Chris McKinstry explained

Chris McKinstry
Birth Name:Kenneth Christopher McKinstry
Birth Date:12 February 1967
Birth Place:Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Death Place:Santiago, Chile
Occupation:Artificial intelligence researcher

Kenneth Christopher McKinstry (February 12, 1967 – January 23, 2006) was a researcher in artificial intelligence. He led the development of the MISTIC project which was launched in May 1996. He founded the Mindpixel project in July 2000, and closed it in December 2005. McKinstry's AI work and similar early death dovetailed with another contemporary AI researcher, Push Singh and his MIT Open Mind Common Sense Project.[1] [2] [3]

Life

McKinstry was a Canadian citizen. Born in Winnipeg, he resided several years in Chile. From 1999, he lived in Antofagasta as a VLT operator for the European Southern Observatory. At the end of 2004, he moved back to Santiago, Chile. Suffering from bipolar disorder, McKinstry had an armed standoff with police in Toronto in 1990, with it lasting 7 1/2 hours. It ultimately concluded with McKinstry being hit with tear gas, but ending with no casualties [4] [5]

In February 1997, Chris McKinstry started an online soap opera, CR6.[6] [7] According to journalist Bartley Kives, around 700 people auditioned for the show, which only lasted for two months, before McKinstry left Winnipeg with "estimated debts in excess of $100,000".[8] McKinstry later claimed to have lost $1 million in the CR6 failure, and the many people he recruited to build the soap opera, including photographers, writers, a director, and several prominent businesses, never received any of the money owed to them for their work.

Before his death, McKinstry designed an experiment with two cognitive scientists to study the dynamics of thought processes using data from his Mindpixel project. This work was later published in Psychological Science in its January 2008 issue,[9] with McKinstry as posthumous first author.

Mental health

Chris McKinstry had a long struggle with his mental health, with him admitting to being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[10] McKinstry, as a result, suffered from frequent suicidal thoughts and a long-standing depression, discussing it in his suicide note. In his teen years, McKinstry had attempted suicide, intentionally overdosing on drugs, another issue McKinstry struggled with.[11] His bipolar disorder is often attributed to the reason for his standoff in 1990.

Death

Chris McKinstry was found dead in his apartment on January 23, 2006, with a plastic bag over his head, connected to the stove gas line with a hose.[12] He was found to have posted a suicide note online. McKinstry wrote, "I am tired of feeling the same feelings and experiencing the same experiences. It is time to move on and see what is next if anything...This Louis Vuitton, Prada, Montblanc commercial universe is not for me. If only I was loved as much a Montblanc pen..."'[13]

There was some public note of the similarity between the suicide of Chris McKinstry and that of Push Singh, another AI researcher, a little over a month later. Both of their AI projects, McKinstry's Mindpixel project and Singh's MIT-backed Open Mind Common Sense, had similar trajectories over the last six years.[14]

In media

McKinstry is the subject of a 2010 documentary called The Man Behind the Curtain which recounts his innovative work and his struggle with mental health issues.[15]

Articles

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Legends in AI: Chris McKinstry . Mottram . Bob . January 28, 2006 . The Streeb-Greebling Diaries . June 10, 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060214061340/http://streebgreebling.blogspot.com/2006/01/legends-in-ai-chris-mckinstry.html . February 14, 2006.
  2. Web site: In Memoriam: Push Singh (1972-2006) . Hendler . James . KurzweilAI.net . January 14, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071116212510/http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=%2Farticles%2Fart0678.html%3F . November 16, 2007.
  3. Web site: Mindpixel Crashes . May 6, 2006 . AlphabetSoup . June 6, 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060705153917/http://www.alphabetsoup.cl/blog/2006/05/mindpixel-crashes.html . July 5, 2006.
  4. Web site: McKinstry in Toronto - Globe and Mail . Google Groups . June 10, 2018.
  5. Web site: McKinstry in Toronto - Toronto Star . Google Groups . June 10, 2018.
  6. News: 1997-01-09. Winnipeg crew offers Net soap for cyber fans. 24. The Ottawa Citizen. 2021-09-20.
  7. News: 1997-01-25. Canadian soap opera is coming to Internet. 61. The Windsor Star. 2021-09-20.
  8. News: KIVES. BARTLEY. 2011-01-23. Jan 2011: A belated eulogy. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. 2021-09-20.
  9. McKinstry . Chris . Dale . Rick . Spivey . Michael J. . Action dynamics reveal parallel competition in decision making . January 1, 2008 . Psychological Science . 19 . 1 . 22–24 . 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02041.x . 18181787. 25789465 .
  10. Kushner . David . Two AI Pioneers. Two Bizarre Suicides. What Really Happened? . Wired . Jan 18, 2008.
  11. So what does a web suicide note look like? . Wired. 2006. June 10, 2018. Document
  12. Two AI Pioneers. Two Bizarre Suicides. What Really Happened?. en-US. Wired. 2021-09-16. 1059-1028.
  13. So what does a web suicide note look like? . Wired. 2006. June 10, 2018.
  14. Two Fake Brains Better Than One . Manjoo . Farhad . September 15, 2000 . Wired . June 10, 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060528032243/https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,38745-0.html . May 28, 2006.
  15. Web site: Home . The Man Behind The Curtain . June 10, 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090317082034/http://themanbehindthecurtainfilm.com/ . March 17, 2009.
  16. Minimum Intelligent Signal Test: An Alternative Turing Test . McKinstry . Chris . Canadian Artificial Intelligence . 41 . June 10, 2018.
  17. A Hacker Goes to Iraq . McKinstry . Chris . Spring 2003 . . 20 . 1 . 9 . June 10, 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060203185959/http://sysk-net.com/books/2600%20The%20Hacker%20Quarterly%20-%20Vol%2020%20-%20No%201%202003%20%5BPDF%5D.pdf . February 3, 2006.

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