New to group . . . guidance?

[Marcus Abundis]

Greetings all,

I am new to this group and wish to introduce myself. For my background you can look at http://about.me/mabundis

Links to various papers and videos are available on that page, for those with interest.

My historic focus is in modeling structural creativity – mapping human creativity (of those humans who ARE creative) and then applying that map to machine intelligence. I think this implies "super intelligence," although I have a narrow view of what is actually possible using machines (contrary to singularity advocates). This is also to say that it is "non-robotic" (presently) in emphasis, and more purely "informational/computational."

I am currently uninformed about AIXI, but its emphasis seems to follow my own focus. In short, my recent work considers universal theories of information (UTI) and formal/natural emergence. I typify this work as "natural informatics" or "thinking like nature;" as it seeks to blend Shannon signal entropy, Bateson's different differences, and Darwinism in a cohesive framework.

I am now mainly interested in computational methods to use in grounding this theoretical/philosophical framework – a logical "next step." 

HELP!

Further, to this "computational end" I appreciate any guidance you may offer in support of my computational interests. More to the point – I am looking for individuals to work with.

– First, I have submitted proposals to HLAI 2016, so there is a chance you will see me there. 

– Next, I am hoping to meet with individuals at:

    – MIRI (Machine Intelligence Research Institute – Singularity's Institute's AGI effort?)

    – Open AI (Y Combinator's [and E. Musk's] AGI effort)

    – AIAI ([Paul] Allen's Institute for Artificial Intelligence)

    – Santa Fe Institute (not sure they do anything in AGI, but my work goes toward complexity theory).

– Lastly, I will co-host a workshop in Quantum AI and Machine Consciousness at TSC Tucson, AZ (The Science of Consciousness conference) later this month. Any chance I will see any of you there? (http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/2016WorkshopQuantumAI.htm)

My specific questions are as follow:

• Are there any other organizations you know of that I might look at?

• Does anyone know of worthwhile organizations in Switzerland, or Europe (I currently live in Switzerland)?

• Does anyone have any experience or opinions of the above organizations that might give me useful perspective?

• Are there other online lists/groups you know of that I might consider joining to support my interests?

Any thoughts you have to share on any of the above material is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Marcus A.