
Logic and Artificial Intelligence - olalonde
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-ai/
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6ren

      ...without an understanding of what the reasoning problems are, it will not be
      possible to implement their solutions. Plausible as this Platonic argument may
      seem, it is in fact controversial in the context of AI...
    

It's even conceivable that reverse-engineering the brain might succeed first;
though that approach didn't work for flight. In fact, the problem of flight
wasn't well understood until some time after its solution was implemented.
Same with light bulbs, and electricity itself. Actually, practice-first seems
to have been the general rule; and theory-first is the exception (such as the
theory of relativity).

Iteration (aka trial-and-error) can solve problems you don't yet understand.

~~~
pm90
_Iteration (aka trial-and-error) can solve problems you don't yet understand._

That is not surprising, seeing that evolution itself is really just a really
long iteration of different designs. I think about this quite a lot; I guess
that we humans use our intelligence to aid our search and thus shorten the
time from centuries to years. But the thing about invention is that you never
know. The transistor was invented before its mechanism was clearly understood;
but the theory showed the possibility of such a device to the scientists. The
atomic weapon's theory was known before it was invented however (not
discounting the massive engineering effort that made it practical though).

------
eostyx
I better pack a lunch...

------
goggles99
I made it though about 20 lines... This one is dropping like a rock/

~~~
Craiggybear
Which is why its a highly specialised field of enquiry. AI has very little to
do with CS or programming. Natural Philosophy, formal logic, linguistics and
biology are more useful in the long-run.

Personally I liked it because it was something I was engaged with in the
1980's.

