The Case for Open-Ended AI

One major influence on my view of AI, was spending 2 years in a synthetic biology lab. I came to appreciate how much intelligence is contained in living systems (even as simple as a cell). And attending Michael Levin's NeurIPS 2018 keynote underscored that the key to intelligence is not just in the brain -- that it is everywhere in the body, with even a single cell being autonomous and competent. This motivated my desire to leverage open-ended, biological intelligence in AI -- shifting my view away from just "intelligence", and more towards "artificial life". When I was a child, I played with a brand of educational toys called Discovery Toys.