Newsgroups: comp.ai
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!udel!news.mathworks.com!uunet!timbuk.cray.com!driftwood.cray.com!chuckm
From: chuckm@willow129.cray.com (Charles Matthews)
Subject: Re: Is There A TRUE Industry LEADER in AI?
Message-ID: <1995Jan24.005510.5628@driftwood.cray.com>
Originator: chuckm@willow129
Lines: 43
Sender: chuckm@willow129 (Charles Matthews)
Nntp-Posting-Host: willow129
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
References: <thomas-1801951023400001@obc.is.net> <nagleD2o6Lp.JC5@netcom.com>
Date: 24 Jan 95 00:55:10 CST


In article <nagleD2o6Lp.JC5@netcom.com>, nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes:

>       As it turned out, "expert systems" aren't "intelligent"; they're
> a useful way to store certain types of reference-book data and not much more.
> 

Hmmm, I don't agree. Most of the debates regarding the level of intelligence
exhibited by expert systems tend to end up in philosophical discussions 
trying to define what intelligence actually is. If you take a more pragmatic
view and evaluate expert systems according to the following simplistic 
criteria: 

1) Does the ES solve a useful problem?
2) Does the ES perform at a level of expertise similar to that of a 
   human expert in the problem domain?

then I would say that they are more advanced than the "reference-book" 
scenario. Although I admit that I have seen a large share of ES applications
which could have been built with a good hypertext system, I would classify 
the diagnostic systems and hardware configurators with which I have worked 
as examples of systems which go beyond the passive data retrieval state. 
When these systems begin drawing inferential conclusions based upon their
rule base and weighting future inferences according to a set of dynamic 
criteria, then I would argue that you have passed beyond the boundary of 
the "reference data" applications. 

Although I would agree that the philosphical discussions regarding the 
definition of "intelligence" are important and necessary, sometimes I feel 
that these discussions have as much of a chance of reaching agreement among
the participants as a corresponding debate on what constitutes "good art". 

Good expert systems are probably not at the same level as the Mona Lisa, yet. 
But, hopefully, they are better than the "dogs playing pool on black velvet".


Regards,
Chuck Matthews
-- 
Chuck Matthews
chuckm@sdiv.cray.com                          Cray Research, Inc. 
                                              655F Lone Oak Drive
(612)683-5385                                 Eagan, MN  55121
