SHADOWS OF THE MINDExplorations in Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

The simulation of intelligence, at whatever level by computational means.

Assumptions:

The human trait of intelligence is decomposable to basic mechanistic parts, furthermore it can be so precisely described that it can be replicated by a machine (algorithmic and computational).

INTERDEPENDENCE

The universe is made of stories, not atoms.

Sir Roger Penrose

Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Oxford University

• Language is a system that we use to both construct and describe reality

• Natural language can be mapped to a representation system, incorporating systemic behaviours between representations

• This conceptual pattern has no understanding, even though reasonable deductions may be computed

• Top-down AI Organisation• Constructed to a well defined computational procedure

(associated with some predefined store of knowledge) to address a very specific problem

• Bottom-up AI Organisation• No predefined operational procedure or knowledge store,

rather there is a procedure of how the system may learn – neural network

Emergence – phenomena of a system which cannot be solely attributed to the aggregation of its parts

• Weak Emergence – new properties emerge because of the interaction between sub-systems (it is reducible)

• Strong Emergence – the emergent phenomena has no strong reducible/causal relationship

Rene Descartes

AlanTuring

KurtGödel

Maturana & Varela

Penrose &Hameroff

Thinking Machines –mind/body division

Embodied Cognition – Structural Coupling

OrchestratedObjective Reduction

Non-computational nature of the mind

MartinHeidegger

Dasein -Situated Cognition

Computational nature of the mind

The Stream of Consciousness

Directions of AI - Robotics

Early Work – Emphasized a quest to imitate principles of intelligence underlying human perception and action

Current Trends – Applying the same techniques developed earlier, to extend the the effectiveness and efficiency of automation

Authors argue that robotics can be useful in a limited domain and cannot reflect human perception and action

Directions of AI – Natural Language Interaction

Proponents argue that programs cannot not understand language in a significant sense because –

• Programs are based on straight forward techniques developed in early AI

• Programs fail to deal significantly with context, background and relevance

• Programs have a limited language for expressing facts and relations

The 5th Generation Computer System

• Institute for New Generation Computer Technology-$500 million investment-Japan

• USA, Britain, France & Europe soon followed

• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA)-USA-Primary sponsor of AI research in the past

• Initiated Strategic Computing Initiative

5th Generation Vision for Social Improvement Areas

• Increase productivity in areas such as agriculture, public services

• Meeting international competition - development of information intensive industries

• Assist in saving energy and resources by improving efficiency of resource use and developing knowledge intensive rather resource intensive industries

• Coping with an ageing society through advances such as streamlined health management systems & lifetime education systems

• Can computer technology play a major role in solving social problems?

• Computer technology can definitely assist, expecting “intelligent” systems to tell us what to do is very naïve and dangerous.

• Is the major technical problem to increase the effectiveness with which people use computers?

• Yes this is a problem, instead of creating human like systems rather create tools that are designed to make maximal use of human perception and understanding.

What Realistic Benefits can the 5th Gen Computer System Deliver?

Human Evolution

…occurs through a symbiotic relationship with technology

References

1) Cotterill, R. (1998). Enchanted Looms. Cambridge: Biddles Ltd.

2) Flores, T., & Winograd, T. (1986). Computers and Cognition. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.

3) Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1980). Autopoeisis and Cognition. Boston studies in the philosophy of science .

4) Penrose, R. (1994). Shadows of the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

5) Simon, H. (1996). The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.

Compiled by Andisiwe, Shafeeq, Jan and MehulPgDip Class 2011

Propositions

1) Thought is an interdependent phenomena2) Language is a tool used to both construct and describe reality3) While an artificial representation (AI) system may imitate reasoning, it falls short

of true understanding4) Programs have an implicate social and intellectual bias due to its construction by

human agents – (they are extension of the human mind – shadows of the mind)5) Reasoning is a weak emergent phenomena of system interaction6) Intelligence is a strong emergent phenomena with no apparent causal reduction7) Cognition and being are not states but rather dynamic constructed and emerging

phenomena8) Cognition is embodied and is a result of a complex biological and social structural

coupling9) Cognition and understanding has a non-computational basis10)Humans are the key aspects of all reasoning, theory and proofs and hence

artificial systems, due to their non-computational nature11) If humans were to create effectively intelligent machine they need to have a non-

computational aspect – probably quantum effects12)Robotics can be useful in a limited domain and cannot reflect human perception

and action

13) Programs have a limited language for expressing facts and relations14)AI’s purpose is to increase the effectiveness with which people use computers15) AI is a tool to make maximal use of human perception and understanding16) Technology is a fundamental tool in facilitating human evolution