Posted on 06/19/2002 9:42:22 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to develop computing systems that are able to reason, learn, adapt and literally "know what they're doing," according to a DARPA statement.DARPA announced the new research program, called the Cognitive Information Processing Technology Initiative, on June 14.
The premise of the initiative, DARPA said, is to find a means to overcome common problems that occur when systems become larger and more complex -- when computers become difficult to maintain, prone to error and breakdown or vulnerable to attack. The novelty of DARPA's concept is that it plans on developing systems that surmount problems by being "responsible for their operation and able to cope with unforeseen events." In other words, they plan on developing computers that can "think."
Calling it the "next computing revolution," DARPA says it intends to develop computers that will demonstrate a certain level of autonomy and cognitive ability.
These "cognitive systems" will have the ability "to reason in a variety of ways, using substantial amounts of appropriately represented knowledge; they will learn from experiences and improve performance using accumulated knowledge; they will be able to explain themselves and accept naturally expressed guidance and direction; they will be aware of their own behavior; and most importantly, they will respond in a robust manner to surprises," the statement reads.
The agency even envisions computers that possess "imagination," defined as the "ability to invent interesting scenarios and plan for and predict novel futures."
"The focus of our initiative is to make systems not simply faster and smaller, but smarter," said Ronald Brachman, director of the agency's Information Processing Technology Office, which is managing the initiative. "Systems will be easier to extend and maintain. They will engage humans and other systems in dialogue to understand the desired end state, and then coordinate in unprecedented ways with other systems to get there."
The IPTO is seeking technologies and approaches that enable creation, demonstration and implementation of cognitive processing techniques, including "cross-disciplinary approaches that combine both innovative hardware and software," states a June 12 Federal Business Opportunities notice soliciting proposals for the information technology. The office, the notice reads, encourages "novel approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, or systems."
Proposals are due May 30, 2003, and multiple awards are anticipated, according to the solicitation notice.
-- Malina Brown
I agree they are going for the technically impossible. That said,
as Turing demonstrated, to the outside observer, this will be
taken for intelligence.
The Evidence Extraction and Link Discovery (EELD) program is developing technologies and tools for automated discovery, extraction, and linking of sparse evidence contained in large amounts of classified and unclassified data sources.The Translingual Information Detection, Extraction and Summarization (TIDES) program is creating technology to enable English speakers to locate and interpret critical information in multiple languages without requiring knowledge of those languages.
The Human Identification at a Distance (HumanID) program is developing automated biometric identification technologies to detect, recognize, and identify humans at great distances.
The Cyber Panel program is developing technologies for monitoring the DoD’s critical networked information systems for signs of sophisticated and coordinated cyber attacks and responding to avert them or defend against them.
The purpose of the Organic Air Vehicle (OAV) program is to provide ground combat units, including Future Combat Systems unit cells, with a capability to detect adversary troops concealed in forests or behind buildings or hills, i.e., anywhere that U.S. forces do not have a direct line-of-sight to the hostile force.
The High Power Fiber Lasers program will develop and demonstrate single-mode fiber lasers with output powers of nearly one kilowatt from a single aperture.
The Friction Drag Reduction program, which is ending in FY 2002, is developing a sound theoretical understanding of the physical principles and mechanisms for reducing the frictional drag on ships’ hulls by 30 percent as they move through the water.
The Network Modeling and Simulation program will develop tools to predict the performance and vulnerabilities of complex networks, such as the Internet and highly dynamic military networks.
The Augmented Cognition (AugCog) program will extend, by an order-of-magnitude or more, the information management capacity of the “human-computer” combination by developing and demonstrating enhancements to human cognitive ability in diverse and stressful operational environments.
The DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML) project is creating technologies that enable software agents to identify, communicate with, and understand other software agents dynamically in a web-enabled environment.
The goal of the Bio:Info:Micro program is to develop novel devices and computational tools to develop new information for controlling and exploiting biological systems at the molecular and cellular level in ways that will ultimately be used to protect the warfighter and enhance human performance for carrying out military operations.
The goal of the Biological Input/Output Systems program is to demonstrate specific, measurable state changes (e.g., color) in plants and microbes in response to chemicals of interest to DoD (e.g., biological warfare and chemical warfare agents, fuels, explosives, and chemical precursors).
The Engineered Bio-Molecular Nano-Devices/Systems program will develop platform technologies to enable the creation of hybrid (organic-inorganic) nano-scale devices/systems for optical/infrared sensing, high-speed molecular sensing/readout, and bio-computing.
The Bio-Computation program is exploring and developing computational methods and models at the bio-molecular and cellular levels for a variety of DoD and national security applications.
The Brain Machine Interface program will explore the creation of new technologies for augmenting human performance through the ability to access codes in the brain in real-time and integrate them into peripheral device or system operations.
The Controlled Biological and Biomimetic Systems program leverages the extraordinary capabilities of biological systems for military and dual-use applications.
The primary goal of the Biomolecular Motors program is to develop an understanding of the fundamental operating principles of biomolecular motors and exploit this knowledge to harvest, modify and integrate these macromolecular assemblies into useful devices from the nano- to macro-scale.
