Kristinn R Thorisson

Kristinn R. Thorisson is a Full Research Professor at Reykjavik University and co-founder of CADIA (the first AI lab in Iceland). He holds a PhD from MIT (1996) and has pioneered work in artificial general intelligence (AGI), human-robot interaction, and autonomous learning systems. His research focuses on creating systems with human-like dialogue skills, causal reasoning, and self-supervised learning.

Thorisson co-founded Radar Networks (developer of Twine) and leads the Icelandic Institute for Intelligent Machines. His key contributions include the Gandalf humanoid agent, the Ymir architecture, and the AERA (Autocatalytic Endogenous Reflective Architecture). He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers and edited volumes on AGI, cognitive architectures, and self-programming systems.

Notable awards include the Kurzweil Prize for Best Paper (2013, 2014) and Outstanding Paper Awards. His work spans theoretical foundations (e.g., 'Explanation Hypothesis') to applied systems like the SAGE task-environment platform. Current research emphasizes causal relations, autonomous meaning generation, and seed-programmed learning.

Thorisson has supervised 14+ PhD/MSc students and collaborates with industry partners on projects like SocialInsight (agent-based simulations for youth substance abuse prevention). His labs explore AGI applications in air traffic control, robotics, and sustainable AI.