VANCOUVER, BC - XPRIZE (www.xprize.org), the global leader in incentivized prize competitions, announces today the creation of a prize competition presented by TED, (www.TED.com), the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) so advanced that it could deliver a compelling TED Talk with no human involvement.
Chris Anderson, curator of TED, and Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of XPRIZE, made the announcement from the TED2014 Conference stage and are inviting the public to provide input into the rules of the competition at www.xprize.org/TED.
The site will give contributors the opportunity to help shape the competition's format by answering questions like: How should the TED Talk topic be chosen How long should the talk be How should the competition be judged Will the AI be a physical robot that walks, or rolls, on stage to present or will it be a disembodied voice Should the competition be an annual occurrence in which the best-of-the-year is awarded, or should it be a first-to-win competition in which the first team to demonstrate certain criteria will then take the TED stage
"Advances in machine learning and AI have made extraordinary progress over the past decade, but we've barely scratched the surface," said Diamandis. "This global competition could help spur its development across a myriad of areas - including biological research, exploration, education, healthcare, and fields we have not yet even imagined."
Added Anderson: "We're entering a future in which humans and machines must learn new ways to work with each other. My hope is this prize will fuel that process. I predict that within a few years we'll be blown away by what Artificial Intelligences can do. But that we also may learn what they can't do so well. We may discover that it's some form of human-machine collaboration that offers the most powerful prospect for creating and communicating ideas that matter. I have no idea how this ends up, but I'm incredibly excited to find out."
