Editing Marvin Minsky

{{Short description|American cognitive scientist (1927–2016)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Marvin Minsky
| image             = Marvin Minsky at OLPCb.jpg
| caption           = Minsky in 2008
| birth_name        = Marvin Lee Minsky
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1927|8|9}}
| birth_place       = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|2016|1|24|1927|8|9}}
| death_place       = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], U.S.
| spouse            = {{marriage|Gloria Rudisch|1952}}
| children          = 3
| field             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Cognitive science]] 
* [[Computer science]]
* [[Artificial intelligence]] 
* [[Philosophy of mind]]}}
| workplaces        = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
| education         = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Princeton University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Albert W. Tucker]]<ref name="mathgene">{{MathGenealogy |id=6869 |title=Marvin Lee Minsky}}</ref><ref name="aigene">{{AIGenealogy |id=21 |title=Marvin Lee Minsky}}</ref>
| thesis_title      = Theory of Neural-Analog Reinforcement Systems and Its Application to the Brain Model Problem
| thesis_year       = 1954
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/301998727
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[James Robert Slagle]]
* [[Manuel Blum]]
* [[Daniel Bobrow]]
* [[Ivan Sutherland]]
* [[Bertram Raphael]]
* [[William A. Martin]]
* [[Joel Moses]]
* [[Warren Teitelman]]
* [[:es:Adolfo Guzmán Arenas|Adolfo Guzmán Arenas]]
* [[Patrick Winston]]
* [[Eugene Charniak]]
* [[Gerald Jay Sussman]]
* [[Scott Fahlman]]
* [[Benjamin Kuipers]]
* [[Luc Steels]]
* [[Danny Hillis]]
* [[K. Eric Drexler]]
* [[Berthold K.P. Horn]]
* [[Carl Hewitt]]
* [[David Levitt]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Personal page for Marvin Minsky|url=http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/people.html|website=web.media.mit.edu|access-date=23 June 2016|archive-date=October 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021224244/https://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/people.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}
| known_for         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Artificial intelligence]]<ref name="steps">{{Cite journal |last=Minsky |first=Marvin |doi=10.1109/JRPROC.1961.287775 |title=Steps toward Artificial Intelligence |url=http://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.803/pdf/steps.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the IRE |volume=49 |pages=8–30 |year=1961 |citeseerx=10.1.1.79.7413|s2cid=14250548 }}</ref><br/>[[Confocal microscope]]<ref name="confocal">{{Cite journal |last=Minsky |first=Marvin |title=Memoir on inventing the confocal scanning microscope |doi=10.1002/sca.4950100403 |journal=Scanning |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=128–138 |year=1988 }}</ref>
* [[Useless machine]]<ref name=Pesta>{{cite news|last=Pesta|first=A|title=Looking for Something Useful to Do With Your Time? Don't Try This|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323628804578348572687608806|access-date=March 24, 2014|newspaper=WSJ|date=March 12, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Triadex Muse]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hillis|first1=Danny|author-link=Danny Hillis|last2=McCarthy|first2=John|author2-link=John McCarthy (computer scientist)|last3=Mitchell|first3=Tom M.|last4=Mueller|first4=Erik T.|last5=Riecken|first5=Doug|last6=Sloman|first6=Aaron|last7=Winston|first7=Patrick Henry|title=In Honor of Marvin Minsky's Contributions on his 80th Birthday|journal=AI Magazine|date=2007|volume=28|issue=4|page=109|doi=10.1609/aimag.v28i4.2064}}</ref>
* ''[[Perceptrons (book)|Perceptrons]]''<ref name="perceptrons">{{cite book |last1=Papert |first1=Seymour |author-link=Seymour Papert |last2=Minsky |first2=Marvin Lee |title=Perceptrons: an introduction to computational geometry |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-262-63111-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/perceptronsintro00mins }}</ref><br/>''[[The Society of Mind]]''<ref name="socmind">{{cite book |last=Minsky |first=Marvin Lee |title=The Society of Mind |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-671-60740-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/societyofmind00marv }}'' The first comprehensive description of the Society of Mind theory of intellectual structure and development''. See also ''The Society of Mind (CD-ROM version)'', Voyager, 1996.</ref>
* ''[[The Emotion Machine]]''<ref name="emotion">{{cite book |last=Minsky |first=Marvin Lee |title=The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7432-7664-1 }}</ref>
* [[Frame (artificial intelligence)|Frames]]
* [[Stochastic Neural Analog Reinforcement Calculator|SNARC]]
* [[Dartmouth workshop]]}}
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Turing Award]] (1969)
* [[Japan Prize]] (1990)
* [[AAAI Fellow]] (1990)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aaai.org/Awards/fellows-list.php|title=Elected AAAI Fellows|website=www.aaai.org}}</ref>
* [[IJCAI Award for Research Excellence]] (1991)
* [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] (2001)
* [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards|BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] (2013)}}
| footnotes         = 
| website           = {{URL|http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky}}
}}
'''Marvin Lee Minsky''' (August 9, 1927 – January 24, 2016) was an American [[cognitive scientist|cognitive]] and [[computer scientist]] concerned largely with research in [[artificial intelligence]] (AI). He co-founded the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]'s AI laboratory and wrote extensively about AI and philosophy.<ref name="dblp">{{DBLP|name=Marvin Minsky}}</ref><ref name="microsoft">{{AcademicSearch|771410}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=marvin+minsky|title=Google Scholar|website=scholar.google.com}}</ref><ref name=natureobit>{{cite journal |last=Winston |first=Patrick Henry |author-link=Patrick Winston |title=Marvin L. Minsky (1927–2016) |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=530 |issue=7590 |year=2016 |page=282 |pmid=26887486|doi=10.1038/530282a |bibcode=2016Natur.530..282W|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Minsky received many accolades and honors, including the 1969 [[Turing Award]].

