ILabs
Encyclopedia
iLabs is a non-profit organization Milan based pursuing multidisciplinary research on radical extension of human life-span. It was founded in 1977 by Gabriele Rossi and Antonella Canonico, who advocate the scenario known as “Semi-Immortality”, an elaborate vision of an era of quasi-immortal individuals (“intelligent systems”), that is philosophically linked to other instances of Transhumanism
and futurists’ theories (such as Raymond Kurzweil
’s).
iLabs led the development of Artificial Intelligence
tools in Italy: the first relational database
(1984), a self-monitoring and self-modifying application for production planning (1985), programs for data compression
(1980), visual recognition (1983), cryptography
(1987).
Starting with the publishing of Semi-Immortality in November 2007, iLabs has also been devoting considerable resources to further improve the impact of the research program and raise the general awareness towards semi-immortality and related topics, resulting in a series of books, articles, interviews and events popular in the Italian transhumanist community and beyond .
On March 5, 2011 iLabs hosted the iLabs Singularity Summit, featuring speeches from Raymond Kurzweil
and Aubrey De Grey
.
Throughout their history, iLabs has been pioneering the use of Artificial Intelligence and psychoneurophysiology (also known as Psychoneuroimmunology
) in a variety of experimental and real-world settings . In 1984 the iLabs department of Artificial Intelligence created the first Italian data-base, Sistema I, the first of a series of projects in computer science
:
The department of Psychoneurophysiology was one of the first institution in the country promoting the field through innovative proposals in psychology
, stress management
and bio-statistics:
The department started focusing on psycho-oncology
in 2000, with hundreds of subjects successfully treated since then.
The main agenda is carried on, for the most part, by the departments of Artificial Intelligence and Psychoneurophysiology. However, iLabs relies on renowned experts to further widen the scope of the research program: professionals from mathematics, physics, logic, law, economics, medicine, biology have worked for the lab to address specific scientific challenges. The results of the projects are popularized through books, events, digital material, and spread in the academic community with peer-reviewed publications.
iLabs partners include Humanity+, SENS Foundation
, KurzweilAI, Science for Life Extension, Estropico. Four iLabs members are also in the Advisory Board of Lifeboat Foundation.
There are two explicit assumptions underlying the labs work: first, only a truly global perspective may lead mankind to a radical extension of the life-span. According to the founders, technology and science will play a major role, but without addressing serious challenges in ethics and social theory all the attempts would be doomed to failure. Second, achieving the “semi-immortality” is a hard, articulated task requiring huge efforts and resources, as well as the finest minds.
In 2008, iLabs published online the first version of their “Call for Players”, detailing the fields of study in their global agenda and explaining the labs’ structure and activities. The document’s explicit aim is to attract interested researchers to their projects.
According to the document, the semi-immortality picture is declined in three core areas of study and intervention:
iLabs digital universe satisfies universality (it is equivalent to a Turing Machine
) and perfect reversibility (a desideratum if one wants to easily preserve various quantities and never lose information), and it comes embedded in a first-order theory allowing computable, qualitative statements on the universe evolution.
.
Collecting more than 80 million single blood tests, the Department of Psychoneurophysiology created iMed, a statistical estimator of “biological age”. The algorithm takes as input a subject’s blood test and gives back a probability distribution; the statistics can then be used to compare the subject’s real age with her biological age, thereby yielding a quantitative assessment of the aging rate.
iMed is now being expanded to include other simple and inexpensive test to improve the estimator accuracy: the hope is to develop an easy-to-use and reliable method to objectively assess the health status of any subject
Gabriele Rossi – a popular entrepreneur and innovator in the Italian insurance market – wrote dozens of articles in popular and specialized magazines on the impact of the technological revolution (and the life-span extension) on the economy and the society as a whole.
More recently, iLabs published The Law in the Society of Semi-Immortality: the essay argues for two radical changes in how justice and morality are currently conceived. Approaching the Singularity, artificial minds could be used to make the whole process of justice administration perfectly objective, progressively eliminating the human bias in legal judgments. Second, new values are likely to be promoted by the exponential technological trend: the book holds that, in the near future, the value of Truth is likely to have increasing importance in advanced societies.
