The Human Development Century & Where is the Intelligence in AI?

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 am to 11:45 am

Initial Presentation: 11:45 am to 12:45 pm

Speaker: Uldis Blukis

Topic: Where is the Intelligence in AI?

Human intelligence has invented computers and the AI within them. HI is an immature concept. Too little is known about the coevolved intelligence-brain. Another immature concept is agency – of the embodied brain within an environment. I will sketch both concepts and suggest that fuzzy concepts are a poor basis for modelling AI. The decades-long evolution of computers has enormously upscaled their speeds and data inputs. Is upscaling an alternate, possibly better basis for a dynamic model of AI? Upscaled computers are the first techno-tools that allow to drive techno-innovation rates far above human individual and societal adaptation-to-innovation rates.

Uldis Blukis, PhD, is professor emeritus, Brooklyn College, CUNY, where from 1960 to 1991 he taught chemistry, integrated science, and history of the science of matter. From 1991 to 1998 he served in the diplomatic service of Latvia as a representative to the UN. From 1994-2000 he was a member of the UN Committee on Contributions. He is the co-author of a physical chemistry textbook, as well as of a series of short educational films, author and co-author of articles and reviews. His B.S. in chemistry is from the University of Illinois, Urbana. His PhD in physical chemistry is from the University of California, Berkeley.

Main Presentation: 12:45 pm to 2:30 pm

Speaker: Herb Klitzner

Topic: The Human Development Century

The 21st Century may well become known for its pivotal achievements in the field of theoretical and applied Human Development. This focus may, by degrees, place individualized human development at the center of the 2100 economy and educational system.

This talk explores the path by which this outcome could take place, through a 40-year forecast of ten crucial intermediate steps to be achieved. The forecast includes a gradually forming partnership of technology, individuality, and longevity research which serves as the engine for the transformation of current technology to a human-individuality-aware tool with a human development science basis. A key pair of elements making this possible will be the Electronic Personal Profile (EPP) and the predicted rise (by Royal Bank of Canada) of hyper-individualized markets.

The important role of values and tools will be discussed – especially the evolution of human developmental technology and its distribution to everyone in society – of all ages – by means of the proposed Universal Human Development Account (UHDA). In turn, the UHDA proposal is contrasted with the recently proposed Universal Basic Income (UBI), popularized by Andrew Wang. Also discussed is the role of the estimated “Longevity Dividend” of $7 Trillion over a 50-year time interval which could be applied to the funding of the UHDA system for all, a win-win outcome.

This talk seeks to sensitize the audience to the important link between advanced computer tools, including AI, and the goal of strengthening everyone’s human development.

Herb Klitzner received his B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1961, and a M.Phil. degree in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology from the CUNY Graduate Center in 1980. He has spent 60 years in the computer field, in a variety of applications. These include civil engineering, operations research, market research, medical training and blood bank operations, transportation and media operations, global finance computer infrastructure, and educational research on AI tools for learning, and technology forecasting. His most memorable projects have been:

• Constructing a stress database in 1966 for the modelling the phases of the construction process of the World Trade Center foundation walls, known as the “bathtub”.
• Creating a computer center for the blind at CUNY in 1977.
• Accurately forecasting the next five years of the personal computer market in 1980.

After retirement in 2011, Herb also wrote journal articles, as well as a book chapter and monograph, in the diverse fields of history, mathematics, and human development. These publications include:

• A definitive short analysis of the role of quaternion mathematics in society for 175 years.
• A definitive analysis of the contributions of seven generations of social excellence of the famous Liebmann family, producers of award-winning Rheingold Beer in the 19th and 20th Centuries to the welfare of New York City and the world. These include major contributions to the New York Society for Ethical Culture and to the world refugee planning field from 1921 to 1951.
• Finally, an article on the future implications of the gradual rise of the 21st Century Personal Science initiative since 2006.