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From: cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm)
Subject: Re: Roger Penrose's New Book (in HTML) 1.0
References: <37s8hp$mch@ixnews1.ix.netcom.com> <JMC.94Oct18150624@white.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il>
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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 01:08:37 GMT
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In article <JMC.94Oct18150624@white.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il> jmc@white.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il (McCarthy John) writes:

>I see nothing in mind that requires more than classical physics.
>Indeed it can all be done with ordinary computer programs.  Penrose's
>arguments to the contrary in his _The Emperor's New Mind_ are
>fallacious and ignorant of the entire artificial intelligence
>technical literature.  Not one of his more than 200 references is to
>that literature.  I would be surprised if he has read any AI for his
>second book.

When Penrose visited our Dept of AI to talk about "Emperor's New Mind"
it was clear that his understanding of computation was about the level
of Lady Lovelace's, i.e., very detailed, comprehensive, and correct,
but at a very primitive level. He knew nothing at all about AI, was
unable to understand most of the points we tried to make to him, and
was quite unable to understand that there might be some important
points among this stuff that he knew nothing about. He talked a lot,
and we talked a lot, but there was very little communication.

[Lady Lovelace categorically denied the possibility of Artificial
Intelligence for Babbage's Engines, because programs could do no more
than re-arrange the information they already contained.]
-- 
Chris Malcolm    cam@uk.ac.ed.aifh          +44 (0)31 650 3085
Department of Artificial Intelligence,    Edinburgh University
5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK                DoD #205
"The mind reigns, but does not govern" -- Paul Valery
