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About

Selmer Bringsjord is a philosopher, cognitive scientist, and AI researcher whose work sits at the provocative intersection of artificial intelligence, logic, and ethics. Best known for pioneering what he terms "logicist" approaches to AI and robotics, Bringsjord has spent decades interrogating the fundamental nature of machine intelligence and its moral dimensions. His 1992 book *What Robots Can and Can't Be* (189 citations) established early boundaries on machine cognition, while his influential 2006 paper on engineering ethically correct robots (183 citations) helped launch the now-thriving field of machine ethics, arguing that as robots enter sensitive environments like hospitals, ensuring their moral correctness becomes urgent and non-negotiable. His proposal of "Psychometric AI" (92 citations) offered a refreshing redefinition of the field, benchmarking machine intelligence against human cognitive standards. Bringsjord has also tackled thorny philosophical puzzles including the symbol grounding problem and akratic robots — machines that act against their own programmed principles — demonstrating a rare willingness to engage with deeply counterintuitive challenges. His 2015 work on robots passing self-consciousness tests (84 citations) further cemented his reputation as a boundary-pushing thinker shaping how researchers understand machine minds and moral agency.