My name is Avi Marcus, I am a 29 year old, semi retired (sold my previous startup ) hacker from Israel. Started programming at 8, started CS in college when I was 13. Flunked out because I was bored at 15. Always been interested in artificial intelligence, but a year and a half ago I read a book on the way the human brain works and suddenly I had a vision of something programmers missed in all of the machine learning algorithms they built, which is a basic part of the human cognitive process, and I suddenly understood how to add it to existing algorithms.

Anything else?

Going out and winning the Netflix prize and/or KDD and refusing to release your code would bring you the best tests (and biggest paying customers) because of the publicity. I actually can't think of a better and faster way of building a business around machine learning. Beat the best teams in the world as an individual and you won't have to worry about how to make money any more.

We'll all look like fools if we cry "bullshit" and you happen to be right. But we'd look like even bigger fools if we just took your word for it.

I think we have to do neither; if he's clever (and if he's done what he claims, he surely is) he's not trying for us to take his word for it, or for us to say he's a great genius and all that. He's just looking for a way to monetize his discovering, and I think it's right.

From my experience genius isn't a boolean thing, people can be brilliant in somethings and horrible in other things. I try to acknowledge my limitations and ask for help in the things I suck at.

Thank you for your answer. I was curious about it, and I'm sure this info would be useful for anyone interested in contacting you.

Added my email to my YC news profile.

Sounds like you read: "On Intelligence" - if so, cool, if not do so. Then do this:

break CAPTCHA

There are plenty of people who will pay for that, and a successful implementation of Hawkins/George system will be able to do so.

Lets try to stick to something ethical with either a positive impact on the world or at least without a negative one.

Don't want the spam in the worlds Inboxes to be on my hands.