==Early life and education==
Marvin Lee Minsky was born in New York City, to Henry, an [[eye surgeon]], and Fannie (Reiser), a [[Zionism|Zionist]] activist.<ref name=natureobit/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/scienceincontemp0000swed|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/scienceincontemp0000swed/page/188 188]|quote=marvin minsky jewish.|title=Science in the Contemporary World: An Encyclopedia|first=Eric Gottfrid|last=Swedin|date=August 10, 2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/03/marvin-minsky-obituary|title=Marvin Minsky obituary|first=Martin|last=Campbell-Kelly|newspaper=The Guardian |date=February 3, 2016|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> His family was Jewish. He attended the [[Ethical Culture Fieldston School]] and the [[Bronx High School of Science]]. He later attended [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts|Andover]], [[Massachusetts]]. He then served in the [[United States Navy|US Navy]] from 1944 to 1945. He received a B.A. in mathematics from [[Harvard University]] in 1950 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in mathematics from [[Princeton University]] in 1954. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Theory of neural-analog reinforcement systems and its application to the brain-model problem."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/SCSB-4802106|title=Theory of neural-analog reinforcement systems and its application to the brain-model problem|first=Marvin|last=Minsky|date=July 31, 1954|via=catalog.princeton.edu}}</ref><ref name="minskyphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Marvin Lee |last=Minsky |title=Theory of Neural-Analog Reinforcement Systems and Its Application to the Brain Model Problem |publisher=Princeton University |date=1954 |author-link=Marvin Minsky|oclc=3020680|id={{ProQuest|301998727}} }}</ref><ref name="AIMag80th">{{cite journal
 |last1=Hillis
 |first1=Danny
 |author-link=Danny Hillis
 |last2=McCarthy |first2=John |author2-link=John McCarthy (computer scientist) |last3=Mitchell |first3=Tom M. |last4=Mueller |first4=Erik T. |last5=Riecken |first5=Doug |last6=Sloman |first6=Aaron |last7=Winston |first7=Patrick Henry
 |title=In Honor of Marvin Minsky's Contributions on his 80th Birthday
 |journal=AI Magazine
 |volume=28
 |issue=4
 |pages=103–110
 |year=2007
 |url=http://www.aaai.org/ojs/index.php/aimagazine/article/view/2064/2058
 |access-date=November 24, 2010}}</ref> He was a Junior Fellow of the [[Harvard Society of Fellows]] from 1954 to 1957.<ref>[https://socfell.fas.harvard.edu/listed-term-0 Society of Fellows, Listed by Term]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Marvin Minsky, Ph.D. Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=    https://achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/#interview}}</ref>

