Candidates for the open 2008 WTA Board of Directors seat
Ben Goertzel
I’ve been an avid transhumanist for as long as I can remember.
Most of my time recently has been spent actively trying to bring about transformative technologies. Since 1997 I have been leading commercial software R&D projects in the area of Artificial General Intelligence, aimed at producing AI systems with general intelligence at the human level and ultimately beyond. Since 2001 I have also been working, in parallel, on the application of AI technologies in bioinformatics, with a specific focus on using AI to accelerate the path to life extension. If you’re interested in exploring my work in these areas, check out the websites of my companies Novamente LLC (novamente.net) and Biomind LLC (biomind.com).
On the more academic side, I have carried out an active research career, resulting in the publication of nearly 80 papers and ten scientific books. Before entering the software industry I served as a university faculty in several departments of mathematics, computer science and cognitive science, in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
As well as carrying out future-focused science and technology development, however, I have also been actively involved in the futurist community, via doing writing and organizing aimed at helping us to collectively better understand our future and encourage it to unfold in a positive way. I have authored two books focused on the future of technology and society: Creating Internet Intelligence (Plenum, 2001) and The Path to Posthumanity (Academica, 2006). I also co-founded the non-profit AGIRI (Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute), which organized a very successful 2006 workshop in Bethesda; and am involved in organizing the follow-up AGI-08 conference (agi-08.org) conference which will be in Memphis in March 2008.
I am also the Director of Research of the Singularity Institute for AI, and in this role am working with Bruce Klein, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Tyler Emerson and my other colleagues there to better understand how the human race may go about creating a positive future for humanity that also includes very advanced AI systems.
My motivation in running for the WTA board is a desire to become engaged with a broader variety of transhumanists around the world; to assist the WTA via my experience in managing organizations, and doing fundraising and publicity in various contexts; and also, potentially, to contribute my expertise and experience in science and business to help the WTA connect more closely with individuals doing transhumanist-focused R&D in commerce and academia. Transhumanism is a damn important meme—I would love if the WTA could find ways to help bring a more strongly transhuman and more positive world about more quickly!!
I am physically based in Washington DC, but I travel to San Francisco roughly 10 times per year, so if elected I will have frequent options for F2F communications with James Clement (whom I know fairly well F2F already), and any other WTA members who may be based in the Bay area.
General information about my human life can be found at my website, goertzel.org
Jani Moliis
I’m seeking an extension to what has so far been a two-year position on the WTA Board. When I ran for the WTA Board for the first time two years ago, I wrote in my candidate statement: “On the Board of the WTA, I would like to focus on good management… It is my explicit goal to ensure that all sources of friction are dealt with in a democratic and transparent way, before they get the opportunity to become conflicts detrimental to our common goals. I’m known to be a calm mediator, who attempts to gain the trust of all sides in a dispute.”
I’m extremely glad that during the last two years, there has not been any need for any mediating skills, but that even heated debates have been carried out in a (mostly) civilized manner, or have been halted before turning sour. So that part of my goals for my Board position has remained untested, and hopefully will continue to remain so. As for other aspects of good management and transparency, I have been emphasizing these in my role as the Treasurer for the WTA, a duty I’m
willing to continue if re-elected to the Board. With the tiny cash flows of the WTA (around $8,000 in 2006), it seems almost tragicomic that there have been accusations of misconduct in the past. However, to alleviate the risk of such accusations ever rising again, I have created transparency in WTA finances by reporting them regularly to the Board, as well as submitting the annual financial statements for membership approval. These kinds of transparency-enhancing procedures will become ever-more important as WTA’s funds will increase in the near future. That is why, looking forward, I feel that good management is still highly relevant, and something I believe I can bring to the Board effectively.
Background: I was born in 1980 in Helsinki, Finland and have lived there as well as in Mexico, Sri Lanka and Austria. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Webster University as well as a Master of Social Sciences degree in political science from the University of Helsinki. I am married, have a two-month old daughter, and currently work as a management consultant for Accenture. I am a founding member of the Finnish Transhumanist Association and its Chair since 2006.
