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Subject: Re: The Reason Why Computers Should Emulate Human Chess

Author: Bob Durrett

Date: 13:54:44 02/13/04

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On February 13, 2004 at 15:33:03, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On February 12, 2004 at 10:28:32, Bob Durrett wrote:
>
>>On February 12, 2004 at 01:59:22, Gian-Carlo Pascutto wrote:
>>
>>>On February 11, 2004 at 19:29:19, Bob Durrett wrote:
>>>
>>>>If it were possible to obtain a chess-playing program which could be set to some
>>>>playing strength and also set to emulate human play, then the use of such
>>>>programs would be used extensively world-wide by serious chessplayers for
>>>>tournament preparation.  I would be one of those.
>>>
>>>Deep Sjeng already has those features.
>>>
>>>--
>>>GCP
>>
>>That's great!  My only reservation is that I wonder how realistic the emulation
>>[of human play] is?
>>
>>If a GM wishes to use "Deep Sjeng" to emulate the play of human GMs, can that GM
>>get what he wants?
>>
>>If an IM wishes to use "Deep Sjeng" to emulate the play of human IMs, can that
>>IM get what he wants?
>>
>>If an amateur wishes to use "Deep Sjeng" to emulate the play of human amateurs,
>>can that amateur get what he wants?
>>
>>My assumption has always been that realistic emulation of GM play is not
>>currently possible, emulation of IM play reguires a very strong engine, and
>>emulation of amateur play may not require a super-strong engine.
>>
>>Bob D.
>
>
>The problem is that you can not "emulate" something you don't understand in the
>first place.  And I don't know of anyone that claims to know how a human plays
>chess...
>
>Emulation of a human requires something we don't yet have, and probably won't
>have for _many_ more years...

Unfortunately, due to my bad choice of terminology, we have a symantics problem.

What is emulation?  As is the case for most words in the English language, words
have multiple meanings.  The intended meaning must be inferred from the context.
 Unfortunately, I failed to make the context clear.  Sorry.

As explained in another bulletin, my desire, as a user, is to obtain a
chess-playing machine which plays like a human.  Whether or not it thinks like a
human is of no interest to me, as a user.  I wish for the play of a human to be
emulated and not to emulate the inner workings of human brains.

Sorry about the confusion.  : (

Incidentally, the following definition of "emulation" appears on the internet:

COMPUTER SCIENCE: To imitate the function of (another system), as by
modifications to hardware or software that allow the imitating system to accept
the same data, EXECUTE THE SAME PROGRAMS, and achieve the same results as the
imitated system.

The problem with specialized fields of study, such as Computer Science, is that
specialists within that field develop their own specialized meanings for words
which also have different common meanings in common usage.  This is one of those
cases.

Bob D.



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