Laura Lewis
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

Phone: 650/604-2162, 650/604-9000 Email: llewis@mail.arc.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 00-16AR
NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: News media are invited to attend the
first day of the CONTACT Cultures of the Imagination conference at NASA
Ames Research Center, March 3, 2000, from 8 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST in the
Moffett Training and Conference Center, Bldg. 3. To get to Ames, take the
Moffett Field exit off Highway 101. At the Moffett Federal Airfield main
gate, proceed to the Visitor Badging Office to obtain entry badges and maps
to the conference. Bring press credentials and photo ID to gain
admittance.

An internationally recognized group of scientists, philosophers, artificial
intelligence experts, anthropologists, and artists will explore the nature
of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity during the CONTACT
Cultures of the Imagination Conference at NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, CA, on March 3, 2000.

During the seminar at NASA Ames, located in the heart of California’s
Silicon Valley, NASA scientists and renowned experts in the field will
discuss artificial intelligence from a variety of perspectives. Speakers
and their topics include Dr. Michael Sims of NASA Ames, “An inquiry into
constraints on machine civilizations;” Dr. Marvin Minsky, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, “Relevance of society of minds;” Dr. William
Clancey, NASA Ames, “Recognizing higher-order consciousness;” James Funaro,
Cabrillo College, CA, “Human Partnerships: Machines R Us;” and Dr. Seth
Shostak, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute,
“How might we find machine civilizations?”

Sims, who works in Ames’ Computational Sciences Division, and Dr.
Christopher McKay of Ames’ Planetary Systems Branch, are co-hosts of the
meeting with Funaro, a Cabrillo College anthropology professor and the
founder of CONTACT. Ames is NASA’s lead center for information technology
and Astrobiology programs.

CONTACT is a unique, interdisciplinary conference which brings together
some of the foremost international social and space scientists, science
fiction writers and artists to exchange ideas, stimulate new perspectives
and encourage serious, creative speculation about humanity’s future. More
information about the conference is available at the CONTACT Cultures of
the Imagination web site: http://www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/contact/

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