Author: Matthew Hull
Date: 13:28:39 08/05/02
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On August 05, 2002 at 11:45:28, Robert Hyatt wrote: >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... We say that computers make decisions but that is really just for the sake of convenience when talking about processes. That computers decide anything is purely notional. We wouldn't say that a colander is deciding to let the water drain out of it while not permitting the pasta to pass through the holes. Neither would we say that bean sorters, gravel sorters, or hollerith card sorters are making decisions. Their functions are completely and totally deterministic. We would say that the _designers_ are really making all the decisions here! Some will say that we don't know that that's not all there is to the "mind" ultimately. I would say that Penrose has shown that definitely, Turing machines _dont_ work like our minds! Those proofs falsify the hypothesis. I've read many critics of Penrose on this issue, but they NEVER provide any math for their arguments. The math is the whole game. Regards, Matt
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