Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!glasgow!jack From: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: 2 talks by Herb Simon at Rutgers Thursday Feb. 23 Message-ID: <2493@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> Date: 28 Feb 89 18:09:18 GMT References: Reply-To: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) Organization: COMANDOS Project, Glesga Yoonie, Unthank Lines: 24 Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Keywords: mostow@fokker.rutgers.edu (Jack Mostow) wrote: > [Herb Simon:] The past decade has seen the creation of a substantial number > of AI programs that are capable of making discoveries at a non-trivial > (professional) level. Such programs include Meta-Dendral, AM and EURISKO, > BACON and its associates (DALTON, GLAUBER, STAHL), and KEDADA. I am by no means up-to-date on AI, but I don't believe this. AM never did more than rediscover trivialities. Have any of the others made any discovery that could get into a refereed journal on its content rather than curiosity value? Has anyone ever used them for more than routine drudgework? Ever seen one of them cited in "Cell" or "Physics Review Letters" as making an essential contribution to an experimental design? Has any of them come up with a proof strategy subsequently used in a real mathematical paper? "Capable" is the sort of jam-tomorrow weasel-word we've had from Simon and his ilk for the last thirty years. What have these things *actually achieved*? -- Jack Campin * Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, SCOTLAND. 041 339 8855 x6045 wk 041 556 1878 ho INTERNET: jack%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk USENET: jack@glasgow.uucp JANET: jack@uk.ac.glasgow.cs PLINGnet: ...mcvax!ukc!cs.glasgow.ac.uk!jack