| Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision |
| public:t-720-atai:atai-20:intelligence [2020/08/24 11:52] – [Intelligence: A Natural Phenomenon] thorisson | public:t-720-atai:atai-20:intelligence [2024/04/29 13:33] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
|---|
| | How to define 'intelligence' | Many definitions have been proposed. \\ See e.g.: [[http://www.vetta.org/documents/A-Collection-of-Definitions-of-Intelligence.pdf|A Collection of Definitions of Intelligence]] by Legg & Hutter. | | | How to define 'intelligence' | Many definitions have been proposed. \\ See e.g.: [[http://www.vetta.org/documents/A-Collection-of-Definitions-of-Intelligence.pdf|A Collection of Definitions of Intelligence]] by Legg & Hutter. | |
| | Definitions: a word of caution | We must be careful when it comes to definitions -- for any complex system there is a world of difference between a decent definition and //good accurate appropriate// definition. | | | Definitions: a word of caution | We must be careful when it comes to definitions -- for any complex system there is a world of difference between a decent definition and //good accurate appropriate// definition. | |
| | Related quote | Aaron Sloman says: "Some readers may hope for definitions of terms like information processing, mental process, consciousness, emotion, love. However, each of these denotes a large and ill-defined collection of capabilities or features. There is no definite collection of nec- essary or sufficient conditions (nor any disjunction of conjunctions) that can be used to define such terms." (From [[http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/Sloman.kd.pdf|Architectural Requirements for Human-like Agents Both Natural and Artificial]] by A. Sloman) | | | \\ \\ Related quote | Aaron Sloman says: "Some readers may hope for definitions of terms like information processing, mental process, consciousness, emotion, love. However, each of these denotes a large and ill-defined collection of capabilities or features. There is no definite collection of nec- essary or sufficient conditions (nor any disjunction of conjunctions) that can be used to define such terms." (From [[http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/Sloman.kd.pdf|Architectural Requirements for Human-like Agents Both Natural and Artificial]] by A. Sloman) | |
| |
| |
| | AI spans many fields | Psychology, mathematics and computation, neurology, philosophy. | | | AI spans many fields | Psychology, mathematics and computation, neurology, philosophy. | |
| | Alternative View | Psychology, mathematics & computation, neurology, and philosophy all were sooner than AI to address concepts of high relevance to the study of intelligence. | | | Alternative View | Psychology, mathematics & computation, neurology, and philosophy all were sooner than AI to address concepts of high relevance to the study of intelligence. | |
| | Is AI a subfield of computer science? | Yes and No. Yes, because this is the field that has the best and most tools for studying it as a phenomenon. No, because the field does not address important concepts and features of intelligence. | | | Is AI a subfield of computer science? | \\ Yes and No. Yes, because this is the field that has the best and most tools for studying it as a phenomenon. No, because the field does not address important concepts and features of intelligence. | |
| |
| //* Like the difference between constructing brick walls to study the stability of rock formations in nature versus the engineering principles of building brick walls: If the principles are well understood (weight distribution and stability), you should be able to build walls out of many materials.// | //* Like the difference between constructing brick walls to study the stability of rock formations in nature versus the engineering principles of building brick walls: If the principles are well understood (weight distribution and stability), you should be able to build walls out of many materials.// |
| | Terminology is important! | The terms we use for phenomena must be shared to work as an effective means of communication. Obsessing about the definition of terms is a good thing! | | | Terminology is important! | The terms we use for phenomena must be shared to work as an effective means of communication. Obsessing about the definition of terms is a good thing! | |
| | Beware of Definitions! | Obsessing over precise, definitive definitions of terms should not extend to the phenomena that the research targets: These are by definition not well understood. It is impossible to define something that is not understood! So beware of those who insist on such things. | | | Beware of Definitions! | Obsessing over precise, definitive definitions of terms should not extend to the phenomena that the research targets: These are by definition not well understood. It is impossible to define something that is not understood! So beware of those who insist on such things. | |
