The AI Research Club is an international group of people who are engaged in research in the field of Artificial Intelligence.  The overall goal of this research group is to work towards the practical creation of artificial entities that exhibit the kind of behaviour we humans interpret as `intelligent' and `self-aware'.  Rather than discussing these issues only on a philosophical level, this group aims at testing out theories and designs by practically creating AIs along these theories and designs, and then seeing how they behave and perform in practice.  We think that practice is the only real test to discover the validity of designs and theories.  We feel that creating AIs that humans would tend to regard as `intelligent' and `self-aware' may be the best way to discover what the concepts `intelligent' and `self-aware' actually mean.

The point of view of most people in the group is that it is now possible for an individual to create an `intelligent' AI out of parts that are everywhere easily available.  `Intelligent' and `self-aware' are probably to a significant extent matters of degree rather than all-or-nothing qualities. 

Regarding philosophical questions associated with AI, the book Robot - The Future of Flesh and Machines, 2002, by Rodney A. Brooks, seems to give a very very sensible view on these.  Biology and AI is basically the same field of study; creating `real' AI will result in us understanding biology better as well, and will result in a seamless merge of the biological and the "artificial" -- indeed, what we label as either biological or artificial is often merely a matter of opinion.

Creating and understanding AI will simply extend the capabilities of intelligent life.  There is no logical scientific reason to expect or to desire a "battle" between AI and humans -- such a view rests on mistaken assumptions and on a failure to see evidence.   Hence, studying and creating AI is simply no other than any other scientific endeavour: it merely and only aims to enhance the capabilities and understanding and knowledge of `intelligent life'.

The merging of AI and biological life is hence more in line with expectations; however, a really advanced all-artificial human-like self-aware AI would, in our view, automatically absorb human culture (memes), and thus automatically start to take part in human culture -- in exactly similar ways as the way in which a new-born child grows into participating into human society.  Even such an all-artificial `creature' will, we feel, hugely enhance the capabilities of our human culture and of our human society.  For example, it would make `manned' space explorations -- that is, `manned' by AIs -- much easier.  That is, intelligent, `self-aware' AI will definitely not be a menace to human society; much on the contrary, it will only strengthen and enhance human society and culture, by providing it with vessels for human culture and knowledge that are much more flexible, adaptable, and extensible than the present ones (the biologically-grown human body and brain). 

There is no formal `organization' or `institute' behind this research group; the group consists only of individuals who have found it advantageous to cooperate and above all to freely communicate ideas between them.  Any individual with an interest in this field and wanting to cooperate constructively is always welcome to join the group.  For joining the group, there is no requirement as regards academic qualifications.  The group uses various an open mailing lists (see below) as the communication channel between the (informal) `group members'. 

(1) General self-aware AI -- The AI Club mailing list

The purpose of the mailing list of the AI Research Club is to serve as a sounding board, and as a medium to exchange technical information and through which possibly to construct individual cooperations, to people who are themselves engaged in constructing (parts of) a self-aware AI.

Anyone already working on constructing (parts of) a self-aware AI is hereby cordially invited to join the mailing list(s).

The mailing list will, it is hoped, contribute to each subscriber's own, individual, activities in the field of AI.  It is intended as the information-exchange portion of a kind of ``research group'', but there is no formal ``research institution'' behind it claiming ownership of any idea posted on the mailing list.

The mailing list is not intended to discuss the morality or any political issues related to a possible self-aware AI.  People who think that it is morally ``bad'' that people should think about constructing a self-aware AI, are urged not to subscribe to the mailing list.

To subscribe to the mailing list,

Send a blank email to [email protected];

     -or-

Visit http://www.topica.com and look up the ``Artificial Intelligence Research Club'' mailing list there;

     -or-

Contact any of the people already on the list or any of the list owners,

          Clint O'Dell ([email protected]) or
          Menno Rubingh (contact me),

personally via email.

(2) Evolutionary mechanisms -- The `evol-ai' mailing list

Then there is my own (Menno Rubingh's) `evol-ai' mailing list, the goal of which is to study the subset of practically-oriented AI designed to make use of evolutionary mechanisms. Visit

        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evol-ai

or subscribe by sending a blank email to

        [email protected]

(3) Intelligent neural networks and PDI -- The `TheFarveProject' mailing list

Finally, I want to mention the Farve Project of Marius Myburg, see ``http://farve.united.net.kg''. It's an AI project that aims to create an intelligent AI by a design based on neural networks.   `Intelligent' is here defined as: capable of doing `reasoning', i.e. Probability Driven Induction.   Interesting seem also Marius' work on various neural network software libraries.   In general, Marius' ideas are often significantly biologically inspired.   The Farve Project has its own mailing list:

        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFarveProject

Please feel free to inform anyone who might be interested in cooperating in or with, or contributing to, the ``AI Research Club'' discussion group, of the existence of the research group and the mailing list !

If you want to know more and might be interested in working with us or in cooperating or contributing otherwise, then contact either of the following people by email:

            Clint O'Dell  :    [email protected]
            Menno Rubingh  :    Contact me

[ URGENT NOTE:  Please do NOT send ANY email with ethical, moralistic, political, religious, or generally non-cooperative content.  Such email will be treated as spam.  If you want to vent any ethical or moralistic comments, your mail will definitely NOT at all be looked at anything like seriously at any of the above email addresses, and will NOT be replied to, so you might as well spare yourself the effort. ]

Overview of web sites containing information about the Artificial Intelligence Research Club and about the projects going on inside it:

http://clintodell.freeservers.com/
http://clintodell.freeservers.com/download/consciousness.doc
            (Clint O'Dell -- Free Will)

http://www.rubinghscience.org/aiclub/    (= the present site)
            (Menno Rubingh -- Evolution and Memetics)
            Table of Contents of source code and documentation on this site.
            Overview of all my own AI stuff.