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Article 7525 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: system@CODEWKS.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: grounding and the entity/environment boundary
Message-ID: <qk0TTB2w165w@CODEWKS.nacjack.gen.nz>
Date: 7 Nov 92 13:02:14 GMT
References: <1992Nov3.234343.16571@spss.com>
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markrose@spss.com (Mark Rosenfelder) writes:

> I mostly agree with your comments, but there's a distinction I'm
> not sure you're making.  You are seeing, quite rightly, that you have to
> experience a given event (the supernova, your vacation, a new TV show,
> whatever) to be grounded in it.  But there's also the grounding in the
> world in general that you acquire while growing up: experience with
> cats, cherries, trees, cities, people.  All of this came from experiencing
> events, of course; but what's important here is that it's transferrable.
> Your experience with your grandma's cats generalizes to a knowledge of
> cats in general; if you've seen a meteor shower before you're not entirely
> ungrounded even with respect to the one you missed when your eyes were closed
> 
> It's this generalized grounding that isn't diminished when you close your
> eyes, or sleep, or take a year's sabbatical.  And I'd maintain that this
> grounding takes years to acquire, and lays the basis for whatever quick 
> adaptations to changing circumstances we are capable of.

I'd hoped that was exactly the distinction I was making. I think I'm 
suggesting that it is possible to maintain grounding with low-bandwith 
communications for those areas in which we (or an AI system) has a 
generalized grounding. However, this is why closing your eyes for 10 
years is a problem - your generalized grounding wears out (ain't 
transistors wonderful!). Also you are at a loss for specific events 
that many people will assume you are grounded in - eg. whether Clinton 
is President. Of course I have lots of friends who appear to be in a 
permament state of semi-ungroundedness, or two years out of sync in 
their groundedness. Like absent minded professors, an AI system can be 
forgiven for not knowing the results of the Superbowl if it is worth 
talking to about something else.

How's this for a twist on the Turing Test? A Artificially Intelligent 
system is something that is worthwhile to talk to.


-- 
  Wayne McDougall, BCNU
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