Author: Robert Hyatt
Date: 08:45:28 08/05/02
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On August 05, 2002 at 11:10:55, Terry McCracken wrote: >Do computers make decisions? >If so, what is your definition of a "computer decision" and how it relates and >differs from human decisions? > >Please cite examples. This can be from chess to any area of so-called "machine >intelligence", please give _your_ answers, as well as information that can be >obtained on the net. > >Your help with these answers will be greatly appreciated! > >Thanks in Advance. > >Regards, > Terry McCracken A couple of points. First, _yes_ a computer makes decisions. For example, you can use an external A/D converter to measure two temperatures in a steam plant and make a decision as to which burner should be turned up or down based on those measurements. Second, does a computer make decisions like _we_ do? Impossible to say. IE can you _prove_ that the human mind doesn't rely on anything other than pure binary values? Nobody has to date, so that is an open question. Wouldn't it be funny if we one day find out that at the elementary level, everything we do is on/off? :) Perhaps one of the best examples of "making a decision" is in computer chess, where the computer has to choose between N moves and pick just one. That is _clearly_ a decision...
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