In 2002, synthetic intelligence was nonetheless in winter. Regardless of a long time of effort, goals of bestowing computer systems with human-like cognition and real-world understanding had not materialized. To search for a approach ahead, a small group of scientists gathered for “The St. Thomas Widespread Sense Symposium.” AI pioneer Marvin Minsky was the central presence, alongside together with his protégé Pushpinder Singh. After the symposium, Minsky, Singh, and famend thinker Aaron Sloman printed a paper on the group’s concepts for how one can attain human-like AI.
The paper speaks to the struggles of early-century AI. However one sentence actually stands out at the moment. In a short paragraph of acknowledgements, the authors say, “This assembly was made doable by the beneficiant help of Jeffrey Epstein.” The symposium itself, actually, was held within the Virgin Islands, dwelling of Epstein’s now-notorious island retreat. Trying again at this occasion reveals one thing concerning the state of AI—in addition to the symposium’s execrable funder.
To the disgrace of the know-how and science communities, a voracious sexual predator managed to purchase his approach into relationships with a few of the most distinguished and influential figures within the discipline. Epstein’s connections, which included Invoice Gates and Minsky, have been exhaustively documented. In a deposition, Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre alleged she was directed to have intercourse with Minsky at Epstein’s island; Minsky’s spouse—who says she accompanied the scientist when he visited Epstein, and that they solely went to the New York and Palm Seaside residences—has vehemently denied the cost, which was made shortly earlier than Minsky’s demise and was not revealed till a lot later. Epstein died in jail in 2019 (don’t ask me to interrupt down the conspiracy theories in a single measly paragraph) and Giuffre tragically took her personal life in 2025.
For the overwhelming majority of Epstein’s connections in science and tech, skilled affiliation with a sexual predator turned an embarrassing, even damning, truth. Epstein penetrated the inside circles of those worlds, funding small gatherings attended by bold-faced names. (I actually was on the infamous 2002 “Billionaire Dinner” at TED the place Epstein mingled with Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch, singer Naomi Judd, and distinguished scientists, together with some who flew in on Epstein’s aircraft.) One entry level to these circles was literary agent John Brockman, whose shopper listing included prime names in science. Epstein largely funded Brockman’s nonprofit science-oriented basis.
A supply of mine who knew Epstein properly defined that the financier appeared genuinely fascinated by scientists. The supply says they’d no data of his crimes. They agreed to debate Epstein solely on the situation of anonymity. “I skilled him as this eccentric, rich man who preferred to encompass himself with attention-grabbing individuals and scientists and who had quite a lot of questions concerning the world,” the supply says. “He was as within the character of the scientist as he was with the scientist’s work.” Epstein himself apparently understood why he was welcomed in these circles. “I am no more than a hobbyist in science,” he informed journalist Jeffrey Mervis in 2017. “However cash I perceive, [and] I am a fairly good mathematician.”
Invite Solely
Epstein’s spectre casts a darkish shadow on the 2002 symposium. However how did the occasion even come to be? My supply gave me the beforehand unreported backstory. “Jeffrey used to say how fond he was of Marvin and the way a lot he liked speaking to him about AI,” the supply says. In these years, the topic wasn’t highly regarded. “It was a time when individuals had been actually skeptical about whether or not AI had legs,” my supply stated. So the concept arose to host a small AI gathering with Minsky on the middle. (It’s not clear whether or not the funding for the occasion got here from a $100,000 donation made by Epstein to help Minksy’s analysis.)
After some deliberation, it was determined the occasion would middle on concepts from Minsky’s star scholar, Singh. In 1996, Singh had written a brief paper referred to as “Why AI Failed.” To get human-like intelligence, he argued, “we’d like programs with common sense data and versatile methods to make use of it. The difficulty is that constructing such programs quantities to ’fixing AI.’” As powerful as that’s, he wrote, “We have now no selection however to face it head on.” (Invoice Gates noticed the paper and commented, “I feel your observations concerning the AI discipline are right.”)
Presumably, the St. Thomas symposium was one option to face the issue head-on. However the occasion was onerous to prepare. An early listing of doable individuals lacked star energy and needed to be augmented. Ultimately, the visitor listing grew to incorporate Roger Schank, a celebrated AI theorist whose obituary was marred by attending the occasion and by serving a short spell as chief studying officer of Trump College. One other participant was Doug Lenat, the inventor of the formidable CYC undertaking, which concerned people painstakingly typing explanations of on a regular basis objects right into a database for AI analysis. Additionally in attendance was Vernor Vinge, a science fiction author who’s credited with the idea of the AI singularity. UK thinker Sloman, now approaching 90, was one of many later additions. “I used to be not on Epstein’s unique invitation listing,” he emailed me earlier this week. “I used to be added on the suggestion of Marvin Minsky, partly as a result of by then I used to be serving to to oversee his scholar (Push Singh).” Sloman says his reminiscence of the occasion is weak. However, he recollects, “I appear to keep in mind that Epstein supplied lavish sources, together with utilizing a non-public aircraft to get us to the placement.”
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