Research

The Genesis Group

The home page for an active group of faculty and students working toward the goal of understanding intelligence

Why I Am Optimistic

An essay about the future of inquiry into the computational explanation of intelligence

Why We Should Start Over, material use in keynote address, conference of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, July, 1999

The EWall Project

I work with people in the Department of Architecture (buildings, not computers) and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) on the EWall project, which focuses on new ways to visualize information, making that information easier to comprehend, analyze, and communicate to co-workers. One simple EWall example is the NewsView presentation of the news of the day.

Teaching
In the fall, I lecture in 6.034, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, a large class.

Grades are calculated in accord with several student-oriented principles. For example, because we want to encourage each student to compete with himself/herself and not with each other, we no longer compute a class average. Because anyone can have a bad day, each segment of the material is tested both in a quiz and on the final, and we only count the higher grade.

In the spring, I teach 6.xxx, The Human Intelligence Enterprise, a class in which I focus on contributions that visionary thinkers have made toward developing a computational explanation of intelligence.

During the Independent Activities period, I present a lecture titled How To Speak, intended to help people do a better job in lectures, theses defenses, and job talks. The next offering will be at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, January 29, 2010. If you can't wait, an aging version, lacking the latest material, is available from the Harvard Bok Center.

Books


I maintain a web site for these books that provides sample chapters, tables of contents, and software.

Also, I have completed an online version of On to Java.

Pensée

Always Moving Forward

I went to the last football game of the season last night. I went because it wasn't just any last football game, it was DeRon Brown's last football game. I was drawn to it as if it were the last solar eclipse of the century.

Now priorities are such that our football team is a true Division III team, and the players play for the love of the game. So when one of our players reaches DeRon's level—rushing for 170 yards per game, attracting national attention—I just have to go see him play.

I had taught DeRon Artificial Intelligence in 6.034 when he was a junior. As soon as I saw him, I went to the web for a look at the MIT football roster, and as I expected, there he was, along with the emerging story of his amazing record. DeRon showed up regularly in class, looked interested, and did well.

So, I had to go, and I dragged my daugther, Sarah, also a senior, along on the trip to Endicott College. We quickly spotted DeRon's mom, Kim, and dad, Chris. Kim wore a jacket with a big number 20, her son's number; Chris looked just like his son. They had driven seven hours or so from their home in the small town of Galax, Virginia.

Alas, DeRon got a mild concussion early in the game, so it wasn't a night for his usual spectacular performance. But he was fun to watch anyway. He looked fast even when he was just standing still on the sidelines.

After the game, I ran into David Nackoul, a standout lineman who graduated with a course VI degree a year ago. I asked him why DeRon was so good. He explained that DeRon is unlike other backs who, when they get in trouble, run sideways, run backwards, or start stutter stepping. “When DeRon makes a cut,” he said, “he always keeps moving forward.”

What a motto that would make! Always moving forward. I must find someone who can translate that into Latin for me.

8 November 2009

What MIT should do
I believe technology will take university education through a period of instability—what Andy Grove would call a 10X period—as new educational technology is introduced for the first time since the invention of movable type. This period of instability coincides with a window of global scientific opportunity and engineering challenge.

Accordingly, I believe that technical universities that want to be important in 2050 should chart a new course now, which I lay out, somewhat telegraphically in a sample mission statement and in a fanciful interview, recorded in 2050.

Where I am
My office is room 32-251 in MIT's Stata Center, which was designed by Frank Gehry

Curriculum vitae
You can learn more about what I'm up to from both the Curriculum vitae and the rest of this home page.

Several friends and I started Ascent Technology, Inc., a company that develops products that solve complex resource-planning, resource-scheduling, resource-allocation, and situation-assessment problems.

I am serving my third term as a member of The Naval Research Advisory Committee, which advises the Chief of Naval Operations and the Chief of Naval Research on technical matters.

I chaired the committee from 1997–2000 when I hit the statutory 6-year limit on continuous service. During my term as chair, NRAC focused on manning and on the concept of an all-electric Navy. One high-impact NRAC study, Reduced Ship Manning, led to the Smart Ship Program. Another, CVX Flexibility/Integrated Electric Power emphasized the need to move toward electric drive on our carriers.

Miscellanea
A record of the resolution, writings, and speeches written by Professor Kenneth R. Manning and me in connection with MIT's press statement labeling Ms. Star Simpson as "reckless."

The Great 2008 Latke-Hamantashen Debate

A guide to materials prepared in behalf of latke. A video is also available on You Tube

MIT FSILG Task Force

I also have strong views about MIT's system of fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups. During 2002–2004 I co-chaired, with Stephen Immerman, the MIT Task Force on FSILGs: Status and Future Development. The work of the task force led to a detailed report recommending a six-step plan and the creation of Project Aurora.