Selmer Bringsjord

Selmer Bringsjord is the founding Director of the Rensselaer AI & Reasoning Laboratory at RPI, devoted to the science and engineering of logic-based AI, CogSci, and robotics.  He is Professor of: Logic & Philosophy; Computer Science; Cognitive Science; Management & Technology; and is Chief Scientist of Motalen.  Bringsjord specializes in the building of robust AI systems and cognitive robots, and at the same time the logical/mathematical and philosophical foundations of AI (as well as that of CompSci & CogSci).  Funding for his r&d has come from the Luce Foundation, NSF, the Templeton Foundation, AT&T, IBM, Apple, AFRL, ARDA/DTO/ IARPA, ONR, DARPA, AFOSR, and other sponsors.  Bringsjord has consulted to and advised many companies and agencies in the realm of intelligent systems, and continues to do so; in this domain he has six patents and three pending, and many under development.  Bringsjord is widely known for bringing AI and cognitive robotics to the public; two examples include his TEDx talk “Could a Robot be a Bona Fide Hero?”, and — with crucial help from his students — a demonstration of puzzle-solving self-consciousness in robots watched by millions.  Bringsjord has long held that (1) human persons have a level of intelligence beyond the reach of Turing-level computing machines, but (2) can nonetheless be eliminated by such machines, if they are allowed to become sufficiently powerful, autonomous, and intelligent AIs.  Fortunately, a solution to (2) is given in the soon-to-be-published (March 2026) Only Logic Can Save Us.