Editing Hugo de Garis

{{Short description|Australian AI researcher (born 1947)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2025}}
{{BLP primary sources |date=September 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Hugo de Garis
| image         = Hugo de Garis.jpg
| alt           =
| caption       = De Garis in 2006
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth year and age|1947}}
| birth_place   = [[Sydney]], Australia
| death_date    = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place   =
| nationality   =
| occupation    = AI expert
| years_active  =
| known_for     =
| notable_works =
}}{{Transhumanism|People}}

'''Hugo de Garis''' (born 1947) is an Australian retired researcher in the sub-field of [[artificial intelligence]] (AI) known as [[evolvable hardware]]. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he performed research on the use of [[genetic algorithms]] to evolve [[artificial neural network]]s using three-dimensional [[cellular automata]] inside [[field programmable gate array]]s.<ref name="degaris96">{{cite book | last=de Garis | first=Hugo | title=Towards Evolvable Hardware | chapter=CAM-Brain the evolutionary engineering of a billion neuron artificial brain by 2001 which grows/evolves at electronic speeds inside a cellular automata machine (CAM) | series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science | publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg | publication-place=Berlin, Heidelberg | volume=1062 | date=1996 | isbn=978-3-540-61093-9 | doi=10.1007/3-540-61093-6_4 | pages=76–98 |  quote = one could use planetoid size asteroids to build huge 3D brain like computers containing ten to power 40 components with one bit per atom. Hence late into the 21st century, the author predicts that human beings will be confronted with the "artilect" (artificial intellect) with a brain vastly superior to the human brain with its pitiful trillion neurons.}}</ref> He has written about his belief in an coming war between the supporters and opponents of [[intelligent machines]], with the potential for the elimination of humanity by [[artificial superintelligence]]s.<ref name="v072">{{cite magazine | last=Coale | first=Kristi | title=The Architect of Man's Demise | magazine=WIRED | date=1997-08-28 | url=https://www.wired.com/1997/08/the-architect-of-mans-demise/ | access-date=2025-03-01}}</ref>

==Career==
De Garis originally studied [[theoretical physics]], but he abandoned this field in favour of artificial intelligence. In 1992 he received his PhD from [[Université Libre de Bruxelles]], Belgium. 

From 1993 to 2000 de Garis was a researcher at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International in [[Kansai Science City]], Japan. At ATR's Human Information Processing Research Laboratories (ATR-HIP), he aimed to create a billion-neuron [[artificial brain]] he called a "[[cellular automata]] machine brain" (CAM-brain) by the year 2001. He predicted CAM-brains could scale indefinitely and could be used to create asteroid-sized brain-like computers.<ref name="degaris96"/><ref>{{cite web | author = BBC News | author-link = BBC News | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/250343.stm | title = Best brain boosts artificial life | date = 7 January 1999 | access-date = 5 January 2010 | archive-date = 19 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070919133638/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/250343.stm | url-status = live }}</ref> De Garis moved to [[Starlab]] in Brussels in 2000, and the HIP laboratory was closed in February 2001.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hip.atr.co.jp/ | title=HIP World Wide Web Server | quote=The project of ATR Human Information Processing Research Laboratories (ATR-HIP) was closed on 28 February 2001 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060706083452/http://www.hip.atr.co.jp/ | archive-date=6 July 2006}}</ref> Starlab went bankrupt in 2001. De Garis published his last "CAM-Brain" research paper in 2002.<ref>{{cite journal | title=The CAM-Brain Machine (CBM): an FPGA-based hardware tool that evolves a 1000 neuron-net circuit module in seconds and updates a 75&nbsp;million neuron artificial brain for real-time robot control |author1=Hugo de Garis |author2=Michael Korkin | journal=Neurocomputing | volume=42 | year=2002 | pages=35–68 | url=http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/rd/40250453%2C404160%2C1%2C0.25%2CDownload/http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs/19599/http:zSzzSzfoobar.starlab.netzSz%7EdegariszSzpaperszSzmyjrnl.pdf/degaris02cambrain.pdf | doi=10.1016/S0925-2312(01)00593-8 | issue=1–4|citeseerx=10.1.1.29.400 }}</ref>

He was associate professor of computer science at [[Utah State University]] from 2001 to 2006. Starting in June 2006 he was part of the advisory board of Novamente, a commercial company which aimed to create [[artificial general intelligence]]. After 2006 he was a professor at [[Xiamen University]] and [[Wuhan University]] where he taught [[theoretical physics]] and [[computer science]]. In 2008 he received a 3&nbsp;million [[Chinese yuan]] grant (around $436,000) to build an artificial brain for China as part of the ''Brain Builder Group'' at [[Wuhan University]].<ref>{{
Citation
| archive-date=2016-03-03
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303203908/https://www.agiri.org/docs/China-BrainProject.pdf
| publisher=Artificial General Intelligence Research Institute
| quote=Prof. Hugo de Garis has recently received a 3&nbsp;million RMB, 4-year grant to build China's first artificial brain, starting in 2008
| title=The China-Brain Project : Building China's Artificial Brain using an Evolved Neural Net Module Approach
| url-status=dead
| url=http://www.agiri.org/docs/China-BrainProject.pdf
| year=2008
}}</ref> He served on the editorial board of ''Engineering Letters''.<ref name="q373">{{cite web | title=Welcome to Engineering Letters (IAENG) | website=Engineering Letters | url=https://www.engineeringletters.com/editorial_board.html | access-date=2025-03-01}}</ref>
De Garis retired in late 2010.<ref>{{
Cite web
| access-date=2010-12-29
| archive-date=2011-07-25
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725172837/http://www.ciseng.org/cite2010/ShowOrganizerDetails.aspx?personID=1214
| title=CITE2010_OrganizingCommittee Information
| url-status=dead
| url=http://www.ciseng.org/cite2010/ShowOrganizerDetails.aspx?personID=1214
}}</ref>

