#221 – Douglas Lenat: Cyc and the Quest to Solve Common Sense Reasoning in AI

Douglas Lenat is the founder of Cyc, a 37 year project aiming to solve common-sense knowledge and reasoning in AI. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Squarespace: https://lexfridman.com/squarespace and use code LEX to get 10% off – BiOptimizers: http://www.magbreakthrough.com/lex to get 10% off – Stamps.com: https://stamps.com and use code LEX to get free postage & scale – LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free EPISODE LINKS: Douglas’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/cycorpai Cyc’s Website: https://cyc.com PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: – Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast – Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman – Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman – Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) – Introduction (07:39) – What is Cyc? (15:45) – How to form a knowledge base of the universe (26:11) – How to train an AI knowledge base (30:32) – Global consistency versus local consistency (54:53) – Automated reasoning (1:00:33) – Direct uses of AI and machine learning (1:13:11) – The semantic web (1:23:44) – Tools to help Cyc interpret data (1:32:54) – The most beautiful idea about Cyc (1:38:53) – Love and consciousness in AI (1:45:52) – The greatness of Marvin Minsky (1:50:46) – Is Cyc just a beautiful dream? (1:55:31) – What is OpenCyc and how was it born? (2:01:21) – The open source community and OpenCyc (2:11:48) – The inference problem (2:13:31) – Cyc’s programming language (2:21:05) – Ontological engineering (2:28:30) – Do machines think? (2:37:15) – Death and consciousness (2:47:16) – What would you say to AI? (2:51:52) – Advice to young people (2:53:48) – Mortality

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This episode was published on September 15, 2021.

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