Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!bionet!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!acad3.alaska.edu!fnwlr1 From: fnwlr1@acad3.alaska.edu (RUTHERFORD WALTER L) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: AI genealogy Keywords: thought, AI, linguistics, Diddley Message-ID: <1991Mar17.195632.174@ims.alaska.edu> Date: 17 Mar 91 19:56:32 GMT References: <2571@enuxha.eas.asu.edu> Sender: usenet@ims.alaska.edu (J Random USENET) Reply-To: fnwlr1@acad3.alaska.edu Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks Lines: 45 News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4 Nntp-Posting-Host: acad3.alaska.edu In article , velasco@mangani.ucsd.edu (Gabriel Velasco) writes... > >I'm not sure what you mean here. We will be using linguistics >techniques to analyse the data. It is primarily an information >retrieval exercise. AI deals with linguistics, so that is bound to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >show up in the database. > Pardon the digression, but... I am having trouble thinking of a subject that AI doesn't or can't "deal with" to some degree - except, of course, the subjects which HUMANS can't think of (deal with). AI knows mathematics. AI knows linguistics. AI knows physics. AI knows music. AI knows Diddley! :-) Hmmm. I started out a bit "tongue in cheek", but I had never considered subjects which computers might one day be able to handle which we will never be able to fathom. Being the species chauvinist that I am I don't think that computers will ever be able to out-think us in that way. Here are some subjects I can meta-think about (think about thinking about) without actually being able to _truly_ reach them - to my way of thinking. a) Eternity / timelessness b) My non-existence c) Everythings non-existence Will computers be able to REALLY think the unthinkable someday? How about subjects which we can understand but which computers will always be unable to grasp? Emotions perhaps? Nah - If we can ever get over the first hurdle and get a machine to be aware (of us and its own existence) then it should be able eventually to handle any thought we can handle. Once again species chauvinism says we will one day create a machine "in our own image". Thanks to this group for this group as a trading place (in my case birth place) for ideas. It has really given me something to think about. You are now returned to your regularly scheduled program. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter Rutherford P.O. Box 83273 \ / Computers are NOT intelligent; Fairbanks, Alaska 99708 - X - / \ they just think they are! fnwlr1@acad3.alaska.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------