tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post7892464768371028565..comments2024-03-29T05:19:17.638-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: DARPA's Physical Intelligence ProgramThe Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-6398478275898532862009-06-14T07:26:36.797-07:002009-06-14T07:26:36.797-07:00And before BICA there was HYCS (High Yield Cogniti...And before BICA there was <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070128083125/www.darpa.mil/ipto/solicitations/open/02-21_PIP.htm" rel="nofollow">HYCS (High Yield Cognitive Systems)</a>. Even the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Yield_Cognitive_Systems" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia page</a> is defunct, but it included the remarkable statement (my emphasis added):<br /><br />"It was quickly determined, though, that the Cognitive computing vision was in fact <i>not ambitious enough</i>; that its target of human capability was too limited to achieve traction on many of the problems produced by the defense community."Richard Kennawayhttp://www.cmp.uea.ac.uk/~jrknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-20603275417168869042009-05-12T01:02:00.000-07:002009-05-12T01:02:00.000-07:00The vast majority of PIs merely wanted that big pi...<I>The vast majority of PIs merely wanted that big pile of money, no matter what it took to get it.</I> <br /><br /><br />Nothing like the current money grab for funds from the Recovery Act, eh? The <A HREF="http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-od-09-003.html" REL="nofollow">Challenge Grants</A> have been dubbed <A HREF="http://www.slate.com/id/2217229/pagenum/all/" REL="nofollow">America's Got Science Talent</A> (as compared to the brute force of Science Survivor). As of May 4, NIH expected to receive about <A HREF="http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/505/1" REL="nofollow">15,000 applications</A> for 200 grants. Maybe there should be a live talent competition between the semifinalists.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-5282444928459432902009-05-11T13:44:00.000-07:002009-05-11T13:44:00.000-07:00Yes, not only read the papers, but seen in detail ...Yes, not only read the papers, but seen in detail what went on behind producing them. The papers have little to do with reality. They were just little hyped snippets for DARPA program officers (what a shock!). I have a pretty cynical view of the entire process, at this point (I'm sure that being one of the few women there may have had an effect in the way I describe this). <br />There were very few individuals who were honestly interested in the project and the research. The vast majority of PIs merely wanted that big pile of money, no matter what it took to get it. There was no cooperation at all (some opportunistic alliances developed, occasionally, but just to beat the "other" guys; nothing to do with true exchange of ideas). It was a zoo with numerous alpha males coming from different tribes trying to bully each other for dominance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-48874100365329650542009-05-11T12:12:00.000-07:002009-05-11T12:12:00.000-07:00Has anyone read the phase one papers? Cooperation...Has anyone read the phase one papers? Cooperation in science was a topic of one of John Tierney's TierneyLab series in the NYT awhile back. <br /><br />Back to the papers go to:<br /><br />http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/bica/bica_phase1.aspAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-44305638513203082922009-05-11T11:07:00.000-07:002009-05-11T11:07:00.000-07:00From Wikipedia:
The second phase (Implementation)...From <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BICA" REL="nofollow">Wikipedia</A>: <br /><I>The second phase (Implementation) of BICA was set to begin in the spring of 2007, and would have involved the actual construction of new intelligent agents that live and behave in a virtual environment. However, this phase was canceled by DARPA, reportedly because it was seen as being <A HREF="http://robots.net/article/2172.html" REL="nofollow">too ambitious</A>.</I>The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-42437150533065537652009-05-11T10:56:00.000-07:002009-05-11T10:56:00.000-07:00I hadn't heard of the BICA Program, but now I'm cu...I hadn't heard of the <A HREF="http://www.darpa.mil/IPTO/programs/bica/bica_phase1.asp" REL="nofollow">BICA Program</A>, but now I'm curious:<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.darpa.mil/IPTO/programs/bica/bica.asp" REL="nofollow">Mission</A>: <br /><I>The goal of the BICA program was to develop integrated psychologically-based and neurobiology-based cognitive architectures that can simulate human cognition in a variety of situations.</I>The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-8342032661371121522009-05-11T08:52:00.000-07:002009-05-11T08:52:00.000-07:00Is anyone familiar with BICA (Biologically Inspire...Is anyone familiar with BICA (Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures)? That was another DARPA program (actually, it never took off beyond the pre-program stage. luckily) that totally failed, very recently. They invited all the biggies (which means, big egos) in a big Survivor-style series of meetings. More time was spent in trying to undermine the competition than in actually thinking and discussing the theoretical challenges facing the program. In the end, it became clear even to the higher-ups that the idea was currently unfeasible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com