Our Team

An agile, cross‑disciplinary trio unites neuroscience, philosophy, cognitive science and speculative design. Lead scientist‑founder Gabriel Axel Montes, PhD, has shipped bleeding‑edge neuro/AI products & designs; philosopher‑cognitive scientist Sidney Carls‑Diamante, PhD, pioneers octopus cognition; and design futurist Ed Keller (advisory) guides media‑systems vision. Lean size speeds iteration while their 0→1 record de‑risks delivery.

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Project details

The goal of the proposed project is to spearhead the first known discovery of “xenocognition [alien cognition] for AGI”—explicitly non-human, alien-like possible values, motivations, and approaches to cognition that may inform and/or forecast the large potential capacities of advanced AGI and ASI systems to come. To our knowledge, xenocognition work with AGI in mind has not been explored yet in earnest in the general AI community. Possible downline implications/consequences of this work are novel forms of problem-solving, creativity, AI/compute algorithms, and cognition that could empower a variety of applications as well as inspire novel forms of beneficial AI capabilities. Furthermore, this work will be crucial to take AI safety efforts to the next level. The lack of existing active exploration of this arena implies AI safety blindspots, e.g. potential AI system breaches and cognitive security vulnerabilities.

Neuroscientist Gabriel Axel Montes, PhD, has been working on using psychological and cognitive neuroscience models/theories to control LLM agent dialogue and behavior, which is slated to be linked to Hyperon and MeTTa in the near future. These models already include those specified in the proposal – e.g. OpenPsi/MicroPsi([1], [2], [3], [4]), Component Process Model (CPM) the Big Five, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and numerous others – indicating an established understanding of the principles required by the RFP. This motivation systems work can apply across various verticals, from healthcare and robotics (e.g. Hanson Robotics humanoids) to metaverse (e.g. SophiaVerse neoterics) and finance (e.g. crypto and equity stocks). 

More than further contributing to this already in-motion development of a motivational system, the present proposal focuses more specifically on extending these capabilities into non-human territory through analysis, design, and specification grounded in robust theories of alien-like intelligence. This includes octopus-like cognition, theoretical work on potential ASI motivations/values, cognitive capabilities of advanced non-human intelligences, as well as possibly (optionally) those that may arise from advanced capacities of non-ordinary consciousness, to the extent that these may be relevant. A core strength of the proposal is that work has already been undertaken on a motivational framework, allowing progress on alien-like cognition to occur more quickly than otherwise. 

The anticipated main outcomes of the proposal are:

1. A specification of an alien-like motivational framework that uses octopus cognition as a springboard to explore non-human nervous systems and morphologies that may influence cognition and behavior of advanced AI systems.

2. Including in the specification a mapping of alien-like motivations in the context of human-level motivations (to the extent that this may be possible), in order to maximize readiness of the alien motivational framework for porting to OpenPsi (and thereby Hyperon). Suggestions for potential amendments or modifications of OpenPsi (if any) may be offered so as to be able to accommodate the given motivational framework, which would allow it to modulate parameters in an AGI motivational system supported by Hyperon, and thus be adaptable and scalable within Hyperon. For example, an alien-like version of valence that can modulate the valence parameter in OpenPsi.

3. A detailed explanation of how the motivational framework could display itself in some use-cases, including virtual agent behavior in metaverse-like environments — e.g. the kinds of possible actions and gestures/expressions that an alien-like AI might take, and how it might interactively respond to human-level motivations —, and the (physical) world-interfacing exemplified by robots (humanoid and/or alien-like near-humanoid, e.g. unconventional limbs/sensors), allowing peeks and intimations into potential alien-like ‘physics’, noting that alien-like motivation and cognition may not fit 1:1 with humanoid robotics entirely. The project will propose some potential variations of robot and virtual avatar morphology/forms that may inspire later development of such.

4. Suggestions on potential ethical factors to note that may arise from the work, e.g. noting where alien-like motivation and cognition may align vs. deviate from human motivation and cognition, and therefore implications for human values.

Based on Dr. Gabriel’s research on human motivational systems, a motivational framework provides psychological parameters and a list of possible actions to OpenPsi, which then uses its proto-AGI algorithms to select among possible actions. Therefore, the proposed project, in explaining how the framework could play out in some use-cases, will specify potential psychological parameters and possible types of behaviors that an alien-like agent may display based on its cognitive/motivational underpinnings. 

The project will include extending some originally-designed-for-humans OpenPsi psychological parameters, such as valence and arousal, into their alien-like versions. This will help provide some parameters that may allow alien-like agents to interact with humans, and for AI safety/ethics efforts to later model such interactions. This also will help with another project that Dr. Gabriel Axel is working on (an awarded DeepFunding project) that connects human brainwaves to a motivational framework, such that at a later stage, a human brain might be able to directly and non-verbally communicate/engage with alien-like intelligence (!).