== Beliefs ==
===''The Artilect War''===
During his work on CAM-Brain, De Garis began publicly expressing concerns about [[existential risk from artificial intelligence]].<ref name="degaris96" /><ref name="v072" /><ref name="l369">{{cite magazine | last=Simpson | first=Roderick | title=The Brain Builder | magazine=WIRED | date=1997-12-01 | url=https://www.wired.com/1997/12/degaris/ | access-date=2025-03-04 | archive-date=10 May 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510194550/https://www.wired.com/1997/12/degaris/ | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2005, he published the book ''The Artilect War: Cosmists vs. Terrans: A Bitter Controversy Concerning Whether Humanity Should Build Godlike Massively Intelligent Machines''.<ref name="aw">{{cite book | first=Hugo |last=de Garis | title=The Artilect War: Cosmists Vs. Terrans: A Bitter Controversy Concerning Whether Humanity Should Build Godlike Massively Intelligent Machines | isbn=978-0-88280-154-4 | year=2005 | publisher=ETC Publications | location=Palm Springs, CA}}</ref> In his book, De Garis predicts that by the end of the 21st century [[artificial superintelligence]]s, which he calls "artificial intellects" or "artilects", will threaten to attain [[hegemony]] over the Earth. He foresees a major war between supporters of artilects and their opponents, resulting in billions of deaths.<ref name="aw"/>{{Rp|234}}<ref>{{cite web | date=3 September 2007 | url=http://www.machineslikeus.com/cms/interview-hugo-de-garis.html | title=Machines Like Us interviews: Hugo de Garis | quote=gigadeath – the characteristic number of people that would be killed in any major late 21st century war, if one extrapolates up the graph of the number of people killed in major wars over the past 2 centuries | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007081149/http://www.machineslikeus.com/cms/interview-hugo-de-garis.html | archive-date=7 October 2007}}</ref><ref name=artiwar>{{cite web|last1=de Garis|first1=Hugo|title=The Artilect War - Cosmists vs. Terrans|url=http://agi-conf.org/2008/artilectwar.pdf|website=agi-conf.org|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=24 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724181906/http://agi-conf.org/2008/artilectwar.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> {{anchor|Cosmism}}The supporters he calls "Cosmists", who will support artilects that they expect to colonise the universe, leaving Earth and humans behind to a sooner-or-later extinction. The opponents, "Terrans", will focus on the fate of Earth and its inhabitants, and the existential risk posed by artilects. Differences between the two groups will be irreconcilable, leading to war. He also predicts a third group, "Cyborgs", who aim to become artilects themselves by altering their own human brains, rather than falling into obsolescence.<ref name=artiwar/> Although de Garis makes arguments in favor of each side throughout the book, he concludes that he is a Cosmist.<ref name="v072" />

Religious Studies professor Robert M. Geraci describes ''The Artilect War'' as a religious apocalyptic scenario.<ref name="x402">{{cite book | last=Geraci | first=Robert M. | title=Apocalyptic AI | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2010-03-05 | isbn=978-0-19-988941-9 | page=23, 163}}</ref>

==Writings==
* {{cite book | last = de Garis | first = Hugo | author-link = Hugo de Garis | title = The Artilect War: Cosmists vs. Terrans: A Bitter Controversy Concerning Whether Humanity Should Build Godlike Massively Intelligent Machines | publisher = ETC Publications | date = 28 February 2005 |  pages = 254 | isbn = 978-0-88280-153-7 }}
* {{cite book | last = de Garis | first = Hugo | author-link = Hugo de Garis | title = Multis and Monos : What the Multicultured Can Teach the Monocultured : Towards the Creation of a Global State | publisher = ETC Publications | date = 18 March 2010 |  pages = 514 | isbn = 978-0-88280-162-9 }}
* {{cite book | last = de Garis | first = Hugo | author-link = Hugo de Garis | title = Artificial Brains : An Evolved Neural Net Module Approach | publisher = World Scientific | date = November 2010 |  pages = 400 | isbn = 978-981-4304-28-3 }}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|nm2433396|Hugo de Garis}}
* Notes from de Garis' [http://www.agiri.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=161 presentation] to the artificial general intelligence research institute
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060419054446/http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2006/04/05/news/news04.txt Man vs. Machine] – article from Utah local newspaper
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1079797626827646234&q Building Gods] – rough cut of a documentary which details, amongst other things, the personal beliefs of Hugo de Garis and Kevin Warwick on the possibilities of artificial life
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/singularity/clash/ Human v 2.0] – programme from the [[Horizon (BBC TV series)|BBC Horizon series]] featuring discussion between Ray Kurzweil and Hugo de Garis
* [http://psoup.math.wisc.edu/extras/deGaris/cosmism.html Cosmism and brainbuilding]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317041059/http://psoup.math.wisc.edu/extras/deGaris/cosmism.html |date=17 March 2007 }} – Article by de Garis.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233242/http://www.umoncton.ca/sciences/informatique/maia/in4413/projets/landry/degaris.html Interview]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100901102710/http://hplusmagazine.com/editors-blog/nevermind-nanotech-here-comes-femtotech%E2%80%A6-gigadeath-wars-between-cosmists-and-terrans Interview] with [[Humanity+#H+ Magazine|H+ Magazine]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garis, Hugo De}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence researchers]]
[[Category:Utah State University faculty]]
[[Category:Futurologists]]
[[Category:Singularitarians]]
[[Category:Australian transhumanists]]