A foundation of global technology developers is giving Australia a sneak peek into a new project that will foster greater collaboration between AI developers, making robots and other technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI) significantly smarter.
SingularityNET is the world’s first open, decentralised marketplace where AI developers can share their datasets, tap into each other’s resources and capabilities at scale, and monetise their assets and services. Set to launch in 2018, the project will create the first interoperability standards for AI, radically improving the process of discovering and coordinating AI services.
The overall vision is to provide an intelligent fabric for AI algorithms to talk to each other – and in doing so, provide the basis for the emergence of the world’s first true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI.) In theory, an AGI would be able to perform any intellectual feat that a human being can.
By 2025, the estimated global artificial intelligence market size is expected to be worth $3.1 trillion.
Dr Ben Goertzel, CEO of SingularityNET, said the project was one of the biggest breakthroughs in the evolution of AI to date.
“There is no other platform or marketplace like SingularityNET in the world. We believe the true potential of AI has not yet been realised due to the lack of interoperability and cooperation, preventing companies from leveraging the strengths and capabilities of AI across geographies, verticals and use cases,” said Goertzel.
“SingularityNET will open a new world of opportunities where AI is longer siloed within a specific company, infrastructure or industry. AI is currently too fragmented, with companies who have proprietary technologies that are good at speech recognition, categorising pictures, etc.
“Greater collaboration between AI developers on SingularityNET will enable the industry as a whole to innovate at a faster pace, unlocking exciting use cases that are yet to be conceived.”
The platform will be powered by blockchain technology (the same technology that underpins bitcoin) which serves to keep the advanced AI decentralised so that no single individual, corporation or government will be able to dominate AI.
While SingularityNET is still in its development stages, it is already working towards developing the “new brain” for Sophia – the world’s most advanced humanoid robot. She has made global headlines for her quirky responses to questions and her remarkably human-like emotions and expressions.
“Sophia is a leading example of how SingularityNET could benefit the AI industry in the near future,” Goertzel added.
“Her intelligence will be plugged into the platform for the benefit of other developers, particularly those looking to make robots as smart as Sophia. In turn, her development team can take advantage of AI technologies created by other users to help evolve her human-like intelligence. It’s this kind of collaborative innovation that will really spearhead the next frontier of the AI revolution.”