The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was initially directly aimed at the construction of â??thinking machinesâ?? â?? that is, computer systems with human-like general intelligence. But this task proved very difficult, and so as steps in this direction, AI researchers focused on producing AI systems displaying intelligence regarding specific tasks in relatively narrow domains. In recent years, however, the situation has been changing. More and more researchers have recognized the necessity â?? and feasibility â?? of returning to the original goals of the field. Increasingly, there is a call for a transition from the current focus on highly specialized â??narrow AIâ?? problem solving systems, back to confronting the more difficult issues of â??human level intelligenceâ?? and more broadly â??artificial general intelligence (AGI).â??

Encouraged by the recent success of several smaller-scale AGI-related meetings, we have taken the initiative to facilitate the very first international conference on AGI. The AGI-08 conference will give AGI researchers the opportunity for presenting research results and exchanging ideas on topics of common interest. During the conference, we will also discuss the possibility of creating a new organization to promote and coordinate AGI research.

The conference is explicitly open to all the various techniques used in seeking to realize general intelligence â?? for instance, symbolic, connectionist, evolutionary, robotic, mathematical, or integrative approaches (... or new approaches that the conference organizers have never heard of!). We are particularly interested in papers describing concrete, reasonably well-fleshed-out AGI projects â?? meaning, research projects that

are based on a coherent theory about "intelligence" as a whole
involve a concrete engineering plan oriented toward implementing the relevant conception of general intelligence in a computer system
have already produced some concrete results, either practical or theoretical
However, we are also open to high-quality submissions that address key aspects of AGI from a purely theoretical perspective, or that discuss AGI projects at an earlier stage of development. There is a list of suggested topics, though other topics are also welcomed, so long as there is a recognizable relation to AGI, as defined above.

AGI-08 will be an inter-disciplinary meeting. Besides computer scientists and engineers, we also welcome researchers from cognitive science, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and other allied fields.

Conference Format

A tentative schedule is available. Briefly speaking, the conference will consist of several technical sessions, a poster session, and a few special sessions as well. Each technical session will be organized around a topic, and have time for talks, panel discussion, and general discussion.

Paper Submissions

AGI-08 will accept two types of submissions: full-length papers (12 pages) and short position statements (5 pages). All submissions should be prepared using the IOS templates, either in LaTeX or in MS Word.

All the papers will be submitted electronically. The details of the submission procedure is specified in the submit page.

AGI-08 Proceedings will be published by IOS Press, a major AI publisher. All accepted papers will also be available on-line for open access.

Whether an accepted paper (of either length) will be presented as a talk or as a poster will be determined by the Program Committee, in part based on paper quality as assessed by the anonymous reviewers, and in part according to the extent the paper addresses a topic of core interest to the AGI community.

The acceptance of a paper is based on the assumption that one of the authors will attend the conference to present the paper.

Important Due Dates

October 15, 2007: Paper submission (late submission is possible, under the advance permission of a program co-chair, please contact ben-at-novamente.net or pei.wang-at-temple.edu)
November 30, 2007: Acceptance notification
December 20, 2007: Camera-ready copy submission