Minsky was on the [[MIT]] faculty from 1958 to his death. He joined the staff at [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory]] in 1958; a year later, he and [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]] initiated what was, {{as of|2003|lc=y}}, named the [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Horgan |first=John |date=November 1993 |title=Profile: Marvin L. Minsky: The Mastermind of Artificial Intelligence |journal=[[Scientific American]] |volume=269|issue=5 |pages=14–15 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1193-35 |bibcode=1993SciAm.269e..35H}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Rifkin|first=Glenn|title=Marvin Minsky, pioneer in artificial intelligence, dies at 88|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V135/N38/minsky.html|website=The Tech|publisher=MIT|access-date=20 July 2017|date=28 January 2016|archive-date=November 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121131830/http://tech.mit.edu/V135/N38/minsky.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>  He was the Toshiba Professor of [[Media Arts]] and Sciences as well as professor of [[electrical engineering]] and [[computer science]] at MIT.

== Contributions in computer science ==
[[File:Confocal measurement of 1-euro-star 3d and euro.png|thumb|left|3D profile of a coin (partial) measured with a modern [[confocal microscope|confocal white light microscope]]]]

Minsky's inventions include the first [[head-mounted graphical display]] (1963)<ref name="brief">{{cite web |url = http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/minskybiog.html |title = Brief Academic Biography of Marvin Minsky |website = Web.media.mit.edu |access-date = January 26, 2016 |archive-date = May 16, 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180516142208/http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/minskybiog.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> and the [[confocal microscope]]<ref name="confocal" />{{NoteTag|The patent for Minsky's Microscopy Apparatus was applied for in 1957, and subsequently granted US Patent Number 3,013,467 in 1961. According to his published biography on the MIT Media Lab webpage, "In 1956, when a Junior Fellow at Harvard, Minsky invented and built the first Confocal Scanning Microscope, an optical instrument with unprecedented resolution and image quality".}} (1957, a predecessor to today's widely used [[confocal laser scanning microscope]]). With [[Seymour Papert]], he developed the first [[Logo programming language|Logo]] "[[turtle (robot)|turtle]]". In 1951, Minsky built the first randomly wired neural network learning machine, [[Stochastic Neural Analog Reinforcement Calculator|SNARC]]. In 1962, he worked on small [[universal Turing machine]]s and published his well-known 7-state, 4-symbol machine.<ref>Turlough Neary, Damien Woods, "Small Weakly Universal Turing Machines", ''Machines, Computations, and Universality 2007'', ''proceedings'', Orleans, France, September 10–13, 2007, {{isbn|3540745920}}, p. 262-263</ref>

Minsky's book ''[[Perceptrons (book)|Perceptrons]]'' (written with Papert) attacked the work of [[Frank Rosenblatt]], and became the foundational work in the analysis of [[artificial neural network]]s. The book is the center of a controversy in the history of AI, as some claim it greatly discouraged research on neural networks in the 1970s and contributed to the so-called "[[AI winter]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Olazaran|first=Mikel|title=A Sociological Study of the Official History of the Perceptrons Controversy|journal=Social Studies of Science|date=August 1996|volume=26|issue=3|pages=611–659|jstor=285702|doi=10.1177/030631296026003005 |s2cid=16786738}}</ref> Minsky also founded several other AI models. His paper "A framework for representing knowledge"<ref>Minsky, M. (1975). A framework for representing knowledge. In P. H. Winston (Ed.), The psychology of computer vision. New York: McGraw-Hill Book.</ref> created a new paradigm in knowledge representation. ''Perceptrons'' is now more a historical than practical book, but the theory of frames is in wide use.<ref name="frames">{{cite book |author=<!--Unknown--> |doi=10.3115/980190.980222 |chapter=Minsky's frame system theory |title=Proceedings of the 1975 workshop on Theoretical issues in natural language processing – TINLAP '75 |pages=104–116 |year=1975 |s2cid=1870840 }}</ref> Minsky also wrote of the possibility that [[extraterrestrial life]] may think like humans, thus permitting communication.<ref name="minsky198504">{{cite magazine |last=Minsky |first=Marvin |date=April 1985 |title = Communication with Alien Intelligence |url = https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-04/1985_04_BYTE_10-04_Artificial_Intelligence#page/n127/mode/2up |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |location=[[Peterborough, New Hampshire]] |publisher=[[UBM Technology Group]] |volume=10 |issue=4 |page=127 |access-date=July 30, 2019 }}</ref>

