

Why AM and Eurisko Appear to Work (1983) [pdf] - tonyg
http://aaaipress.org/Papers/AAAI/1983/AAAI83-059.pdf

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beagle3
Eurisko is definitely part of CS and hacker folklore - but it is not really
science. It wasn't reproduced (or for that matter, produced again by Lenat) -
it's not clear, out of the described Eurisko output, what was really Eurisko
and what was Lenat's contribution.

Lenat's "next gen Eurisko", Cyc, hasn't been nearly as impressive as Eurisko
is supposed to have been.

~~~
SilasX
It's a big enigma for me. It's like he achieved some big AI advance that
ostensibly won a major competition, went dark for two decades, and then
resurfaced with a grand project that looks crappy with no tangible results.

It matches the theory "AI advance way ahead of his time that Lenat keeps
secret with a cover story" ... but I think Occam favors your explanation now.

~~~
beagle3
> It matches the theory "AI advance way ahead of his time that Lenat keeps
> secret with a cover story" ...

This might be the case for all I know; As you say, Occam favors a simpler
explanation. But that's not what bothers me - what bothers me is that so many
references just take this folklore as truth without any critical thought.

I first read about Eurisko in a book[0] (the existence of which is hard to
confirm on the Internet - kind of surprising). I was 12, it looked fantastic
then, but it was fantastic of the "when I know a little more, I might have a
grasp of how that works". But it's been 30 years since - and now, with a
little bit of knowledge and scepticism under my belt, I'm almost sure that --
however impressive Eurisko might have been -- none of the praise written about
Eurisko was written by someone who had witnessed it working or was even able
to critically review its output.

Not much different than any other kind of lore. Definitely not science or
technology.

[0]
[http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/books/info/methuen/The_Hitch_...](http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/books/info/methuen/The_Hitch_Hikers_Guide_To_Artificial_Intelligence.html)

