to letting robots acquire speech and develop loving relationships. I am also using the Xzistor Concept brain model to develop real (mathematical) definitions – for the first time ever I believe – of mind states like emotions, depression, addiction, stress, anxiety, sleep, paranoia etc. to put an alternative, brand new, understanding of these brain states on the table.
On this website you will find guidance for AI enthusiasts who would like to set up their own AI labs at home. I am passionate about Ethical AI and making robotics a force for good – so I have an ongoing body of work to establish an Ethical Design and Development Code which I hope will in future be the basis for an international regulatory framework. This type of framework really only starts to make sense when one has a model like the Xzistor Concept available. I am running an active campaign on Twitter to grow an awareness of Ethical AI, especially among the new generation AI developers who will be living side-by-side with the robots I am designing today! Please join my campaign for Ethical AI on Twitter!
Here is an overview of what you can see on the Xzistor LAB website:
Blog
My Blog is available to all visitors and contains some of the articles and posts developed in the other areas of the Xzistor Lab. Once we have completed discussion, debates or projects in the advanced areas like the Blue Sky Lab or the Sage’s Cave, we will release some project reports and posts to the blog area. If you want to be part of the real-time development of these projects, make sure to visit the Blue Sky Lab section of this website and the Sage’s Cave where visitors can ask questions and air their views in the advanced forums.
Simple Robotics Projects
Covered under this section are all the subjective states we are demonstrating using Troopy – check out the image galleries and videos. We also have a section on Simmy – a little 3D virtual robot that is also Troopy’s virtual ancestor.
The versatility of this simulation toolkit developed by the Xzistor LAB is also demonstrated in a short section on a robot developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. The robot is called – the ‘Volksbot‘. Finally, we have a section to showcase some of the projects our Labbers are running (please make sure you contribute your information in line with our guidance provided here).
Build Your Own AI Lab
Why don’t you get your own home AI lab up and running?
You will be surprised how simple it is using the Lego EV3 Mindstorms platforms which have all the motors and sensors pre-integrated for you. We just use more sophisticated software, which means, if you want to, you can develop really complex programs.
For instance you could add a dashboard with graphs showing your robot’s internal states in real time (my program has a dashboard with graphs that update every 50 milliseconds in separate threads)! You can just follow my simple guidance by going to my Build Your Own AI Lab page. Make sure to check out my Tip of the Week page to avoid common pitfalls and learn how to save money. Here visitors can also get access to the Xzistor LAB Robot Builders Forum.
Advanced Robotics Projects
In this section of the Xzistor LAB website I offer a glimpse into the advanced projects I am working on at any given point in time. For example I am at the moment working on a project to see how Troopy learns to talk – a very simple approach just to demonstrate the principle. Another advanced project I am running currently will allow a robot to fall in love (or is it lust!) with another robot! Labbers will be able to literally peer over my shoulder and see how I conduct complex projects never achieved before. You are welcome to join my Blue Sky Lab and the venture into the Sage’s Cave where we talk about the mind boggling insights gained from this first-of-a-kind brain model. This is where no topic is taboo (you have been warned) and where we use insights from the Xzistor Concept to explain phenomena like addiction, paranoia, depression, curiosity, optimal happiness and artificial ‘super-intelligence’ – to name but a few.
Both of the above two areas also have their own associated forums where Labbers can post questions via threads and partake in the projects via comments .
- Blue Sky Forum – discussions around the groundbreaking AI projects and demo videos I will create.
- Sage’s Cave Forum – discussions around the phenomenal insights that come out of this brain model (often more philosophical…and often shocking!).
It is here in the advanced projects section of the Xzistor LAB that I believe the first truly humanoid robots of the Robot Age will be designed and built….
PI in the Sky (Long Term Projects)
The difference between the ambitions of many world-renowned AI institutes and the Xzistor LAB is that we are not saying ‘maybe one day we will be able to do these things‘ but rather ‘which of these projects do we tackle today‘.
Most presentations on the Internet on AI ends with a slide saying something in the vain of: ‘But we are not there yet. We still do not fully understand the brain‘. While our last slide reads: ‘Our principal understanding of the brain places an immense responsibility on us – specifically on how we take this technology forward …‘
All of the ‘far-fetched’ projects below are possible today with the Xzistor Concept brain model and many are already massively progressed. We just need to decide which of these ones we prioritise! Patrons help me decide what project to kick off next.
Go here for more detail on the below project ideas.
- 2nd Life meets Xzistor Concept
- The Simms (with intelligence and emotions)
- Robot Heaven (Managing robot death)
- Dreams Are Us (Seeing what robots dream)
- Human Brain Replacement
- Ultimate Companion Robot
- Mars Colony of Xzistor Bots
- Mechanical Only Sentient Robot
- Designing an Uberbot
- New Processor for a Parallel Robot Brain
- Human Poker Table Brain Game (to explain the brain model)
- Warship Analogy (to explain the brain model)
I fully anticipate that you will have your doubts about my claims and these advanced projects. I would have been very skeptical too! What can I do about that? Well, I can build a website where you can see evidence of my research step by step and I hope in time you will start to agree that I have conquered the brain. So, do check back from time to time – and don’t just look, think critically about what I put before you! Enjoy!