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Article 5508 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)
Subject: Re: AI failures
References: <1992May7.152447.7930@waikato.ac.nz> <727@ckgp.UUCP> <uc2m8INNn5d@early-bird.think.com>
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Date: Sat, 9 May 92 01:38:15 GMT
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In article <uc2m8INNn5d@early-bird.think.com> moravec@Think.COM
(Hans Moravec) writes:
>Soon after they're possible at all, AIs will be so cheap and plentiful
>(after all, they can be reproduced by file copy command, and all
>operating copies will soon be unique individuals, because they
>are modified by their experiences),  that it will be absolutely 
>necessary to throw them away when they're no longer needed.  Easy
>come, easy go.

This raises a few interesting architectural and performance questions.
I say that because I am involved with trying to tune the I/O of a system.
Right now I am pushing to get 100 MB/S and I am playing with 5 GB per file.
Behind that is 100 GB of disk and beyond that are TBs of tape.
So how long do you envision taking to copy one of your AIs to make it cheap
and plentiful?  You certainly aren't talking floppies or even Winchesters.
I've got striped files systems barely keeping up at 18.9 MB/S.
Knowing Amdahl's other law, how long do you expect to take to copy?  Minutes
or a human life time.

P.S. Thanks for the tour of your robot lab a few years ago.

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov
  Resident Cynic, Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers
  {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene
Usenet: It's easily to sound rational and reasonable with its content.
Ref: Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning, vol. 1, G. Polya



