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From: demers@odin.ucsd.edu (David E Demers)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: What actually is AI?
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Date: 6 Sep 90 19:20:26 GMT
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In article <6560@uklirb.informatik.uni-kl.de> powers@uklirb.informatik.uni-kl.de (David Powers AG Siekmann) writes:
>F0O@psuvm.psu.edu writes:


>>     In following the threads of my original posting, it seems that there
>>is not one definition of what AI is.  However, what my original question
>>was is, what is it that makes one program an AI one, and another one non-AI?
>>Again, I imagine there is not one magical answer to that, but for instance,
>>I'm finishing up a prolog program that plays unbeatable tictactoe.  Of
>>course, this is a very simple game, but would it be considered an AI program?
>>If not, how about a checkers or chess program?  And it they would be AI
>>programs, what would make them AI, but tictactoe not-AI?


>We have now seen 2 definitions, I prefer to characterize them so:

>the engineering perspective: 

>	to build systems to do the things we can't build systems to do
>	because they require intelligence

the psychological perspective:

>	to build systems to do the things we ourselves can do to help
>	us to understand our intelligence
[...]
>I would say the real ai definition is this:

>the heuristic perspective:

>	to build systems relying on heuristics (rules of thumb)
>	rather than pure algorithms
[...]
>The definition which guides my own work is:

>	to build systems which are capable of modifying their
>	behaviour dynamically by learning

[...]

>Another definition of AI is:
>
>	Anything written in LISP or PROLOG.  
>I hope this has stirred the pot a bit.


I'm still looking for the originator of the definition:

"AI is the art of making computers act like the
ones in the movies"


Dave