PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Selmer Bringsjord

Selmer Bringsjord is an AI researcher whose work spans computer storytelling, machine creativity tests, and logic-based machine ethics. He earned philosophy degrees at Penn and Brown and joined Rensselaer in 1987. His artificial author BRUTUS.1 produced its first story about betrayal in 1998, and he coauthored the Lovelace Test in 2001. He pursued robot ethics with RPI colleagues and served as RPI's principal investigator on a 2025 project about language models for AI planning. As of October 2026, he is an RPI professor and director of the Rensselaer AI & Reasoning Laboratory.

Born
1958
Works
333
Citations
3,022
h-index
28
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1987

    Philosophy and RPI faculty

    He earns a philosophy bachelor's degree at the University of Pennsylvania and a philosophy PhD at Brown University. In 1987, he joins Rensselaer's faculty in philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and computer science.

  2. 1998–2000

    The BRUTUS.1 story system

    In March 1998, BRUTUS.1 produces its first story about betrayal. In 2000, he publishes Artificial Intelligence and Literary Creativity: Inside the mind of Brutus, a Storytelling Machine.

  3. 2001

    The Lovelace Test

    In 2001, he coauthors the paper “Creativity, the Turing test, and the (better) Lovelace Test” with Paul Bello and David Ferrucci. The test treats an output as creative when the system’s human architect cannot explain how the agent produced it.

  4. 2002

    Chairing cognitive science

    In 2002, Rensselaer names him chair of the Department of Cognitive Sciences. He directs the RAIR Lab, which conducts research in cognitive robotics, gaming, and AI.

  5. 2013–2014

    Logic for ethical robots

    With Naveen Sundar Govindarajulu, he coauthors the 2013 formal specification of DCEC*, a quantified modal logic built on first-order Event Calculus. In 2014, he and postdoctoral researcher Naveen Govindarajulu work on engineering ethics into robots so moral logic is intrinsic to the machines.

  6. 2014

    An IACAP Covey Award

    The International Association for Computing and Philosophy names him the 2014 Covey Award recipient.

  7. 2025

    AI planning with IBM

    In 2025, he serves as an RPI principal investigator for the Large Language Models as Planning Domain Model Generators project with IBM investigators.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and lab director

    As of October 2026, he is a professor and lab director at RPI, where he leads the Rensselaer AI & Reasoning Laboratory. His research includes artificial intelligence, cognitive science, philosophy of mind, mathematical and philosophical logic, and computability theory.

Career

  1. Since 1987Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteProfessor, Chair

Education

  1. University of PennsylvaniaBachelor's degree in Philosophy
  2. Brown UniversityPhD in Philosophy

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. What Robots Can and Can’t Be1992 · Studies in cognitive systems · 189 citations
  2. Artificial Intelligence and Literary Creativity: Inside the Mind of Brutus, A Storytelling Machine1999 · 186 citationsWith David Ferrucci
  3. Toward a General Logicist Methodology for Engineering Ethically Correct Robots2006 · IEEE Intelligent Systems · 185 citations
  4. Creativity, the Turing Test, and the (Better) Lovelace Test2001 · Minds and Machines · 146 citationsWith David Ferrucci
  5. What is artificial intelligence? psychometric AI as an answer2003 · International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence · 92 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Game Studies 0101: Selmer Bringsjord: Is it possible to build Dramatically Compelling Interactive Digital Entertainment? gamestudies.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Selmer Bringsjord Named Chair of the Department of Cognitive Sciences at Rensselaer | News news.rpi.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. A Silicon Hemingway -- Artificial Author Brutus.1 Generates Betrayal By Bits | ScienceDaily sciencedaily.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Creativity, the Turing test, and the (better) Lovelace Test for Minds and Machines - IBM Research research.ibm.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. The Deontic Cognitive Event Calculus (DCEC*) | Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning Laboratory rair.cogsci.rpi.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Rensselaer Professors Part of Team Funded To Teach Robots Right From Wrong | News news.rpi.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Awards - International Association for Computing and Philosophy iacap.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Large Language Models as Planning Domain Model Generators | Future of Computing Research Collaboration fcrc.rpi.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Members | Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning Laboratory rair.cogsci.rpi.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Selmer Bringsjord | Faculty faculty.rpi.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.