In the early 1970s, at the [[MIT]] Artificial Intelligence Lab, Minsky and Papert started developing what came to be known as the [[Society of Mind]] theory. The theory attempts to explain how what we call intelligence could be a product of the interaction of non-intelligent parts. Minsky says that the biggest source of ideas for the theory came from his work in trying to create a machine that uses a robotic arm, a videocamera, and a computer to build with children's blocks. In 1986, he published ''The Society of Mind'', a comprehensive book on the theory which, unlike most of his previously published work, was written for the general public.
{{Gallery
 |title=The MA-3 Robotic Manipulator Arm, on display at [[MIT Museum]]
 |align=center
 |MA-3 Robotic Manipulator Arm-IMG 6023-white.jpg|General view
 |MA-3 Robotic Manipulator Arm-IMG 6021-white.jpg|The Belgrade Hand
}}

In 2006, Minsky published ''[[The Emotion Machine]]'', a book that critiques many popular theories of how human minds work and suggests alternative theories, often replacing simple ideas with more complex ones. Drafts of the book are available on his website.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/|title=Marvin Minsky's Home Page|website=web.media.mit.edu|access-date=January 26, 2016|archive-date=August 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803231734/http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Minsky also invented a "gravity machine" that will ring a bell if the [[gravitational constant]] changes, a theoretical possibility that is not expected to occur in the foreseeable future.<ref name=Pesta/>

==Role in popular culture==
Minsky was an adviser<ref>For more, see this interview, {{cite web|url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/Hal/chap2/two3.html |title=Scientist on the Set: An Interview with Marvin Minsky, Section 03 |access-date=2014-05-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616204508/http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/Hal/chap2/two3.html |archive-date=June 16, 2012 }}</ref> on [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s movie [[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|''2001: A Space Odyssey'']]; one of the movie's characters, Victor Kaminski, was named in Minsky's honor.<ref>{{cite news|title=AI pioneer Marvin Minsky dies aged 88|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35409119|access-date=28 January 2016|work=[[BBC News]]|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> Minsky is mentioned explicitly in [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s derivative novel of the same name, where he is portrayed as achieving a crucial breakthrough in artificial intelligence in the then-future 1980s, paving the way for [[HAL 9000]] in the early 21st century:

{{blockquote|In the 1980s, Minsky and [[I. J. Good|Good]] had shown how [[artificial neural network]]s could be generated automatically—self replicated—in accordance with any arbitrary learning program. Artificial brains could be grown by a process strikingly analogous to the development of a human brain. In any given case, the precise details would never be known, and even if they were, they would be millions of times too complex for human understanding.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clarke |first=Arthur C. |author-link=Arthur C. Clarke |title=2001: A Space Odyssey |date=April 1968 |publisher=[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]], UK<br />[[New American Library]], US |page=<!-- Provide page number. --> |isbn=0-453-00269-2}}</ref>}}

In "[[The Law of Non-Contradiction]]", episode 3 of the television anthology series [[Fargo (Season 3)]], at least two allusions to Minsky are made. The first is through the depiction of a "[[useless machine]]": a device Minsky invented as a philosophical joke. The second is through the depiction of an animation of a robot called "minsky"—a character in a sci-fi novel called ''The Planet Wyh''.

==Personal life==
[[File:Minskytron-PDP-1-20070512.jpg|thumb|The Minskytron or "Three Position Display" running on the [[Computer History Museum]]'s [[PDP-1]], 2007]]

In 1952, Minsky married pediatrician Gloria Rudisch; together they had three children.<ref>{{cite news|title=R.I.P. Marvin Minsky|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/01/25/marvin-minsky-1927-2016/|access-date=28 January 2016|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> Minsky was a talented improvisational pianist<ref name="globe-obit">{{cite news|title=Obituary: Marvin Minsky, 88; MIT professor helped found field of artificial intelligence|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/01/25/marvin-minsky-dies-mit-professor-helped-found-field-artificial-intelligence/A8y6ey8S0QAaao463Z2ooO/story.html|access-date=28 January 2016|work=[[Boston Globe]]|date=26 January 2016}}</ref> who published musings on the relations between [[Music psychology|music and psychology]].