The two claims are not uncontroversial, as several speakers and critics pointed out during the first presentations of the volume in the academic (SIFA 2010) and transhumanist community (Transvision 2010). To promote an informed debate on ethical and social issues of the technological evolution, iLabs writes monthly contributions to Italian national magazines and blogs.
Transhumanism
Transhumanism, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human...
and futurists’ theories (such as Raymond Kurzweil
Raymond Kurzweil
Raymond "Ray" Kurzweil is an American author, inventor and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition , text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments...
’s).
iLabs led the development of Artificial Intelligence
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...
tools in Italy: the first relational database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
(1984), a self-monitoring and self-modifying application for production planning (1985), programs for data compression
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
(1980), visual recognition (1983), cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
(1987).
Starting with the publishing of Semi-Immortality in November 2007, iLabs has also been devoting considerable resources to further improve the impact of the research program and raise the general awareness towards semi-immortality and related topics, resulting in a series of books, articles, interviews and events popular in the Italian transhumanist community and beyond .
On March 5, 2011 iLabs hosted the iLabs Singularity Summit, featuring speeches from Raymond Kurzweil
Raymond Kurzweil
Raymond "Ray" Kurzweil is an American author, inventor and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition , text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments...
and Aubrey De Grey
Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author...
.
History
iLabs was founded in 1977 by two young Italian researchers, Antonella Canonico (psychologist) and Gabriele Rossi (computer scientist). The lab pursues a long-term research goal – the radical extension of human life-span – through the completion of mid-term projects in several fields.Throughout their history, iLabs has been pioneering the use of Artificial Intelligence and psychoneurophysiology (also known as Psychoneuroimmunology
Psychoneuroimmunology
Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body...
) in a variety of experimental and real-world settings . In 1984 the iLabs department of Artificial Intelligence created the first Italian data-base, Sistema I, the first of a series of projects in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
:
- in 1991, IAssist, an expert systemExpert systemIn artificial intelligence, an expert system is a computer system that emulates the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert systems are designed to solve complex problems by reasoning about knowledge, like an expert, and not by following the procedure of a developer as is the case in...
for customer care; - in 1993, i5, an expert system for insurance risk managementRisk managementRisk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities...
; - in 1994, BBS-RCAuto, the first real-time comparison of insurance policies across the all Italian market;
- in 1995, ZaZen, an expert system for derivative market trading;
- in 1996, iAssicur97, a completely web-based software allowing natural language queries;
- in 2010, iMaat, a digital universe based on a proprietary reversible cellular automatonReversible cellular automatonA reversible cellular automaton is a cellular automaton in which every configuration has a unique predecessor. Several methods of constructing reversible cellular automata are known, including the block cellular automaton and second-order cellular automaton methods...
.
The department of Psychoneurophysiology was one of the first institution in the country promoting the field through innovative proposals in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, stress management
Stress management
Stress management is the alteration of stress and especially chronic stress often for the purpose of improving everyday functioning.Stress produces numerous symptoms which vary according to persons, situations, and severity. These can include physical health decline as well as depression. According...
and bio-statistics:
- in 1996, the creation of a free web-service for psychological assistance;
- in 2002, Buddhamam, a wellness center specialized in stress management;
- in 2008, iMed, a statistical estimator of biological age from blood samples.
The department started focusing on psycho-oncology
Psycho-oncology
Psycho-oncology is a field of interdisciplinary study and practice at the intersection of lifestyle, psychology and oncology. It is concerned with aspects of cancer that go beyond medical treatment and include lifestyle, psychological and social aspects of cancer...
in 2000, with hundreds of subjects successfully treated since then.
iLabs R&D Structure
iLabs is privately owned and run since their foundation. iLabs started commercial spin-offs to apply their discoveries in business-oriented contexts; in turn, profits from commercial activities are used to fund the labs projects.The main agenda is carried on, for the most part, by the departments of Artificial Intelligence and Psychoneurophysiology. However, iLabs relies on renowned experts to further widen the scope of the research program: professionals from mathematics, physics, logic, law, economics, medicine, biology have worked for the lab to address specific scientific challenges. The results of the projects are popularized through books, events, digital material, and spread in the academic community with peer-reviewed publications.
iLabs partners include Humanity+, SENS Foundation
SENS Foundation
The SENS Foundation is a non-profit organization co-founded by Michael Kope, Aubrey de Grey, Jeff Hall, Sarah Marr and Kevin Perrott, which is based in California, United States. Its activities include SENS-based research programs and public relations work for the acceptance of and interest in...
