Hi!

I'm working on Ocean Protocol, which is unbounding AI via blockchain technology. These days, my focus is Ocean Predictoor. Predictions are the most valuable data; Predictoor enables decentralized prediction feeds via AI * Web3. At scale, Predictoor will unlock vastly more powerful AI, backed by ground-truth physics.

I've been programming since I was a kid. I've built tech that has impacted many: AI to drive Moore's Law, early NFTs, and more. I helped kick off the field of Token Engineering. I continue to learn, build, and write aiming for high impact. My long-term goal is to help ensure that humanity has a role in an increasingly autonomous world. bci/acc is the path. Yes, I'm a solarpunk :) 🌞👨‍🎤 

Bio

I started my career by doing AI research for national defense in the 1990s, while still an undergraduate [paper 1][paper 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 during my PhD from 2004-2008, and found a way to reconcile machine creativity with existing engineering knowledge. Here's the book.

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. 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, and AI. We hatched the ascribe NFT platform in 2013, BigchainDB blockchain database in 2015, and Ocean Protocol in 2017.

Writing

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

Other Projects

Side projects (not so active):

Past projects:

  • PhD in EE from KU Leuven, Belgium. Awarded #1 thesis worldwide in the field.
  • BE EE and BsC CS from U Saskatchewan, Canada. Awarded #1 final year thesis.
  • Did ML research for Canadian Department of National Defense, in the second half of the 90s.
  • Wrote 2 Books [1,2] on AI/ML, circuits and creativity. Also 35 Papers and 20 Patents on AI/ML [details]. 
  • Informally advised Germany, Netherlands, Estonia, and other governments about blockchain & AI strategies. Including public discussions (e.g. this).
  • Ambassador to AI XPRIZE
  • Member of Advisory Board of Lifeboat Foundation
  • Keynotes & invited talks. Examples: NASA, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Berkeley, Santa Fe Institute, Jet Propulsion Lab, Sony, Nvidia, Samsung, Foresight Institute, TedX.
  • Co-organized workshops on AI/ML and circuits [e.g. 1,2,3,4]. TPC / reviewer for many conferences & journals [e.g. 1,2,3,4,5]. Lecturer at Data Science Retreat [link]. 
  • Organized meetup "Singularity Meets Self Improvement" [link].
  • Member of Advisory Group for the e-Residency team of the Government of Estonia. 
  • 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.