===Opinions===
Minsky was an atheist.<ref>{{cite book|title=Portraits of Great American Scientists|year=2001|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=9781573929325|page=[https://archive.org/details/portraitsofgreat00judi/page/74 74]|last1=Lederman|first1=Leon M.|author-link=Leon M. Lederman|last2=Scheppler|first2=Judith A.|chapter=Marvin Minsky: Mind Maker|quote=Another area where he "goes against the flow" is in his spiritual beliefs. As far as religion is concerned, he's a confirmed atheist. "I think it [religion] is a contagious mental disease. ... The brain has a need to believe it knows a reason for things.|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/portraitsofgreat00judi/page/74}}</ref> He was a signatory to the Scientists' Open Letter on [[Cryonics]].<ref name="Letter">{{cite web  | title = SCIENTISTS' OPEN LETTER ON CRYONICS | work = The Science of Cryonics | publisher = Biostasis.com | date = March 19, 2004 | url = https://www.biostasis.com/scientists-open-letter-on-cryonics/ | access-date = 2020-05-06 }}</ref>

He was a critic of the [[Loebner Prize]] for conversational robots,<ref>[http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/26/loebner_part_one/index4.html Salon.com Technology |Artificial stupidity<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630001944/http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/26/loebner_part_one/index4.html |date=June 30, 2006}}</ref> and argued that a fundamental difference between [[human]]s and [[machine]]s is that while humans are machines, they are machines in which intelligence emerges from the interplay of the many unintelligent but semi-autonomous agents the brain comprises.<ref name="nytimes-obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/business/marvin-minsky-pioneer-in-artificial-intelligence-dies-at-88.html|title=Marvin Minsky, Pioneer in Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 88|date=January 25, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 25, 2016}}</ref> He argued that "somewhere down the line, some computers will become more intelligent than most people", but that it was very hard to predict how fast progress would be.<ref>{{cite news|title=For artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky, computers have soul|url=http://www.jpost.com/Business/Business-Features/For-artificial-intelligence-pioneer-Marvin-Minsky-computers-have-soul-352076|access-date=27 January 2016|newspaper=[[Jerusalem Post]]|date=13 May 2014}}</ref> He cautioned that an artificial [[superintelligence]] designed to solve an innocuous mathematical problem might decide to [[Instrumental convergence|assume control]] of Earth's resources to build supercomputers to help achieve its goal,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Russell|first1=Stuart J.|author-link=Stuart J. Russell|last2=Norvig|first2=Peter|author2-link=Peter Norvig|title=Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach|date=2003|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=Upper Saddle River, N.J.|isbn=978-0137903955|chapter=Section 26.3: The Ethics and Risks of Developing Artificial Intelligence|quote=Similarly, Marvin Minsky once suggested that an AI program designed to solve the Riemann Hypothesis might end up taking over all the resources of Earth to build more powerful supercomputers to help achieve its goal.|title-link=Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach}}</ref> but believed that such scenarios are "hard to take seriously" because he felt confident that AI would be well tested before being deployed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Achenbach|first=Joel|title=Marvin Minsky, an architect of artificial intelligence, dies at 88|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/marvin-minsky-an-architect-of-artificial-intelligence-dies-at-88/2016/01/26/934e3d50-c430-11e5-8965-0607e0e265ce_story.html|access-date=27 January 2016|newspaper=Washington Post|date=6 January 2016}}</ref>

===Association with Jeffrey Epstein===

Minsky received a $100,000 research grant from [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in 2002, four years before Epstein's first arrest for sex offenses; it was the first from Epstein to MIT. Minsky received no further research grants from him.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Subbaraman|first=Nidhi|date=2020-01-10|title=MIT review of Epstein donations finds "significant mistakes of judgment"|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00072-x|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-00072-x|pmid=33420402|s2cid=214375389}}</ref><ref name="jan2020">{{cite web |title=Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology|url=http://factfindingjan2020.mit.edu/files/MIT-report.pdf |date=January 10, 2020 |website=mit.edu |first1=Roberto M. |last1=Braceras |first2=Jennifer L. |last2=Chunias |first3=Kevin P. |last3=Martin|pages=9, 15}}</ref>

