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Author Archives: mjs
What AIs are not Learning (and Why)
It is hard to build robots (including telerobots) that are useful, and harder to build autonomous robots that are robust and general. Current robots are built using manual programming, mathematical models, planning frameworks, and reinforcement learning. These methods do not … Continue reading
Bootstrapping Developmental AIs
Developmental AI creates embodied AIs that develop human-like abilities. In a bootstrapping approach to developmental AI, the AIs start with innate competences and learn more by interacting with the world including people. Developmental AIs have been demonstrated, but their abilities … Continue reading
Creating the Conditions for Invention and Innovation — Revisited
When I was asked to lead the Intelligent Systems and Technology Lab at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), I wanted the lab to succeed wonderfully in its research mission. I was a fairly prolific inventor and had taken multiple … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Human-AI Collaboration, Innovation
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A Generation Ready for Human-Computer Teams
Human-computer teams combine best of human and computer cognition. The combination can lead to extremely high performance. But are human-computer teams the future of work? For some of us, the idea of having computers on the team is outside of … Continue reading
Posted in Human-AI Collaboration, Uncategorized
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What’s the Right Operating System for a Light Bulb?
The typical news today about LED bulbs is about their rapid adoption, their dropping prices, and supporting legislation. The bigger story is about exploiting the IOT (Internet of Things) infrastructure that surrounds them. Lightbulbs have great established infrastructure. Each receptacle is wired for power. Bulbs have standard screw bases … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Innovation
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Smart City Lessons from Shopping Alleys
In Edinburgh they call them “closes”. Other names include arcades, lanes, and alleys. For urban designer Christopher Alexander, an alley is kind of pedestrian street (design pattern #100). A shopping alley is an alley with store fronts. It is often an integral part of a shopping … Continue reading
Design Patterns for Smarter Cities
It is counterintuitive, but as Wired says, building more roads increases traffic. How can we do better? On a wall at Xerox Services in Los Angeles there is a photo of Sepulveda Grade packed with cars from the 1950’s and 1960’s. As a colleague observed … Continue reading
Hunters to Collaborators: Transitioning to Agile Organizations
When edge cases become typical they signal transitions. Then we need new thinking for real understanding. Edge cases are usually rare and far from the norm. They can challenge and inform how we think. They come up in answering even simple seeming questions on our project, which is developing analytics for … Continue reading
Posted in Extreme Teams
Tagged Analytics, CitySight, High Performance Teams, Smart Cities
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Going Beyond “Smart”: How Combining Big Data With People Enables Smarter Action in the “Big Picture”
Traffic and parking enforcement is at the heart of running a city. Every day officers drive or walk their beats. They respond to accidents and help citizens. They enforce regulations to keep cities running smoothly like preventing double parking, which … Continue reading
Creativity and its Expression
I am focused on creativity and expression and how we tap into a source of inspiration and are driven to express it. You don’t write papers with titles like Letting Loose the Light, The Next Knowledge Medium, or Toward Portable Ideas if something like this isn’t on your mind. … Continue reading