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Subject: Re: Computer Chess Programs & Intelligence

Author: Ricardo Gibert

Date: 02:35:16 03/14/01

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On March 14, 2001 at 05:25:37, Andrew Dados wrote:

>On March 14, 2001 at 03:20:07, Bruce Moreland wrote:
>
>>On March 13, 2001 at 19:06:27, HECTOR MUNOZ wrote:
>>
>>>There are some who might argue  that a computer chess program  is not a
>>>demonstration of intelligence  in particular, a program which uses Shannon's
>>>Type A  Approach. I need to present a solid argument that such a program
>>>does involve intelligence.
>>
>>Everyone tries to answer this question without figuring out what they mean by
>>"intelligence" first.
>>
>>The OED definition takes the better part of a page, and gives various usages
>>dating back to 1390, although some aspects of the word are extremely new.  In
>>particular, the use of the term "intelligence quotient" is said to date back
>>only to 1921, as expressed in English.  That's the part of the definition that
>>gets everyone tied up in knots these days.
>>
>>The first definition is "[t]he faculty of understanding; intellect."  The second
>>one is "[u]nderstanding as a quality of admitting of degree; spec. superior
>>understanding; quickness of mental apprehension, sagacity."  The others don't
>>seem to apply much.
>>
>>I don't think the dictionary is very helpful here.  This word seems too large
>>for the dictionary.  Perhaps someone has written a book or an article that gets
>>to the point, but failing that, I'll take a crack at it, as it relates to
>>computer programs.
>>
>>I believe that intelligence is displayed if a program can generalize effectively
>>within a sufficiently complex problem domain.  It's not enough to be able to
>>handle specific cases, it must be possible to be effective in a wide variety of
>>cases, via the use of general-purpose code.
>>
>>Chess, a game that has fascinated humans for hundreds of years in its current
>>form, and much longer if we allow for precursor forms, seems like it would
>>qualify as a sufficiently difficult domain.  Humans devote their lives to the
>>game and the game remains fresh and challenging.
>>
>>I believe that the current programs generalize very well.  They can play
>>essentially any position.  There are some that cause them problems, but there
>>are a great many that they play well enough to challenge a strong human when the
>>human plays against the program, and they can be used even by very strong humans
>>in order to provide insight in very difficult positions.  These positions are
>>rarely foreseen by the program's author, but the program is still very
>>effective.
>>
>>I think that intelligence is essentially the ability to effectively handle
>>difficult specific cases with general-purpose methods, and the chess domain,
>>while very specific, is rich enough that it requires the ability to generalize
>>in order to tackle the wide variety of practical cases a program is apt to face.
>>
>>Copyright (C) Bruce Moreland, 2001.  All rights reserved.  Permission to use all
>>or part of the above in a homework assignment is given only under the condition
>>that any quotation is accurately attributed.
>>
>>bruce
>
>I doubt chess domain is wide enough for 'generalization' here. If a program
>could learn Thai chess in 5 min as all chess-playing humans do I would attribute
>it some 'intelligence'.

Why do they have to do as fast or play as well to be intelligent? Those are
standards for being "as intelligent" rather than simply being intelligent. A
chimp can't learn to play Thai chess, but they are still intelligent.

>
>For now traversing Shannon tree with huge speeds and evaluation function
>'correct' in 99,96% or so I call 'good craftsmanship'.
>
>-Andrew-



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