What Does it Mean to Think?

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What Does it Mean to Think?
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Our Working Definition of AI
Artificial intelligence is the study of how to
make computers do things that people are better
at or would be better at if

• they could extend what they do to a World Wide
• Web-sized amount of data, and
• not make mistakes.

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A Very Early Robot
1950 W. Grey Walters light seeking tortoises.
In this picture, there are two, each with a light
source and a light sensor. Thus they appear to
dance around each other.
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Another View
More pictures http//www.ias.uwe.ac.uk/Robots/g
wonline/gwonline.html
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How Will We Recognize AI?

• Are the tortoises AI?
• Can we formulate a general sort of test?

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Alan Turing

• (1912 1954) British mathematician
• (1937) Defined a simple formal model of computing
  and showed that there are uncomputable functions
• (WW II) Worked on the breaking the Enigma code
• (1950) Described a test for intelligence
• (1948 -1952) Described a chess-playing algorithm
• (1954) Committed suicide
• (2009) British government apologizes

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Enigma
Early 1920s post WWII
Try it http//russells.freeshell.org/enigma/
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How Will We Recognize AI?
1950 Alan Turings paper, Computing Machinery
and Intelligence, described a variant of what
is now called
http//www.abelard.org/turpap/turpap.htm
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The Turing Test
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Turings Test
Q Please write me a sonnet on the subject of the
Forth Bridge. A Count me out on this one.
I never could write poetry. Q Add 34957 to
70764 A (Pause about 30 seconds and then give
as answer) 105621. Q Do you play chess?
A Yes. Q I have K at my K1, and no other
pieces. You have only K at K6 and R at R1.
It is your move. What do you play? A (After a
pause of 15 seconds) R-R8 mate.
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Turings Test
Interrogator In the first line of your sonnet
which reads 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's
day', would not 'a spring day' do as well or
better? Witness It wouldn't scan.
Interrogator How about 'a winter's day,' That
would scan all right. Witness Yes, but nobody
wants to be compared to a winter's day.
Interrogator Would you say Mr. Pickwick
reminded you of Christmas? Witness In a way.
Interrogator Yet Christmas is a winter's day,
and I do not think Mr. Pickwick would mind the
comparison. Witness I don't think you're
serious. By a winter's day one means a typical
winter's day, rather than a special one like
Christmas.
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Turings Prediction
I believe that in about fifty years time it
will be possible, to programme computers, with a
storage capacity of about 109, to make them play
the imitation game so well that an average
interrogator will not have more than a 70 percent
chance of making the right identification after
five minutes of questioning".
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Measuring Storage
Decimal Binary
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Perspective
with a storage capacity of about 109 ..."
(assuming he means bits) ? 1 gigabit ? 125 MB
http//www.turing.org.uk/turing/scrapbook/manmach.
html
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Was Turing Right?
1990 Loebner Prize established.
Grand Prize of 100,000 and a Gold Medal for the
first computer whose responses are
indistinguishable from a human.
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Jabberwacky
A conversation with Jabberwacky, 2003
Jabberwacky Have you been to the Moon?User No.
Few have. Have you?Jabberwacky Many a time my
dear chap!User What was the most interesting
thing you saw?Jabberwacky Fred.User Why did
you find him interesting?Jabberwacky It just
came into my head.User What sorts of things do
you generally find interesting?Jabberwacky
Nothing but smelly socks.
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Alice
gtWho invented paper towels? ALICE The Chinese,
long before Europeans. gtWho invented pet rocks?
ALICE The Wright Brothers. gtWho invented Barbie
dolls? ALICE Thomas Edison.
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Alice
A Conversation with Alice, January 2005 gtIsn't
the tsunami thing sad?ALICE If it is, then I'll
be very surprised. gtbut it is.ALICE Umm.
Huh. gtOver a hundred thousand people have
died.ALICE Does "it" still refer to the tsunami
thing sad? gtyesALICE Blimey.
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Alice
A Conversation with Alice, 2004 gtWhat's the best
place to eat Chinese food? ALICE My favorite
places are California and Maine. Holland is cool
too. gtWhat do you like about Maine? ALICE The
special effects are the best.
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Alice
A Conversation with Alice, 2008 gtWhat did you
like best about the Olympics? ALICE The special
effects are the best.
http//www.alicebot.org/
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Lets Chat with Bots

• Alice
• Jabberwacky
• Elbot

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A Recent Loebner Competition
http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7666836.stm
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Objections to Turings Test

• The theological objection
• The heads in the sand objection
• The mathematical objection
• The argument from consciousness
• Arguments from various disabilities
• Lady Lovelaces objection (the learning problem)
• Argument from continuity of the nervous system
• The argument from ESP

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The Analytical Engine
1834 Charles Babbages
Analytical Engine
The picture is of a model built in the late 1800s
by Babbages son from Babbages drawings.
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Augusta Ada Byron, Countess Lovelace
Ada writes of Babages engine, The Analytical
Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate
anything. It can do whatever we know how to order
it to perform.
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Objections to Turings Test

• When computers are smarter

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Objections to Turings Test

• When computers are smarter

• Which is more likely
• Fred just got cancer.
• Fred smokes a lot and he just got cancer.

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Objections to Turings Test

• Nontextual behaviors

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Objections to Turings Test

• Nontextual behaviors

Where would you rather go
or
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Objections to Turings Test

• Learning from interaction with the world

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Objections to Turings Test

• Learning from interaction with the world

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Objections to Turings Test

• Learning from interaction with the world

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The BotPrize
Can a bot fool a human player?
The BotPrize homepage
A video from last year http//www.technologyrevi
ew.com/computing/23415/?af