| | \\ Overloaded Terms | Many key terms in AI tend to be overloaded. Others are very unclear. Examples of the latter include: //intelligence, agent, concept, thought.// \\ Many terms have multiple meanings, e.g. reasoning, learning, complexity, generality, task, solution, proof. \\ Yet others are both unclear and polysemous, e.g. //consciousness//. \\ One source of the multiple meanings for terms is tendency, in the beginning of a new research field, for founders to use common terms that originally refer to general concepts in nature, and which they intend to study, about the results of their own work. As time passes those concepts then begin to reference work done in the field, instead of their counterpart in nature. Examples include reinforcement learning (originally studied by Pavlov, Skinner, and others in psychology and biology), machine learning (learning in nature different from 'machine learning' in many ways), neural nets (artificial neural nets bear almost no relation to biological neural networks). \\ Needless to say, this regularly makes for some lively but more or less //pointless// debates on many subjects within the field of AI (and others, in fact). | | | \\ Overloaded Terms | Many key terms in AI tend to be overloaded. Others are very unclear. Examples of the latter include: //intelligence, agent, concept, thought.// \\ Many terms have multiple meanings, e.g. reasoning, learning, complexity, generality, task, solution, proof. \\ Yet others are both unclear and polysemous, e.g. //consciousness//. \\ One source of the multiple meanings for terms is the tendency, in the beginning of a new research field, for founders to use common terms that originally refer to general concepts in nature, and which they intend to study, about the results of their own work. As time passes those concepts then begin to reference work done in the field, instead of their counterpart in nature. Examples include reinforcement learning (originally studied by Pavlov, Skinner, and others in psychology and biology), machine learning (learning in nature different from 'machine learning' in many ways), neural nets (artificial neural nets bear almost no relation to biological neural networks). \\ Needless to say, this regularly makes for some lively but more or less //pointless// debates on many subjects within the field of AI (and others, in fact). | |
| |
| |
| ====So What Is Intelligence?==== | ====So What Is Intelligence?==== |
| |
| | Why The Question Matters | It is important to know what you're studying and researching! | | | Why The Question Matters | \\ It is important to know what you're studying and researching! | |
| | The Challenge | You cannot define something precisely until you understand it! \\ Premature precise definitions may be much worse than loose definitions or even bad-but-rough definitions: You are very likely to end up researching //something other// than what you set out to research. | | | \\ The Challenge | You cannot define something precisely until you understand it! \\ Premature precise definitions may be much worse than loose definitions or even bad-but-rough definitions: You are very likely to end up researching //something other// than what you set out to research. | |
| | What Can We Do? | List the //requirements//. Even a partial list will go a long way towards helping steer the research. \\ Engineers use requirements to guide their building of artifacts. If the artifact doesn't meet the requirements it is not a valid member of the category that was targeted. \\ In science it is not customary to use requirements to guide research questions, but it works just the same (and equally well!): List the features of the phenomenon you are researching and group them into **essential**, **important but non-essential**, and **other**. Then use these to guide the kinds of questions you try to answer. | | | \\ \\ What Can We Do? | List the //requirements//. Even a partial list will go a long way towards helping steer the research. \\ Engineers use requirements to guide their building of artifacts. If the artifact doesn't meet the requirements it is not a valid member of the category that was targeted. \\ In science it is not customary to use requirements to guide research questions, but it works just the same (and equally well!): List the features of the phenomenon you are researching and group them into **essential**, **important but non-essential**, and **other**. Then use these to guide the kinds of questions you try to answer. | |
| | Before Requirements, Look At Examples | To get to a good list it may be necessary to explore the boundaries of your phenomenon. | | | Before Requirements, Look At Examples | \\ To get to a good list it may be necessary to explore the boundaries of your phenomenon. | |
| |
| \\ | |
| \\ | \\ |
| |
