Each year, a select group of scientists, technologists, and creators gather in Florida for MARS — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ invitation-only summit exploring the frontiers of Machine learning, Automation, Robotics, and Space.
Among this year’s presenters was Vancouver-based deep tech entrepreneur Dr. Suzanne Gildert, CEO of Nirvanic AI. Her company is pioneering research into quantum consciousness in robotics — an ambitious effort to build machines with adaptive, life-like agency. Gildert took the MARS stage to deliver a keynote featuring a live demo of “KitCat,” Nirvanic’s quadruped robot powered by a quantum backend in real time.
Techcouver caught up with Gildert following the event to learn more about her presentation, her memorable meeting with Bezos, and what’s next for Nirvanic on its bold scientific journey.
Tell us about Nirvanic’s trip to “MARS” and why you were invited.
SG: M.A.R.S. stands for Machine Learning, Autonomy, Robotics, Space. It’s a pinnacle American invite-only event hosted by Jeff Bezos in Orlando to highlight future technology. I was honoured to present this week our deeptech Vancouver startup, Nirvanic Consciousness Technologies, or Nirvanic AI for short.
Neither Jeff Bezos nor Amazon endorses us — it’s more like a science-and-ideas showcase. It brought together world-leading machine learning and robotics academics, entrepreneurs, Nobel laureates, scientists — even Hollywood directors and astronauts. I gave a keynote on quantum conscious robotics.
How did your keynote go?
SG: Well, I had to keep my nerves in check! I presented in an aircraft hangar with a lot of famous people watching. I did a live stage demo of our quadruped cat robot, nicknamed KitCat. The robot runs our quantum-computing software connected in real time to D-Wave back in Burnaby. The cat robot was looking around and choosing actions — like sit, lean forward, look left.
We’re exploring if quantum computers can improve AI’s choices in a way that one day might give robots more agency. Many told me the talk was thought-provoking. We haven’t made any scientific claims yet. But if we can experimentally verify signatures of conscious behaviour, we may be able to build better robot minds. We think hyper-alert, conscious processing — like what life uses — can enable AI systems to adapt to novel, complex environments with little prior training data, which is very different from how AI works today.
Did you get to meet Amazon founder Jeff Bezos?
SG: Yes! What a thrill. He met each of us presenters personally. He just walked up, extended his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Jeff,” which was surreal given how famous he is. I had a private conversation with him about our scientific program to test quantum consciousness in robots. He listened very carefully and laughed at one of my jokes. I said, “It’s probably the smallest robot here today, but hopefully his cool mind makes up for his physical size.” He had a good chuckle at that.
What connection does Nirvanic have to the “space” theme at MARS?
SG: Nirvanic’s conscious robotics research could have space applications, where robots have to be very self-reliant. Space is something Bezos is very interested in. His starship company, Blue Origin, has a vision of moving heavy, polluting industries into space to let Earth’s biosphere heal. I really love that idea. We also got to see a SpaceX rocket launch at Kennedy Space Center, which was amazing. You see the rocket fire off, then a while later — boom — the sonic wave hits. Oh, and I had dinner with an astronaut under a Saturn V rocket. So no big deal!
Who else did you meet?
SG: Oh, Stephen Wolfram! One of the world’s best-known physicists. He’s a math and computational genius. He just rocked right up. We talked about theories of consciousness, which was a huge honour. He’s a skeptic of quantum theories of mind — but to be fair, so am I, as any scientist should be. I also got to hang out with the ‘OG’ of quantum consciousness, Stuart Hameroff. He’s an anesthesiologist big on the science-of-consciousness scene, and one of my intellectual heroes.
I also met a NASA mission scientist looking for signs of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa, which has an ocean under its surface. And I got a rare chance to meet Ron Howard, the Hollywood director. What a thrill. He asked about our cat bot, and I explained how it makes choices without prior experience or data. “Like a baby?” he asked. He totally got it. We asked if we could film our interaction with our GoPro and he said, “Oh sure, sure.” We joked our tiny camera is probably quite a bit smaller than the cameras he’s used to!
What’s next for Nirvanic?
SG: We’re off to New York shortly for a deep tech conference. And this July, we head to Barcelona for the Science of Consciousness conference, where I’ll present a scientific paper on machine consciousness. I’m also super busy gathering data for Nirvanic’s science program. We’re collaborating with quantum physicists around the world to test our theory of quantum conscious agency in artificial intelligence. We hope one day it will also help us better understand human consciousness — one of the greatest mysteries of all. If people are curious to learn more, they can check out: nirvanic.ai
Photo: Suzanne Gildert under a Saturn V rocket at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa.
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