Hi!

I'm working on human superintelligence by accelerating brain-computer interfaces, aka bci/acc.

Details: Artificial superintelligence is coming soon. We need a competitive substrate. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are the most pragmatic path. Therefore, we need to accelerate BCI capabilities and take them to the masses.
    How do we make it happen? We’ll need cognitive-enhancement killer apps for the consumer, to grow market demand, which in turn drive BCI evolution. The net result is human superintelligence.
    bci/acc draws on today’s technologies without requiring big scientific breakthroughs. It’s solarpunk: optimistic and perhaps a little gonzo. And it could be a grand adventure for Humanity.
    We're incubating bci/acc inside Ocean Protocol. Our work combines neurotech, AI, data engineering, and protocols.

Bio (Short)

I've been programming since I was a kid. I've worked on creative AI (1997-2008), AI to drive Moore's Law (1998-2014), early NFTs (2013-2016), decentralized AI (2016-now), and bci/acc (2024-now). I learn, build, and write aiming for high impact. My goal is for humans to have agency in a world of artificial superintelligence.

Bio (Longer)

I started my career by doing AI research for national defense in 1997 & 1998, while still an undergraduate. My supervisor was Dr. Henry Leung (PhD under Geoff Hinton). Here's the papers: [1][2].

Then, in my first startup (ADA), we explored the relation between human creativity and AI-based machine creativity. We started work on ADA in 1998; Synopsys acquired ADA in 2004.

I extended that work in my PhD at ESAT-MICAS, KU Leuven, Belgium from 2004-2008. My supervisor was Dr. Georges Gielen (PhD under Willy Sansen). I found a way to reconcile machine creativity with existing engineering knowledge. Here's the book: [PDF][Springer version].

In my second startup (Solido), we leveraged AI to help drive Moore's Law, which was under threat due to high manufacturing variations. Here's the book: [PDF][Springer version]. Now, Solido software is used for most modern chip designs. We started work on Solido in 2004; by 2010 we were profitable; Siemens acquired Solido in 2017.

My third and current startup has been about blockchain applied to art, data, AI, and BCI. We hatched the ascribe NFT platform [2] in 2013, BigchainDB blockchain database in 2015, and Ocean Protocol in 2017. Notable Ocean subprojects include decentralized / tokenized / privacy-preserving access control (Ocean core), decentralized data markets (Ocean Market), Token Engineering, crowd-sourced time-series prediction (Predictoor), decentralized algo-trading, and bci/acc.

Site Contents

In the tabs at the top of this page, you'll find links to my talks (2001-present); my academic publications (mostly 2005-2016); and some notable personal open-source projects: TokenSPICE (agent-based crypto simulation tool), FFX (massively shallow learning), and MOJITO (creative-AI topology synthesis). The rest of this page links to recent writings, and past projects.

Recent Writings

Until the mid 2010s, I did a lot of technical academic writing (books, papers). Since then, it's been more blog posts. Here are some highlights.

NFTs

AI & Web3 Near-Term

Big Picture, incl. AI & Web3 Long-Term

Token Engineering

Consensus

Past Projects

  • PhD in EE from KU Leuven, Belgium. Awarded #1 thesis worldwide in the field. 2004-2008
  • BE EE and BsC CS from U Saskatchewan, Canada. Awarded #1 final year thesis. 1994-1999
  • Did ML research for Canadian Department of National Defense. 1997, 1998
  • Wrote 2 Books [1,2] on AI/ML, circuits and creativity. Also 35 Papers and 20 Patents on AI/ML [details]. 2004-2012
  • Member of Advisory Group for the e-Residency team of the Government of Estonia. 2016-2019
  • Informally advised Germany, Netherlands, Estonia, and other governments about blockchain & AI strategies. Including public discussions (e.g. this). 2015-2020
  • Ambassador to AI XPRIZE. 2018-2023
  • Member of Advisory Board of Lifeboat Foundation 2020-ongoing
  • Organizational Advisor of California Institute of Machine Consciousness (CIMC) 2026-ongoing
  • Startup/project advisor. Including: Balancer, SingularityNET, Binance Accelerator, Oasis. 2000-ongoing
  • Keynotes & invited talks. Examples: NASA, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Berkeley, Santa Fe Institute, Jet Propulsion Lab, Sony, Nvidia, Samsung, Foresight Institute, TedX. 2001-ongoing
  • Co-organized workshops on AI/ML and circuits [e.g. 1,2,3,4] 2009-2013. TPC / reviewer for many conferences & journals [e.g. 1,2,3,4,5] 2005-2015. Lecturer at Data Science Retreat [link]. 2014-2016
  • Organized meetup "Singularity Meets Self Improvement" [link]. 2013-2016
  • Created & maintained TokenSPICE token simulator, 2020-2023
  • Member of MetaCartel Ventures, 2020-2024
  • Co-organize Berlin ML meetup 2014-2022
  • More past projects: painting, BCI hacking, hypnosis, video game programming, surfing.
  • Raised in a pig farm in Canada, hacking away on cold winter nights. Wrote a 3D CAD tool, a wordprocessor, and dozens of games.