PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Chris McKinstry

Also known as Kenneth Christopher McKinstry

Chris McKinstry worked in artificial intelligence and explored ways to test machine intelligence and model human knowledge. In the late 1980s, he studied psychology and planned a human-knowledge project; in 1995, he prepared an entry for the Loebner Prize. He led the MISTIC project in 1996 and described his Minimum Intelligent Signal Test as a one-bit approach to intelligence. In 2000, he ran the Mindpixel Digital Mind Modelling Project while operating the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile; project participants submitted true-or-false statements, and Mindpixel reached 1.4 million mindpixels in January 2004. Mindpixel lost its free server in September 2005, and McKinstry died in 2006; in 2008, a Psychological Science paper on decision dynamics listed him first.

Timeline

  1. 1980s

    Psychology and knowledge collection

    He works in artificial intelligence research. In the late 1980s, he studies psychology and plans to gather human knowledge from people's answers.

  2. 1995

    A Loebner Prize entry

    In 1995, he prepares an entry for the Loebner Prize.

  3. May 1996

    The MISTIC project

    In May 1996, he leads development of MISTIC, the Minimum Intelligent Signal Test Item Corpus.

  4. 2000

    A one-bit intelligence test

    In 2000, he describes the minimum intelligent signal as one bit. His Minimum Intelligent Signal Test (MIST) offers an alternative to the Turing Test.

  5. 2000

    Running Mindpixel

    In 2000, he runs the Mindpixel Digital Mind Modelling Project while operating the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Participants create one-line statements for other users to judge as true or false.

  6. January 2004

    1.4 million mindpixels

    In January 2004, Mindpixel reaches 1.4 million mindpixels.

  7. September 2005–January 2006

    Mindpixel goes offline

    In September 2005, Mindpixel loses its free server and stops operating. He dies in January 2006.

  8. 2008

    A decision-making paper

    In 2008, McKinstry is listed first among the authors of “Action dynamics reveal parallel competition in decision making,” published in Psychological Science.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 47% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Sources and credits

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  1. Chris McKinstry - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Chris McKinstry Replies: Telescopes, AI And More - Slashdot web.archive.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Mindpixel - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. The Minimum Intelligent Signal Test (MIST) as an Alternative to the Turing Test | Diametros diametros.uj.edu.pl. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Modelling minds cs.man.ac.uk. Checked 19 October 2026.