Chris McKinstry
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Christopher McKinstry (February 12, 1967 – January 23, 2006) was a researcher in artificial intelligence
. He led the development of the MISTIC project which was launched in May 1996. He founded the Mindpixel
project in July 2000, and closed it in December 2005. McKinstry's AI work and similar early death dovetailed with another contemporary AI researcher, Push Singh and his MIT Open Mind Common Sense
Project.
citizen. Born in Winnipeg, he resided several years in Chile
. Since 1999, he lived in Antofagasta
as a VLT
operator for the European Southern Observatory
. At the end of 2004, he moved back to Santiago, Chile
.
Suffering from bipolar disorder
, McKinstry had an armed standoff with police
in Toronto
in 1990.
McKinstry committed suicide in 2006. Before his death McKinstry designed an experiment with two cognitive scientists to study the dynamics of thought processes using data from his Mindpixel project. This work has now been published in Psychological Science in its January, 2008 issue, with McKinstry as posthumous first author.
McKinstry is the subject of an upcoming documentary called The Man Behind the Curtain which recounts his innovative work and his mental battles.
project and Singh's MIT-backed Open Mind Common Sense
, had similar trajectories over the last six years. (Wired News) Both McKinstry and Singh were Canadians at some point (although Singh was born in India) of approximately the same age who had been in contact over the years in the same AI communities (AI Usenet 2000) regarding their similar projects. Both were heterodox AI researchers who were pursuing closely themed endeavours and beta software projects.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. He led the development of the MISTIC project which was launched in May 1996. He founded the Mindpixel
Mindpixel
Mindpixel was a web-based collaborative artificial intelligence project which aimed to create a knowledgebase of millions of human validated true/false statements, or probabilistic propositions. It ran from 2000 to 2005.-Description:...
project in July 2000, and closed it in December 2005. McKinstry's AI work and similar early death dovetailed with another contemporary AI researcher, Push Singh and his MIT Open Mind Common Sense
Open Mind Common Sense
Open Mind Common Sense is an artificial intelligence project based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab whose goal is to build and utilize a large commonsense knowledge base from the contributions of many thousands of people across the Web.Since its founding in 1999, it has...
Project.
Life
McKinstry was a CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
citizen. Born in Winnipeg, he resided several years in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. Since 1999, he lived in Antofagasta
Antofagasta
Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...
as a VLT
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope is a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2m across, which are generally used separately but can be used together to...
operator for the European Southern Observatory
European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
. At the end of 2004, he moved back to Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
.
Suffering from bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, McKinstry had an armed standoff with police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 1990.
McKinstry committed suicide in 2006. Before his death McKinstry designed an experiment with two cognitive scientists to study the dynamics of thought processes using data from his Mindpixel project. This work has now been published in Psychological Science in its January, 2008 issue, with McKinstry as posthumous first author.
McKinstry is the subject of an upcoming documentary called The Man Behind the Curtain which recounts his innovative work and his mental battles.
Comparisons with Push Singh
There has been some public note of the similarity between the suicide of Chris McKinstry and that of Push Singh, another AI researcher, a little over a month later. Both of their AI projects, McKinstry's MindpixelMindpixel
Mindpixel was a web-based collaborative artificial intelligence project which aimed to create a knowledgebase of millions of human validated true/false statements, or probabilistic propositions. It ran from 2000 to 2005.-Description:...
project and Singh's MIT-backed Open Mind Common Sense
Open Mind Common Sense
Open Mind Common Sense is an artificial intelligence project based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab whose goal is to build and utilize a large commonsense knowledge base from the contributions of many thousands of people across the Web.Since its founding in 1999, it has...
, had similar trajectories over the last six years. (Wired News) Both McKinstry and Singh were Canadians at some point (although Singh was born in India) of approximately the same age who had been in contact over the years in the same AI communities (AI Usenet 2000) regarding their similar projects. Both were heterodox AI researchers who were pursuing closely themed endeavours and beta software projects.
Articles
- Minimum Intelligent Signal TestMinimum Intelligent Signal TestThe Minimum Intelligent Signal Test, or MIST, is a variation of the Turing test proposed by Chris McKinstry in which only boolean answers may be given to questions...
: An Alternative Turing Test, Canadian Artificial Intelligence #41 - A Closer Look at Life in the Summer of '76, Mindjack Magazine, 2001
- Passage through science, Mindjack Magazine, 2001
- Twenty Twenty: Astronomical Vision, Mindjack Magazine, 2002
- A Hacker Goes to Iraq, Article posted by Chris McKinstry, The Hacker Quarterly, Vol 20 Number one, Page 9, http://sysk-net.com/books/2600%20The%20Hacker%20Quarterly%20-%20Vol%2020%20-%20No%201%202003%20%5BPDF%5D.pdf
- Mind as Space, Parsing the Turing Test: Philosophical and Methodological Issues in the Quest for the Thinking Computer, Springer Science, 2008
- McKinstry, C., Dale, R., & Spivey, M.J. (2008). Action dynamics reveal parallel competition in decision making. Psychological Science, 19, 22-24.
External links
- http://www.oocities.org/gactheripper/MIndPixelPageFront.html Background Information Site regarding Mindpixel, ICONA, Realist Party of Canada, & CR6.
- Mindpixel (at the internet archive)
- PBS article on McKinstry and Mindpixel by Robert X. CringelyRobert X. CringelyRobert X. Cringely is the pen name of both technology journalist Mark Stephens and a string of writers for a column in InfoWorld, the one-time weekly computer trade newspaper published by IDG.- Biography :...
- Critical summary of Chris McKinstry’s life and work on the Robot Wisdom blog
- Archive of McKinstry’s CR6 online soap opera
- Blog post about Mindpixel and Chris McKinstry's suicide Contains much background and insider information on the project. Posted Saturday, May 6, 2006
- Two AI Pioneers. Two Bizarre Suicides. What Really Happened? Wired Magazine article on McKinstry's and Singh's similar AI work and disturbed personal lives. Posted Friday, Jan 18, 2008
- Upcoming documentary film about the life and work of Chris McKinstry.