The Chinese Room Argument 1. Overview Work in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has produced computer programs that can beat the world chess champion and defeat the best human players on the television quiz show Jeopardy. AI has also produced programs with which one can converse in natural language, including Apple's Siri. Our experience shows that playing chess or Jeopardy, and carrying on a conversation, are activities that require understanding and intelligence. Does computer prowess at challenging games and conversation then show that computers can understand and be intelligent? Searle argues that a good way to test a theory of mind, say a theory that holds that understanding can be created by doing such and such, is to imagine what it would be like to do what the theory says would create understanding. Imagine a native English speaker who knows no Chinese locked in a room full of boxes of Chinese symbols (a data base) together with a book of instructions for manipulating the symbols (the program). 2. 17. 3. 4.
The Lost Art of Thinking Before You Act | Postcards from Žižek What's the Big Idea? Philosopher Slavoj Žižek is fundamentally anti-capitalist, and yet, the man who describes himself as a “complicated Marxist” also expresses palpable irritation at the idea that capitalists are nothing more than egomaniacal psychopaths. In a recent interview with Big Think, he told us that although he’s highly critical of capitalism in his work, when asked about it in public, he’s tempted to detail all the things that are great about it. Watch the interview: Political critiques that don’t account for the passion of the individual capitalist are flawed, he says, because capitalism is as much an ethical as it is an economic system. The guiding principle of free market economic theorists is that people are motivated purely by the pursuit of their own rational self-interests. So is he still sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement? The contradictions are intentional. What's the Significance? His advice to those advocating for change, part II:
Prize Home Page What is the Loebner Prize? The Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence ( AI ) is the first formal instantiation of a Turing Test. The test is named after Alan Turing the brilliant British mathematician. Among his many accomplishments was basic research in computing science. In 1990 Hugh Loebner agreed with The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies to underwrite a contest designed to implement the Turing Test. Further information on the development of the Loebner Prize and the reasons for its existence is available in Loebner's article In Response to the article Lessons from a Restricted Turing Test by Stuart Shieber. The Loebner Prize was originally made possible by funding from Crown Industries, Inc., of East Orange NJ. For a comprehensive overview of chatbots in general, check chatbots.org Your program will interact with the Judge Program using the Loebner Prize Protocol "LPP" via the sub folder with your program's name which is nested within the Communications folder.
Why People Think Computers Can't WHY PEOPLE THINK COMPUTERS CAN'T Marvin Minsky, MIT First published in AI Magazine, vol. 3 no. 4, Fall 1982. Reprinted in Technology Review, Nov/Dec 1983, and in The Computer Culture, (Donnelly, Ed.) Associated Univ. Presses, Cranbury NJ, 1985 Most people think computers will never be able to think. That is, really think. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy World Economic Forum lists top 10 emerging technologies for 2012 The World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has drawn up a list of the top 10 emerging technologies for 2012 (Image: Shutterstock) Our goal here at Gizmag is to cover innovation and emerging technologies in all fields of human endeavor, and while almost all of the ideas that grace our pages have the potential to enhance some of our lives in one way or another, at the core are those technologies that will have profound implications for everyone on the planet. For those looking to shape political, business, and academic agendas, predicting how and when these types of technologies will effect us all is critical. Betting on the right technologies can allow schools to produce graduates better qualified to deal with a rapidly changing world, governments to more efficiently meet the needs of the populace, business to generate profits, and scientists to better allocate resources. 1. Source: World Economic Forum Blog About the Author Post a CommentRelated Articles
Sharing stories of Bletchley Park: home of the code-breakers For decades, the World War II codebreaking centre at Bletchley Park was one of the U.K.’s most closely guarded secrets. Today, it’s a poignant place to visit and reflect on the achievements of those who worked there. Their outstanding feats of intellect, coupled with breakthrough engineering and dogged determination, were crucial to the Allied victory—and in parallel, helped kickstart the computing age. We’ve long been keen to help preserve and promote the importance of Bletchley Park. First, we’re welcoming the Bletchley Park Trust as the latest partner to join Google’s Cultural Institute. We hope you enjoy learning more about Bletchley Park and its fundamental wartime role and legacy.
