X-Message-Number: 25573 Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 11:30:21 -0500 From: Francois <> Subject: One unsolved problem in Artificial intelligence I think we will not succeed in creating true artificial intelligence until we figure out how brains model reality. By that I mean how are objects and events represented in such a way that they are recognizible in most circumstances. Take a chair for example. I have seen hundreds of different chairs in my lifetime, yet I have no trouble in identifying them as chairs, nor do I have much trouble in deciding if a new object I see is a chair or not. My recognition of a chair is not really influenced by the way it's oriented. I will recognize a chair if I look at it from above, or below or from any other direction. I will identify a chair regardless of where I see it, be it in a living room, a jungle, a desert or even floating in the ocean. I can even recognize a chair by touch if need be. This indicates that our brains use incredibly flexible, yet remarkably reliable techniques to model the outside world. And Peter Merel's story about butterflies returning to the same blade of grass after their mating dances illustrates that something as 'simple' as an insect's brain is capable of the same recognition feats. We need something like that to make true general AI, and unless some breakthrough has recently happened, we are still, in my opinon, light years away from it. Francois The Devil fears those who learn more than those who pray Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25573