Sean Riley

The hard problem of consciousness is haunting. Somehow, syntactic operations over symbols makes manifest the subjective character of my existential dread as I ruminate on how syntactic operations over symbols makes manifest...

...The problem mocks my conceit like history does the present.

My current research has involved investigations into the symbols and operations that may be involved in subjective experience. Whatever computational machinery makes qualia possible, it's likely primitive to human-level intelligence. Understanding this machinery can give us valuable insights into how to build general intelligence in-silico.

There's also a more immediate aspect to this as well. People are largely driven by their subjective experiences, and modelling these experiences in specific domains can help us build useful technologies, such as rhetorical force detectors.

The fact we can "see" things inside our mind is wild. Right now, you can close your eyes and visualize Nietzsche's moustache in a street brawl with Socrates' beard. That's absurd. How does the brain do this? What computations are involved and over what representations? Are visual mental images built of perceptual content, or experiential content? Does this change the underlying computations? If so, how? And what even is vividness? It seems to be cut from the same cloth as pornography: we can't define it, but we know it when we see it.

My current work has explored a novel conception of vividness built on the idea that visual imagery involves representations that carry experiential content, and that when we visualize this street brawl, we are visualizing the experience of seeing it.

Most business owners want to be compliant with relevant legislation. How can we help them, particularly when it comes to privacy? Homomorphic encryption is an exciting avenue that has the potential to break down data silos and help businesses utilize their data while still remaining compliant with privacy laws.