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Subject: Re: What is AI?

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 20:19:42 12/16/99

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On December 16, 1999 at 21:17:46, Dann Corbit wrote:

>A similar thread brings up an interesting question, "What is AI?"
>
>An old test was supposed to be that if we are playing a remote opponent we can't
>tell if it is a human or a machine.  I think that can probably be achieved now
>(especially if we throw in a bit of randomness).

Actually a computer probably can't pass at chess.  Computers find mates way
too quickly.  They make stupid mistakes in known 'trap' positions.  Yes you
could kludge a fix for the mates too quickly, but it is not hard to catch
a computer with that kind of analysis...  unfortunately.  I doubt that is
what Turing had in mind, of course.  But this was a discussion I had in 1984
with a non-computer-scientist.  And he uncovered Cray Blitz just this way.  :)


>
>Then what tends to happen is that we say, "That's not really artificial
>intelligence.  After all, it's just a machine, so it _can't_ be."  We simply
>move the target and we are safe from the encroachment of the machine into "our"
>domain.
>


AI has two common definitions:

(1) doing something that requires intelligence by a human to do.  IE play
the game of chess.  But as soon as someone sees how easy this is to do,
this gets changed to:

(2) doing something that requires intelligence by a human to do.  And it has
to be done in a way that is very similar to the way the human does it.  IE in
chess, if a human considers 100 positions to choose a move, then the program has
to do approximately the same.  (2) is often used when it becomes obvious that
(1) was much easier than anyone once thought.  :)






>If (for instance) I was playing some opponent using Winboard and I only knew it
>was one of:
>"Kasparov"
>"Deep Blue"
>
>I would have no way of guessing which was which, since either one would pound my
>stuffings out effortlessly.


Yes you would.  Give them both a mate in 15 position.  DB will find it way
quicker.  :)





>
>So the question stands, "What is AI?" and along with it, the related question,
>"Are chess programs intelligent?"


Depends on which side of the fence you sit on. :)



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