Path: utzoo!yunexus!gall
From: gall@yunexus.UUCP (Norman R. Gall)
Newsgroups: can.ai
Subject: Re: What is this newsgroup for anyway?
Keywords: AI, Canada, mind
Message-ID: <1434@yunexus.UUCP>
Date: 30 Mar 89 23:22:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: yunexus.1434
References: <1365@yunexus.UUCP> <1472@ubc-cs.UUCP> <1398@yunexus.UUCP> <1043@dgbt.uucp>
Reply-To: gall@yunexus.UUCP (Norman R. Gall)
Distribution: can
Organization: York U. Department of Philosophy; Toronto, Canada
Lines: 24

In article <1043@dgbt.uucp> andrew@dgbt.crc.dnd.ca (Andrew Patrick) writes:  
>
>OK, I'll bite.  What is the "AI conception of mind", and how does it
>differ from other conceptions of mind?
>
>Also, what's being done in Canada on the topic?
>

Well, the "AI conception of mind" seems to be essentially emergentist
materialism (some might want not to go this far and go the
Churchlandian route and say 'reductionist materialism', but there is
little difference when it comes to AI).  Minsky said it best--"Minds
are simply what brains do."  The idea here is simply that functions of
the brain map onto mental abilities and vice versa (more or less).
This conception goes a long way to the cognitive approaches to AI, and
informs most AI research.

Most work in this area in Canada is being done at Western and at
Honeywell Canada (now Honeywell-Bull, I think).  Pylyshyn is the 'big
boy' in Canadian cognitive science.  I'd like to hear from others
working in the technical side of the field.

- nrg