Daniel J. Hulme

Hulme founded NPComplete Limited in 2007, and incorporated it in 2008, a few months before completing his PhD. NPComplete Limited trades as Satalia.^[7][5] The London-based company provides full-stack AI consultancy and products, helping organisations harness data science, machine learning and AI to solve complex problems, including real-time optimisation. NPComplete refers to mathematical NP-completeness, which describes a class of exponential problems in the field of computational complexity theory. The trading name of NPComplete, Satalia, is a portmanteau of SAT (Short for satisfiability, as in the Boolean satisfiability problem) and the Latin phrase Et alia. Satalia seeks to solve hard problems, in particular the class of exponentially hard problems found in academia and industry known as NP-hardness.^[8] In 2016, Satalia was the only UK company to appear in the Gartner Cool Vendors list for data science. ^[9] In November 2019, City A.M. reported that Satalia was the 39th fastest growing tech firm in the UK, with three year growth at 886%.^[10] Satalia was acquired by WPP plc in August 2021 for a rumored $100,000,000, where Hulme was the majority shareholder.^[11]

Conscium is the World's first commercial organisation dedicated to the understanding, verification and validation of conscious AI and its implications for developing safe, efficient neuromorphic models. Conscium is an AI safety company with three workstreams:

1. AI agent verification. Verification of AI agents developed by third parties to ensure they are beneficial and not harmful.
2. Development of neuromorphic systems. Neuromorphic computing refers to technologies that can process information more like a biological brain compared to existing approaches, making them far more adaptive, scalable and efficient than current AI.
3. Research into artificial consciousness. This workstream is led by Mark Solms, Chair of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town. This research aims to better understand what consciousness in AI systems and machines would look like, and, if and when machines do reach consciousness, what the moral and ethical implications would be.

Conscium was founded in 2024 in London by a team including Hulme, Ed Charvet, Calum Chace, Ted Lappas, and Panagiotis Repoussis. Conscium has recruited some of the world’s leading neuroscientists and computer scientists to its advisory board, including Anil Seth, Mark Solms, Karl J. Friston, Anthony Finkelstein, Benjamin Rosman, David Wood, Jonathan Shock, Megan Peters, Moran Cerf, Nicholas Humphrey, Nicky Clayton, Nikola Kasabov, Steve Furber, and Suzanne Livingston. Supported by these world-leading experts, Conscium is creating a neuromorphic computing lab to research and validate the capacity of machines to acquire consciousness, making them safer for humanity.

Conscium has published an open letter warning of the risks of AI suffering if care is not taken to mitigate against that possibility when and if AI becomes conscious. Signatories of the letter included Stephen Fry, Karl Friston and Anthony Finkelstein.^[12][13]

Hulme is one of the founding partners of PRISM - The Partnership for Research Into Sentient Machines, a non-profit set up to help prepare society for a future with conscious, or seemingly conscious, artificial intelligence.^[14][15]

Hulme's master's degree topic was on simulating artificial life, where he used Evolutionary algorithm's to generate emergent intelligence in AI agent's with Artificial Neural Network brains. His PhD spanned modelling bumblebee brains and mathematical optimization. Hulme maintained his connection with UCL after completing his doctorate, staying on in various teaching positions. From 2014 to Oct 2019 he was the Director of UCL's Business analytics MSc, which dealt with the application of AI to government, social, and business problems. As of 2020, Hulme is UCL's (University College London) Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He is also a faculty member and lecturer at Singularity University, and a visiting lecturer at London School of Economics's Marshall Institute.^{[6][16][17] [5][1]}

Hulme frequently speaks for TEDx, Google and at various other events. He specialises in Artificial Intelligence, Decentralization, Organisational Design, and Innovation. He has written numerous articles and contributed to several books, largely concerning AI, as well as applied technology and related ethical issues. In 2017, along with Elon Musk, Stuart J. Russell, Geoffrey Hinton and Demis Hassabis, Hulme was one of the 116 founders of robotics and AI companies to sign an open letter to the United Nations, warning against the use of AI in autonomous weapons. Hulme also consults with various companies, governments and other organisations, independently of Satalia.^{[18][19][5][1]}

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