, KurzweilAI, Science for Life Extension, Estropico. Four iLabs members are also in the Advisory Board of Lifeboat Foundation.
Semi-Immortality and the Call for Players
“Semi-immortality” is the title of the iLabs volume detailing the first thirty years of research: since it is doubtful that full immortality can be truly achieved by physical entities, the term “semi-immortality” was preferred as the main tag over iLabs vision.There are two explicit assumptions underlying the labs work: first, only a truly global perspective may lead mankind to a radical extension of the life-span. According to the founders, technology and science will play a major role, but without addressing serious challenges in ethics and social theory all the attempts would be doomed to failure. Second, achieving the “semi-immortality” is a hard, articulated task requiring huge efforts and resources, as well as the finest minds.
In 2008, iLabs published online the first version of their “Call for Players”, detailing the fields of study in their global agenda and explaining the labs’ structure and activities. The document’s explicit aim is to attract interested researchers to their projects.
According to the document, the semi-immortality picture is declined in three core areas of study and intervention:
- mathematics, physics, computer science
- biology, medicine, psychology
- philosophy, law, politics
Mathematics, physics, computer science
iLabs projects in this area are based on the so-called Mathematics of the Models of Reference. The theory –created by Gabriele Rossi and developed with Francesco Berto and Jacopo Tagliabue – use cellular automata theory as the building block of computation and a perfect isomorphism between matter and information as the main “philosophical” assumption.iLabs digital universe satisfies universality (it is equivalent to a Turing Machine
Turing machine
A Turing machine is a theoretical device that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite its simplicity, a Turing machine can be adapted to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm, and is particularly useful in explaining the functions of a CPU inside a...
) and perfect reversibility (a desideratum if one wants to easily preserve various quantities and never lose information), and it comes embedded in a first-order theory allowing computable, qualitative statements on the universe evolution.
Biology, medicine, psychology
After two decades of studies on mind-body relations and psycho-oncology, iLabs started the development of a proprietary protocol for health monitoring, inspired by the success of evidence-based medicineEvidence-based medicine
Evidence-based medicine or evidence-based practice aims to apply the best available evidence gained from the scientific method to clinical decision making. It seeks to assess the strength of evidence of the risks and benefits of treatments and diagnostic tests...
.
Collecting more than 80 million single blood tests, the Department of Psychoneurophysiology created iMed, a statistical estimator of “biological age”. The algorithm takes as input a subject’s blood test and gives back a probability distribution; the statistics can then be used to compare the subject’s real age with her biological age, thereby yielding a quantitative assessment of the aging rate.
iMed is now being expanded to include other simple and inexpensive test to improve the estimator accuracy: the hope is to develop an easy-to-use and reliable method to objectively assess the health status of any subject
Philosophy, law, politics
Given the attention iLabs has always been putting on ethical aspects of the technological developments, it is not surprising that many activities are focused on forecasting social changes and planning new scenarios for justice, economy, education.Gabriele Rossi – a popular entrepreneur and innovator in the Italian insurance market – wrote dozens of articles in popular and specialized magazines on the impact of the technological revolution (and the life-span extension) on the economy and the society as a whole.
More recently, iLabs published The Law in the Society of Semi-Immortality: the essay argues for two radical changes in how justice and morality are currently conceived. Approaching the Singularity, artificial minds could be used to make the whole process of justice administration perfectly objective, progressively eliminating the human bias in legal judgments. Second, new values are likely to be promoted by the exponential technological trend: the book holds that, in the near future, the value of Truth is likely to have increasing importance in advanced societies.
The two claims are not uncontroversial, as several speakers and critics pointed out during the first presentations of the volume in the academic (SIFA 2010) and transhumanist community (Transvision 2010). To promote an informed debate on ethical and social issues of the technological evolution, iLabs writes monthly contributions to Italian national magazines and blogs.