Could Andy Rubin's Playground usher in a new era for mankind?

A technological singularity is inevitable. An event where AI would achieve sentience, a state of “recursive self-improvement” at such a scale that the result would be an entity of such intelligence that it would be beyond our comprehension. Before we start getting out our tinfoil hats and laying the foundation for underground bunkers ( Skynet? ) however, maybe we should actually think about how we’ll even get to that stage in the first place.

Many believe that the AI of today isn’t truly “intelligent”, stating that the programs are more about statistics and less about intelligence. As an example, consider the game of chess that you can play on your phone or PC right now. The so-called A.I. is unbeatable for sure, but that’s only because it’s analysing a staggering number of potential outcomes and picking the one with the highest chance of success. That AI has no conception of chess, of the computer it’s running on or even the fact that it’s doing something.

But here’s the kicker, that’s not really a problem as far as AI goes; our brains function in pretty much the same way. It’s obvious when you think about it, machine learning and deterministic analysis were, after all, designed to replicate brain function in the first place. The real difference between the brain and any existing form of AI is the collection of data and the ability to assimilate, understand and respond to that data. All of this happens very, well, organically, in an organic brain.

Current implementations of AI are very limited in the data that they gather, or that they can gather, and we’re taking variety rather than quantity. They’re all individual modules with no overarching control or feedback mechanism; they have no brain.

Suppose you’re using Google Maps for navigation, the only reason Google magically knows to route you around traffic jams is because of the data that it gathers from the sensor that they have on you, your phone. Now imagine a scenario where that phone is sensing ambient temperature, pollution levels, communicating and collating information with other devices in the area, and so much more. Suppose someone’s flying a drone nearby, suppose that the drone is also transmitting data to, say Google (maybe a picture of the traffic jam).

Take this a step further, you’re all driving self-driving cars and they can also collate that data and interpret it. Your car knows where it is and where you want to go, it knows the state of the traffic and it even figures out the best route to take. The result? Faster travel, cleaner roads and a more efficient transport system.

Imagine a fully-connected house, one where the true dream of IOT is realised. Your email client knows that you have a meeting in the morning, your alarm automatically wakes you, the toaster knows when you stepped out of the shower and your car knows when you stepped outside the house and so on. Is this a bit too far-fetched? No.

All of this envisions a world that’s brimming with sensors, perpetually gathering data and perpetually talking to each other and to some sort of central brain (an electronic one, mind you). The proliferation of such sensors is going to take a while, maybe even decades, and it will need a common platform to build on. More importantly, it needs an open platform to build on.

This is exactly the world that Andy Rubin hopes to bring to life. As pointed out by Wired , building something as simple as a GPS sensor for a car requires research into available sensors, accuracy required, storage and transmission mechanisms and much more. Playground ’s research wing, Studio, will work on exactly such projects and hopes to create a vast catalogue of such interconnected systems and sensors (software too). All of this will be available to anyone that cares to ask, with first preference given to the startups that Playground invests in. Once the hardware is in place, the software, and AI, will eventually follow.

A technological revolution needs to start somewhere, and Playground may have just laid its foundation.