BKCMPTHT.RVW   970408

"Computers & Thought", Edward A. Feigenbaum/Julian Feldman, 1995,
0-262-56092-5, U$18.00
%E   Edward A. Feigenbaum
%E   Julian Feldman
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1995
%G   0-262-56092-5
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$18.00 800-356-0343 fax: 617-625-6660 curtin@mit.edu
%O   www-mitpress.mit.edu
%P   535
%T   "Computers & Thought"

Alan Turing said that when a person was unable to decide if a teletype
was being run by another person or a computer, then, that would prove
that computers were intelligent.  Right?  Well, no.  Turing's
simulation game was intended only as an approach to the question of
machine cognition, since he knew full well the problem of definition
of the question.

Last week, I reviewed a piece of fiction that involved a program that
"learned" how to take over the world.  The facility of the work
bothered me, but it was A.L. Samuel's report on machine learning
involving the game of checkers that allowed me to clarify my thinking. 
While we might produce a program the output of which would be called
learning, if it came from a person, still doesn't predict much about
the capabilities of the machine, itself.

The Turing and Samuel papers are but two from this classic work in the
artificial intelligence field.  First published in 1963, the book has
been a significant help and influence in the area: and not only as a
textbook.  Classic status is sometimes bestowed lightly, but is richly
deserved in this case.  While some few papers are too specific and
have been rendered obsolete by subsequent study, most are seminal, and
still excellent introductions to the concepts of AI.

Indeed, I was quite fascinated by Paul Armer's paper on attitudes
toward intelligent machines.  With minor changes and updating, it
could well be written today.  The lack of dating of the book could be
a bit frustrating.  Like a "move tree" in a chess program, the field
of artificial intelligence has widened into innumerable branches, but
doesn't seem to be moving significantly closer to a final resolution.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997   BKCMPTHT.RVW   970408