I tried asking him what he thought of Bayesianism.
Maybe this is a stupid question, but what was the context of your question and his answer? Maybe he meant that Bayesianism isn't the answer to the problem of artificial general intelligence. I honestly can't tell if that is stupid, but does it necessarily mean that he thought Bayesianism to be a failed approach in any other context, or that it isn't part of a much larger solution?
Anyway, he is just one person. I would only have to change the template slightly to use it to email others as well.
If I get a response, I might send him another email asking about Bayesianism.
I am not sure that you properly appreciate what happens to people when they get old. There was once a Marvin Minsky who helped write the first paper ever on "artificial intelligence". I look forward to meeting him after he comes out of cryonic suspension, but he isn't around to talk to right now.
I want to raise awareness of risks from AI and the challenges to mitigate those risks by writing experts and asking them questions. The e-Mail below is a template. Please help me improve it and to devise more or better questions.
Dear Mr Minsky,
I am currently trying to learn more about risks from artificial intelligence [1]. In the course of this undertaking I plan to ask various experts and influencers about their opinion. Consequently I am curious about your opinion as a noted author and cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence. But first I want to apologize if I intrude on your privacy, it is not my intention to offend you or to steal your time. If that is the case, please just ignore the rest of this e-Mail.
One of the leading textbooks in artificial intelligence, 'AI: A Modern Approach' [2], states:
In this regard I would like to draw your attention to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (SIAI) [3] and their mission to solve the problem of Friendly AI [4]. One example of the research interests of the SIAI is a reflective decision theory [5] of self-modifying decision systems. The SIAI does believe that "it is one of the many fundamental open problems required to build a recursively self-improving [6] Artificial Intelligence with a stable motivational system." [7]
With this in mind, I would like to ask you the following questions:
Further I would also like to ask your permission to publish and discuss your possible answers on LessWrong.com [8], to estimate the public and academic awareness and perception of risks from AI and the effectiveness with which the risks are communicated. This is however completely optional to my curiosity and general interest in your answer. I will respect your decision under any circumstances and keep your opinion private if you wish. Likewise I would be pleased, instead of, or additionally to replying to this e-Mail, with a treatment of the above questions on your homepage, your personal blog or elsewhere. You got my permission to publish my name and this e-Mail in parts or completely.
Full disclosure:
I am not associated with the SIAI or any organisation concerned with research on artificial intelligence, nor do I maintain a formal academic relationship. Given the possible permission to publish your answers they will under no circumstances be used by me in an attempt to cast a damning light on you or your interests but will be exhibited neutrally as the personal opinion of an expert.
References:
[1] "Reducing long-term catastrophic risks from artificial intelligence" http://singinst.org/riskintro/index.html
[2] "AI: A Modern Approach", Chapter 26, section 26.3, (6) "The Success of AI might mean the end of the human race." http://aima.cs.berkeley.edu/
[3] "Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence" http://singinst.org/
[4] "Artificial Intelligence as a Positive and Negative Factor in Global Risk." http://yudkowsky.net/singularity/ai-risk
[5] Yudkowsky, Eliezer, "Timeless Decision Theory" http://singinst.org/upload/TDT-v01o.pdf
[6] "Recursive Self-Improvement" http://lesswrong.com/lw/we/recursive_selfimprovement/
[7] "An interview with Eliezer Yudkowsky", parts 1, 2 and 3
[8] "A community blog devoted to refining the art of human rationality." http://lesswrong.com/
[9] http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer
[10] http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Intelligence_explosion
Yours sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS
Revised Version
Dear Professor Minsky,
I am currently trying to learn more about risks from artificial intelligence. Consequently I am curious about your opinion as a noted author and cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence.
I would like to ask you the following questions:
Further I would also like to ask your permission to publish and discuss your possible answers, in order to estimate the academic awareness and perception of risks from AI, but would also be pleased, instead of, or additionally to replying to this email, with a treatment of the above questions on your homepage, your personal blog or elsewhere.
You got my permission to publish my name and this email in parts or completely.
References:
Please let me know if you are interested in more material related to my questions.
Yours sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS
Second Revision
Dear Professor Minsky,
I am currently trying to learn more about possible risks from artificial intelligence. Consequently I am curious about your opinion as a noted author and cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence.
I would like to ask you the following questions:
Furthermore I would also like to ask your permission to publish and discuss your possible answers, in order to estimate the academic awareness and perception of risks from AI.
Please let me know if you are interested in third-party material that does expand on various aspects of my questions.
Yours sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS