Keynote3: Contention and disruption

Abstract

The development of science is clear. From 1950 to 1990 we lived in a world of Contention, with as main question: Will Contention between Paradigms lead to a Paradigm Shift? This development is nicely described by Popper (Logic of Scientific Discovery), Kuhn (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions), Lakatos (The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes), and Feyerabend (Against Method). In the world of Games, this development is seen in the transition from Minimax to Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). Apparently, the successor of Contention is called Disruption. Currently, we live in a world full of disruptions (1990–2030). In the lecture, I will show the current development by Daniel Dennett (Consciousness Explained, 1990), Richard Susskind (The Future of Law, 1998), Nick Bostron (Superintelligence, 2014), and my own thoughts on Intuition is Programmable (Van den Herik, 2016). The latter is extremely well identified by the power of Deep Learning in the Game of Go (congratulations to Aja Huang). Around 2030 we may expect to see a quantum computer in operation. It will not only produce prime numbers, but also give us the solution of the game of chess (draw or a win for White), and thereafter even for Go (i.e., at a later date). Next to game results, we will observe a continuous development: from decisions made by humans to decisions made by computers. Here, moral constraints are important. Examples will be given.