Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

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After a year of anticipation, I finally got to talk with Rich Sutton for the channel! Rich wrote the book on reinforcement learning, has contributed vastly to the literature, and has a unique perspective on AI. We talk about topics like reinforcement learning, the OpenMind Research Institute (OMRI), Keen Technologies, how to do good research, the problem of scale, superintelligence, and so much more.

Outline
0:00 - Intro
1:33 - Interview start
2:04 - OpenMind Research Institute
4:32 - History of AI
7:13 - Is scaling easy?
10:49 - The problem with backprop & representations
21:22 - Rant on tunnel vision
23:43 - New exciting things
32:00 - Memory
35:34 - Coming up with ideas
43:47 - STOMP
45:30 - Keen Technologies
50:39 - The next stage of humanity & emotions
1:06:25 - Extraterrestrial AI
1:08:00 - A different approach to research
1:21:30 - Rich's advice
1:26:00 - Beef with RL
1:27:07 - Bringing it all together


Amii's website: amii.ca
Rich's website: incompleteideas.net

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