Notes

Outline

Announcements A review session is scheduled for Sat. March 15 at 12:00-1:30 in Bagley 261 Project 3b’s eSubmit is ready -- it’s due Friday

Can Computers Think? Dijkstra: Whether a computer can think is about as interesting as whether a submarine can swim.

Thinking with Electricity The inventors of ENIAC, 1st computer, said it “thinks with electricity” Do calculators “think”? Does performing arithmetic, which is entirely algorithmic, require thinking? Once, performing arithmetic, was thought to be divinely or magically conferred

Thinking with Electricity The inventors of ENIAC, 1st computer, said it “thinks with electricity” Do calculators “think”? Does performing arithmetic, which is entirely algorithmic, require thinking? Once, performing arithmetic, was thought to be divinely or magically conferred

Turing’s Test A.M. Turing, computer pioneer, worried about intelligence in humans & machines and proposed a test (1950) Aware that it’s intelligence til it’s understood Turing devised this experimental setup:

What To Ask Formulate questions a person can answer but a computer can’t or v.v.

Seeming To Be Intelligent Joel Weizenbaum’s “Doctor” was an program that appeared intelligent User: I’m depressed. Doctor: Why are you depressed? User: My mother is not speaking to me. Doctor: Tell me about your mother. User: She doesn’t want me to major in CS. Doctor: No? User: No, she wants me to go into medicine.

Artificial Intelligence The study of making computers act intelligently They already act intelligent … e.g. they can correct your spelling mistakes Is this intelligent behavior?  Most AI researchers would say “no” … algorithmic Playing grandmaster level chess in a tournament became an AI goal (1952) - Minimizes real world knowledge - Clear goal, formal system

Playing Chess Chess is a game, so it uses a game tree At each node is a ‘board’-- easily digitized Below it are all boards created in 1 move

Deep Blue vs Kasparov An IBM system, Deep Blue, played world champion Gary Kasparov In 1996 Kasparov won, but Deep Blue played 1 game well!!! In May 11, 1997 Deep Blue won 3.5-2.5

Intelligent? Does Deep Blue’s performance show that a computer can be intelligent? No -- it repeat’s its designers intelligence Yes -- it’s better than anyone in the world at something people find interesting and fun Maybe -- it shows intelligence in chess, but can it apply its intelligence elsewhere?

Being Creative Computers can do things deemed creative in the past Create designs in the style of Piet Mondrian Composing Bach: EPI, Bach, Professor

Being Creative Computers can do things deemed creative in the past Create designs in the style of Piet Mondrian Composing Bach: EPI, Bach, Professor Audience Thought: Bach Prof   EPI

Definition of Creativity Creativity has two forms: “flash out of the blue” and “incremental revision” “Flash,” i.e. inspiration, is rare; is it just luck? “Revision”, i.e. hard work, is common and to a large degree algorithmic

Computers Can’t Debug There are some things computers cannot do … and we can prove it! No computer program can tell, give another program P, if P loops forever … halting prob If possible, it would be handy for debugging In fact, it seems possible … look closely at the program, check the for-statements (and other looping structures we didn’t learn) Suppose Loop_Check (P, Q) tests pgm P on input Q, answering “yes/no” to loops forever

Loop_Check Cannot Be Loop_Check could not work, because if it did we’d make a new program

Intelligence & Creativity The bottom line on the “intellectual skills” of computers … It has long been an interesting question Computers are amazing, but probably not intelligent When a task becomes algorithmic computers (and humans) can do it well

Student Evaluations I give out forms, then leave … you will Bubble-in (Excellent :) responses on white form Write helpful advice for FIT100 on yellow form Return your forms (and extras) to _____________