Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!samsung!caen!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!dirish From: dirish@glab1.math.utah.edu (Dudley Irish) Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy Subject: RE: Turing Test: opinions on an idea Message-ID: Date: 21 May 91 19:14:21 GMT Sender: news@fcom.cc.utah.edu Distribution: w Organization: Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Lines: 35 The issue that is raised by the game-tree-based-turing-game-playing system is whether we would think that a system which operates according to a simple set of rules that we can readily understand is intelligent. This is the same question that Turing proposed his test to answer. We now have computer programs that are very large, indeed a modern operating system is probably too complex for a single person to understand completely, but they still run on computers. The data in the form of executable code is very complex, but the rules that are followed by the hardware when it executes are really fairly simple (and getting more simple with the advent of RISC processors). If you twist the original question a little you will see that you can view the executable code of your favorite AI program as a game tree which the hardware traverses. It really is the same question. So pointing out that the game-tree-based system could never be realized, or that it is theoreticly impossible to generate the game tree doesn't really answer the question. The answer has to be one of: 1) The system is intelligent, 2) The system is not intelligent, or 3) The test is no good. (e.g. the test doesn't test for intelligence.) My answer would be if such a system could be built, then I would say that it is intelligent. This is based on a complex set of beliefs having to do with the inadequacies of behaviorism and the paucity of alternatives with which I won't bore you. I hope that this brief discussion was helpful, -- Dudley Irish / dirish@math.utah.edu / Manager Computer Operations Center for Scientific Computing, Dept of Mathematics, University of Utah The views expressed in this message do not reflect the views of the Dept of Mathematics, the University of Utah, or the State of Utah.