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From: Patricia.Mackiewicz@ISL1.RI.CMU.EDU.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.ai.digest
Subject: Seminar - The Anatomy of AI Tarpits (CMU)
Message-ID: <8704140435.AA27927@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Wed, 1-Apr-87 15:01:35 EST
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Posted: Wed Apr  1 15:01:35 1987
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		   SPECIAL AI SEMINAR

	TOPIC:    "The Anatomy of AI Tarpits"

	SPEAKER:  Phil Agre, MIT

	WHEN:     Monday, April 6, 1987, 1:00 pm

	WHERE:    Doherty Hall 3313

			ABSTRACT

This is a talk I gave at a recent workshop on Meta-Level Architectures.
I originally wrote it to blow off steam at the last dozen AI papers I
had read, but I have come to think that it provides a clean, simple
explanation of why AI (among other fields) is wedged.

My thesis is that AI, as a field, has a pathological attitude toward
language.  AI repeatedly gets itself into tarpits based on
pseudo-technical words like, for example, "planning."  The community
(or, lately, some sub-field of it) cultivates a habit of seeing "planning"
in an activity's slightest intentionality, regularity, deliberateness, 
or planfulness -- and marginalizing or ignoring anything else.  Then it
writes (destruct plan ...).  I will describe an anatomy of tarpits that
lets us predict in remarkable detail how their victims will get stuck.
Then I will discuss five examples:  the mind, planning, knowledge,
variables, and the meta level.  Along the way I will suggest some ways out.

**************************************************************************
If you are interested in an appointment with Phil Agre please contact
Patty at extension 8818 or pah@d.
**************************************************************************