Level 3 Of Consciousness Meme Central Books Level 3 Resources Richard Brodie Virus of the Mind What’s New? Site Map Level 3 of Consciousness You are reading about something that most people don’t even know exists. If you told them, they wouldn’t just not believe you—they would have no clue what you were talking about. That’s why I wrote this little essay: so that I could show it to someone when they had no idea what I was talking about and, if they were persistent and open-minded, make some progress in their thinking. 1. Sometimes like attracts like and sometimes opposite attracts opposite. When like attracts like, it can end there, like an oxygen molecule made up of two oxygen atoms, or it can continue to attract like, like a Carbon atom. 2. Sometimes a self-replicating thing makes a copy of itself with a mistake in it. The only way for new things to get created is by a complex series of mistakes that turn out to be better after all. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Richard Brodie June 1999
Ludwig Wittgenstein 1. Biographical Sketch Wittgenstein was born on April 26, 1889 in Vienna, Austria, to a wealthy industrial family, well-situated in intellectual and cultural Viennese circles. In 1908 he began his studies in aeronautical engineering at Manchester University where his interest in the philosophy of pure mathematics led him to Frege. During his years in Cambridge, from 1911 to 1913, Wittgenstein conducted several conversations on philosophy and the foundations of logic with Russell, with whom he had an emotional and intense relationship, as well as with Moore and Keynes. In 1920 Wittgenstein, now divorced from philosophy (having, to his mind, solved all philosophical problems in the Tractatus), gave away his part of his family's fortune and pursued several ‘professions’ (gardener, teacher, architect, etc.) in and around Vienna. 2. 2.1 Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was first published in German in 1921 and then translated—by C.K. 2.2 Sense and Nonsense 3.
How much would legal marijuana cost? A new book says it would be nearly free Photograph by Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images. It continues to be totally off the radar of prominent politicians, but polls indicate that large and growing numbers of Americans are open to the idea of legalizing marijuana. Gallup broke ground last fall with the first-ever poll showing 50 percent of respondents nationwide wanting to legalize, and a more precisely worded poll from Rasmussen in May had 56 percent in favor of “legalizing marijuana and regulating it in a similar manner to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are regulated today.” There’s been relatively little analysis of what a legal marijuana industry might look like. Conventional thinking about pot pricing is often dominated by people’s experience buying weed in legal or quasi-legal settings such as a Dutch “coffee shop” or a California medical marijuana dispensary. These expedients would work, but they’d be horrendously inefficient compared with the modern agricultural, packaging, and transportation methods.
Uncovering Colossus - video now online | The National Museum of Computing The video of Prof Brian Randell, seated in the heart of the Colossus Gallery at TNMOC, telling the story of how he uncovered the existence of Colossus in the 1970s and how the 30-year veil of secrecy surrounding the world’s first electronic computer was lifted, is now online. Tim Reynolds, Deputy Chair of TNMOC, said: "This video is essential viewing for anyone interested in the history of computing and we are delighted that Professor Brian Randell agreed to give his presentation in the new Colossus Gallery at TNMOC. “The specially invited audience was captivated by Professor Randell’s history of the uncovering of Colossus. It was a fascinating talk of machines, code-breaking, intrigue and politics. We are delighted to make this presentation available free for anyone who wants to learn about one of the great milestones in computing.” The rebuild of Colossus can be seen every day at The National Museum of Computing, located on Bletchley Park. Notes To Editors
Semiotica Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera. La semiotica (dal termine greco σημεῖον semeion, che significa "segno") è la disciplina che studia i segni e il modo in cui questi abbiano un senso (significazione). Considerato che il segno è in generale "qualcosa che rinvia a qualcos'altro" (per i filosofi medievali "aliquid stat pro aliquo") possiamo dire che la semiotica è la disciplina che studia i fenomeni di significazione e di comunicazione. Per significazione infatti si intende ogni relazione che lega qualcosa di materialmente presente a qualcos'altro di assente (la luce rossa del semaforo significa, o sta per, "stop"). "Non solo essa spiega i fatti comunicativi, ma permette inoltre di intervenire e di modificarli nel dettaglio con una precisione che manca alle altre discipline. Le origini[modifica | modifica sorgente] Le riflessioni sul segno hanno una lunga tradizione che percorre l'intera storia della filosofia occidentale. La semiotica nel XX secolo[modifica | modifica sorgente] Umberto Eco