Example potential use cases:

• Novel robotic and virtual entity morphologies (shapes) and functions

• Novel logics, rules, algorithms, behaviors, and/or possible actions of an alien-like AI

• Energy-saving compute

• Novel video game character types

• Discoveries for possible future AI safety considerations and scenarios

• Discovery of novel potential motivation, cognition, and values that may broaden the possibilities of advanced AI

Alien-like motivations unlock high customizability, letting us test and adapt across AGI domains. Because core motivational parameters cut across verticals, the framework can seed diverse use cases and inform future super-intelligence. Our prior work on a human-centric motivation system gives us a ready scaffold: we extend it into non-human space while preserving interoperability. Deliverables will include both the alien framework and key human components, enabling direct comparison, rapid R&D, and smoother deployment.

Budget: Due to this project’s requirement of rigorous foundational work, we are budgeting accordingly. We will identify credible literature and sources on the topic (with some already in mind due to preexisting familiarity and experience with this topic), filter and refine them for relevance to AGI, organize and structure them for compatibility with OpenPsi/Hyperon. It is hard to overstate that we strongly believe this to be a mission-critical initiative for the future of AGI/ASI possibilities and ethics/safety.

Ethics: This particular project aligns with the proactionary principle, where we feel that AI safety efforts will benefit from proactively advancing an understanding of alien-like intelligence, i.e. of the kinds of potential directions that ASI may take. Mapping out some of these possibilities empowers AI safety and ethics efforts by allowing better anticipation of possible future trajectories. We also feel that this research may enhance human cognitive possibilities, e.g. through supercognitive AI agents or eventually by connection with brain-computer interfaces (BCI), the latter being supported by prominent voices in AI and crypto, including Trent McConaghy[5], Vitalik Buterin[6], and Dan Faggella[7], and being the subject of other work by Dr. Gabriel Axel.

By expanding the possible scope of imaginable and actionable cognition, this project supports what Gabriel Axel Montes has coined as “tao/acc” or “yoga/acc” [8], which is to accelerate the cultivation of deep human capacities of extraordinary consciousness, as espoused in his book co-authored with Ben Goertzel, “The Consciousness Explosion” [9]. This, too, is highly relevant for considerations on AI safety and ethics, as well as for cognitive security in the technological Singularity, e.g. mind uploads.

Alien intelligences: As suggested in the aforementioned book and other academic writing[10], [11], [12], human intelligence is strongly conditioned by physical human morphology, e.g. brain, anatomical, and biological structures. One starting point for conceptualizing alien intelligences may be to explore cognition outside of these constraints. The project will make suggestions for framing motivation systems in terms amenable alien intelligence. Note that in the proposed project, we will adhere to robust research on non-human intelligence and avoid work that is completely speculative and ungrounded, and at the same time, we will be bold in traversing uncharted territory in the AI field.

Scalability and adaptability: “Attention”, at both conscious and neural levels, is arguably the currency of cognition[13], [14], [15]. By providing specifications on motivations/cognition and possible actions, this project will set the stage for scaling beyond the classical cognitive features of OpenPsi (e.g. valence and arousal) into more complex variables [16], [17].

Impact on Hyperon: The project’s framework specification would be designed for compatibility with Hyperon, based on prior and ongoing understanding and experience with developing motivational frameworks for Hyperon. The alien-like framework would create new possibilities for ECAN’s attention management and allocation, invite new approaches to DAS (distributed Atomspace), and invite new formulations of logic/rules through MeTTa.

Foundations for Future Research: The proposed project, by its very nature, would score maximally in terms of opening a novel line of investigation and innovation for AGI for years to come.

Open Source Licensing

The proposed license model is as follows:

• For SingularityNET Foundation: MIT License with Commons Clause:

  • The work will be provided to SingularityNET Foundation under the terms of the MIT License, with the following modification:
    - The entity may not sell the work (or a modified aspect/version of it), or offer it for sale, unless the entity has a separate commercial license from the copyright holder.

• For all other non-SingularityNET entities: Proprietary
  
  This is not a strict criterion of the proposal, but is the proposed license model for the time being.

Background & Experience

Gabriel Axel Montes, in SingularityNET founding crew, leads Neural Axis neuro‑AI ventures, and co‑authored The Consciousness Explosion. He brings 0→1 execution across neurotech, robotics & VR plus 10k hours consciousness research; current work ports motivation models to Hyperon/OpenPsi.

Sidney Carls‑Diamante’s prize‑winning work on decentralized octopus cognition (“Octopus and the Unity of Consciousness”, Werner Callebaut 2019) provides peer‑reviewed frameworks for alien cognition. Publications: https://shorturl.at/wReaT

Ed Keller, creative director of the Venice Virtual Pavilion ’23 and RPI design faculty, contributes systems design, media craft and speculative futures. Portfolio: https://aum.aumstudio.org/ 

Together we’ve secured multimillion venture & grant funding, run 20+ global conferences, delivered commercial/research software‑hardware, and featured in Volume, Leonardo, Wired, etc. GitHub samples: https://github.com/gabrielaxel (motivation‑agents).

Links and references

https://www.billparker.ai/2025/03/the-octopus-ai-and-alien-mind.html