Minsky organized two academic symposia on Epstein's private island [[Little Saint James, U.S. Virgin Islands|Little Saint James]], one in 2002 and another in 2011, after Epstein was a registered sex offender.<ref name=":TheVerge">{{cite news|title=AI pioneer accused of having sex with trafficking victim on Jeffrey Epstein's island|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/9/20798900/marvin-minsky-jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-island-court-records-unsealed |date=August 9, 2019 |access-date=8 August 2019|newspaper=[[The Verge]]}}</ref> [[Virginia Roberts Giuffre|Virginia Giuffre]] testified in a 2015 deposition in her defamation lawsuit against Epstein's associate [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] that Maxwell "directed" her to have sex with Minsky, among others. There has been no allegation that sex between them took place nor a lawsuit against Minsky's estate.<ref name="beast">{{cite news|last=Briquelet|first=Kate|display-authors=etal|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=September 16, 2019|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-unsealed-documents-name-powerful-men-in-sex-ring|access-date=8 August 2019|title=Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex Ring}}</ref> Minsky's widow, Gloria Rudisch, says that he could not have had sex with any of the women at Epstein's residences, as they were always together during all the visits to Epstein's residences.<ref name="timeGloria">{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5651186/jeffrey-epstein-investigation-co-conspirators/ |date=August 14, 2019 |access-date=July 28, 2019 |title=The Jeffrey Epstein Investigation Continues After His Death. Here's Who Else Could Be Investigated|last1=Carlistle|first1=Madeline|last2=Mansoor|first2=Sanya|quote=Minsky’s widow, Gloria Rudisch, denied he had sex with Giuffre or any other girls|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

===Death===
Minsky died of a cerebral hemorrhage in January 2016, at age 88.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pearson |first=Michael |title=Pioneering computer scientist Marvin Minsky dies at 88 |work=CNN |date=26 January 2016 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/26/us/marvin-minsky-obit-feat/ |access-date=2016-04-07}}</ref> Minsky was a member of [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation]]'s Scientific [[Advisory Board]].<ref name="AlcorBoard">{{cite web |title=Alcor Scientific Advisory Board |website=Alcor |date=January 14, 2016 |url=http://alcor.org/AboutAlcor/meetsciadvboard.html |access-date=2016-04-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114062954/http://alcor.org/AboutAlcor/meetsciadvboard.html |archive-date=January 14, 2016}}</ref> Alcor will neither confirm nor deny whether Minsky was [[cryonics|cryonically]] preserved.<ref name="Alcor_News">{{cite web | title = Official Alcor Statement Concerning Marvin Minsky | work = Alcor News | publisher = [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation]]   | date = January 27, 2016 | url = https://www.alcor.org/blog/official-alcor-statement-concerning-marvin-minsky/ | access-date = 2020-05-06 }}</ref>

==Bibliography (selected)==
* 1967 – ''Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines'', Prentice-Hall
* 1969 – ''Perceptrons: An Introduction to Computational Geometry'', MIT Press
* 1986 – ''[[Society of Mind | The Society of Mind]]''
* 2006 – ''[[The Emotion Machine | The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind]]''

==Awards and affiliations==
Minsky won the [[Turing Award]] (the greatest distinction in computer science)<ref name="nytimes-obit" /> in 1969, the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1982,<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> the [[Japan Prize]] in 1990,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Japan Prize |url=https://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_past_1990_prize01.html |access-date=30 August 2024}}</ref> the [[IJCAI Award for Research Excellence]] for 1991, and the [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] from the [[Franklin Institute]] for 2001.<ref name="franklinmedal">[http://www.fi.edu/winners/2001/minsky_marvin.faw?winner_id=3528 Marvin Minsky – The Franklin Institute Awards – Laureate Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526130553/http://www.fi.edu/winners/2001/minsky_marvin.faw?winner_id=3528 |date=May 26, 2011}}. [[Franklin Institute]]. Retrieved on March 25, 2008.</ref> In 2006, he was inducted as a Fellow of the [[Computer History Museum]] "for co-founding the field of artificial intelligence, creating early neural networks and robots, and developing theories of human and machine cognition."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/marvin-minsky/ |title=Marvin Minsky: 2006 Fellow |author=<!--Unstated--> |website=Computer History Museum |access-date=July 30, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329010955/http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/hall/bios/Marvin,Minsky |archive-date=March 29, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2011, Minsky was inducted into [[IEEE Intelligent Systems]]' AI Hall of Fame for the "significant contributions to the field of AI and intelligent systems".<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1109/MIS.2011.64 |title=AI's Hall of Fame |url=http://www.computer.org/cms/Computer.org/ComputingNow/homepage/2011/0811/rW_IS_AIsHallofFame.pdf |journal=[[IEEE Intelligent Systems]] |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=5–15 |year=2011 |access-date=September 4, 2015 |archive-date=December 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216235804/http://www.computer.org/cms/Computer.org/ComputingNow/homepage/2011/0811/rW_IS_AIsHallofFame.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2014, Minsky won the [[Dan David Prize]]  for "[[Artificial Intelligence]], the Digital Mind".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.tau.ac.il/video/dan_david_prize_2014 |title=Dan David prize 2014 winners |date=May 15, 2014 |access-date=May 20, 2014}}</ref> He was also awarded with the 2013 [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards|BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in the Information and Communication Technologies category.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/01/15/mit-professor-marvin-minsky-wins-award/aSiCSHIjlGycOGYmeLSZ5L/story.html |title=MIT artificial intelligence, robotics pioneer feted: Award celebrates Minsky's career |newspaper=[[BostonGlobe.com]] |date=August 24, 2011 |access-date=January 18, 2014}}</ref>

