> From: Sharon Foster wrote
>
> I'm sure that those highly prominent librarians are up-to-date on the
> latest accomplishments in the field of AI. I used to be an embedded
> software engineer and would occasionally run across an article about
> AI. Maybe as a software engineer I tend to be more skeptical, but my
> impression is that, while AI has made great progress in robotics and
> vision problems, the problems of natural languages are the most
> difficult to solve.
>
> Take this example:
>
> http://start.csail.mit.edu/
>
> I asked it "who is david johnson?" It understands the question, but
> take a look at the limited results. Also note the examples of the
> *kinds* of questions that it *can* answer.
>
> Then there is the related field of speech recognition. I'm sure most
> of you have seen the video of the latest and greatest speech
> recognition system for Windows Vista. Even ELIZA was better than this.
>
> In my experience, the fulfillment of the big promises of AI are always
> "just 5 or 10 years" away.
I submit AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a misnomer.
How can we ever consider that intelligence would be artificial.
There was a wonderful exchange on the subject Aug. 14, 2007 on the Charlie
Rose talk show (PBS)
His guest was Ester Dyson, a well-known reporter on digital technology.
Charlie Rose, needling her a little: "When will we have artificial
intelligence?"
Ester Dyson: "Do you mean When will Google be aware?"
The camera focuses on Charie's face, apparently as he ponders the meaning
of his question and hers.
Then she throws the ringer: "The hard question is, how will we know?"
Computer are good counters and good sorters. They have much better
memories that humans ever will.
I think this group is trying to decide how to use those characteristics to
best advantage. They will never replace what people do. Self awareness
implies judgement.
Nancy Cochran
nancy.cochran_at_earthlink.net
Received on Fri Sep 07 2007 - 08:57:40 EDT