The Continuous Assisted Performance program is developing a range of different approaches to extend the capabilities of soldiers to perform their duties for up to seven days in the absence of sleep. This program is beginning in FY 2002, with a portfolio of efforts that include magnetic brain stimulation, understanding individual differences in resistance to sleep deprivation, effects of exercise and diet on resistance to sleep deprivation, and the discovery of novel pharmacologic approaches.
The Bio-Magnetic Interfacing Concepts program will explore and demonstrate the utility of nanoscale magnetics as a portable, robust, and highly sensitive transduction mechanism for monitoring and controlling biological activity at the cellular and, ultimately, single molecule level.
The objective of the Analog Optical Signal Processing program is to significantly enhance the performance of, and enable entirely new capabilities and architectures for tactical and strategic radio frequency systems by expanding the dynamic range-bandwidth and time-bandwidth limits by a factor of 1000 through the introduction of analog optical signal processing components into the system front-ends.
The VLSI Photonics program, completed in FY 2001, has been developing photonics technology to use optical links instead of electronic wire links for chip-to-chip and board-to-board communications. This new technology will allow data transfer rates faster than a terabit per second.
The goal of the Semiconductor Ultraviolet Optical Sources program is to develop wide band gap materials for optical emission in the ultraviolet for bio-sensing and covert communications applications.
The objective of the Three-Dimensional Imaging program is to develop focal plane sensor devices to capture three-dimensional images of a target with a single short laser pulse. The requirement to image from quickly moving platforms and to rapidly engage multiple targets necessitates single flash systems. These devices, with a single 10 nanosecond flash of laser illumination, record both target intensity and target depth information.
The Molecular-level, Large-area Printing (MLP) program investigated novel processes for the inexpensive fabrication of thin-film structures with nanometer dimensions on arbitrarily shaped surfaces. As an example application, the weight and complexity of an imaging system is significantly reduced if a curved, rather than flat, focal surface detector array is incorporated. In FY 2001, the program completed, demonstrated, and characterized a 200-by-200 pixel density array on a spherical surface. Molecular-level, Large-area Printing tooling is now being pursued by at least two start-ups which have licensed technology developed under this program.
The Distributed Robotics program is developing micro-robots that work together in groups in dynamically changing environments. The program consists of contractors developing enabling technologies, as well as individual robots and groups of robots. The small robots will be approximately five centimeters (two inches), or smaller, in any single dimension. They will work cooperatively together in groups of five to 10 robots and be capable of different modes of locomotion (e.g., land, water, and vertical climbing) and will adapt their behavior based on remote user inputs or onboard sensors.
The objective of the Chip Scale Atomic Clock program is to demonstrate a low-power chip-scale atomic-resonance-based time-reference unit with stability better than one part per billion in one second, which is 10,000 times better than the best quartz-crystal clocks. The ultimate size of the Chip Scale Atomic Clock, within one cubic centimeter, is at least 200 times smaller than the smallest atomic reference unit.
The goal of the Lightweight Body Armor program is to significantly reduce the weight of soldier body armor designed to stop 30-caliber armor-piercing bullets to an aereal density of 3.5 pounds per square foot. Three ultra-lightweight body armor concepts, two of which use active armor techniques, are supported by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Systems Manager-Soldier.
The objective of the Mesoscopic Integrated Conformal Electronics (MICE) program is to be able to create electronic circuits and materials on any surface, e.g., to print electrical circuits on the frames of eyeglasses or interwoven with clothing.
The Piezoelectric Single Crystals (PiezoCrystals) program exploits the discovery of a class of materials that provide a revolutionary improvement in converting an electrical signal into a mechanical motion. These rock-hard materials are able to change their shape under electric stimulus over 10 times more than conventional materials.
The Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation program is developing technologies to enhance a soldier’s physical performance to enable him, for example, to handle more firepower, wear more ballistic protection, carry larger caliber weapons and more ammunition, and carry supplies greater distances.
The overall goal of the new Morphing Aircraft Structures program is to create and advance enabling technologies for – and, ultimately, design, build, and demonstrate – a seamless, aerodynamically efficient, air vehicle capable of radical shape change.
The Water Harvesting program will include approaches to harvest water from any available source to eliminate 50% of water logistics requirements for two to 10,000 warfighters – anywhere, anytime. Specifically, the program will develop technologies that will generate 3.5 quarts per day per soldier for two to 12 warfighters from apparently nonexistent sources (e.g., water from air, fuel, or mud) as well technologies to purify/desalinate 3.5 quarts per day per soldier for two to 10,000 warfighters from conventional sources (e.g., puddles, ponds, rivers, or the sea).
The goal of the Spins In Semiconductors program is to change the paradigm of electronics from electron charge to electron spin. This can have profound impact on the performance (speed and power dissipation) of memory and logic for computation and for optoelectronics for communications.
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It's the reason why man has invented a chess playing computer that is essentially unbeatable, but nobody has yet created a bridge playing computer that can simulate even an average bridge player. Chess can be distilled down to pure quantifiable mathematical algorithms, and bridge cannot.
Hey, I remember trying to do something with those!
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