Minsky was affiliated with the following organizations:
* [[United States National Academy of Engineering]]<ref name="brief" />
* [[United States National Academy of Sciences]]<ref name="brief" />
* [[Extropy Institute]]'s Council of Advisors<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.extropy.org/directors.htm|title=Extropy Institute Directors & Advisors|website=www.extropy.org}}</ref>
* [[Alcor Life Extension Foundation]]'s Scientific Advisory Board<ref name="AlcorBoard" />
* [[kynamatrix Research Network]]'s Board of Directors<ref>{{cite web|title=kynamatrix Research Network : About|url=http://www.kynamatrix.org/organization.htm|website=www.kynamatrix.org|access-date=9 February 2018}}</ref>

==Media appearances==
* ''Machine Dreams'' (1988)
* ''Future Fantastic'' (1996)

==See also==
* [[List of pioneers in computer science]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120716182537/http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/Hal/chap2/two1.html Scientist on the Set: An Interview with Marvin Minsky]
* [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/minsky/ Consciousness Is A Big Suitcase: A talk with Marvin Minsky]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320001744/http://necsi.edu/events/iccs/video/iccs2002wednesday/5-minskyclip.html Video of Minsky speaking at the International Conference on Complex Systems, hosted by the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060829135040/http://www.edge.org/video/dsl/EF02_minsky.html "The Emotion Universe": Video with Marvin Minsky]
* [http://sentientdevelopments.blogspot.com/2007/07/when-dvorsky-met-minsky.html Marvin Minsky's thoughts on the Fermi Paradox at the Transvisions 2007 conference]
* [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/marvin_minsky_on_health_and_the_human_mind.html "Health, population and the human mind"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317144208/http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/marvin_minsky_on_health_and_the_human_mind.html |date=March 17, 2010 }}: Marvin Minsky talk at the [[TED (conference)|TED]] conference
* [http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-868j-the-society-of-mind-fall-2011/ "The Society of Mind"] on MIT OpenCourseWare
* [http://www.webofstories.com/people/marvin.minsky/1 Marvin Minsky] tells his life story at [[Web of Stories]] (video)
* [http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/031126.html Marvin Minsky Playlist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210110026/http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/031126.html |date=February 10, 2016 }} Appearance on WMBR's ''[http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/index.html Dinnertime Sampler] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504000207/http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/index.html |date=May 4, 2011 }}'' radio show November 26, 2003
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107503 Oral history interview with Marvin Minsky] at [[Charles Babbage Institute]], [[University of Minnesota]], Minneapolis.  Minsky describes [[artificial intelligence]] (AI) research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Topics include: the work of [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]]; changes in the MIT research laboratories with the advent of Project MAC; research in the areas of [[expert systems]], graphics, word processing, and [[time-sharing]]; variations in the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA) attitude toward AI.
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107717 Oral history interview with Terry Winograd] at Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.  Winograd describes his work in computer science, linguistics, and artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), discussing the work of Marvin Minsky and others.
*{{C-SPAN|1008481}}

{{Turing award}}
{{Japan Prize}}
{{Philosophy of mind}}
{{Authority control}}

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