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I can't help repeat this quote from a previous thread. It's from an interview of a lecturer at the London Business School who appeared on a BBC TV programme abo

I can't help repeat this quote from a previous thread. It's from an interview of a lecturer at the London Business School who appeared on a BBC TV programme about technology: "...Expert systems are really slightly dumb systems that exploit the speed and cheapness of computer chips...There are many expert systems in the literature which are nothing more than a series of fast if-then-else rules...you do that a couple of hundred thousand times it can look remarkably intelligent" The interview above was broadcast in...1984. There have been advances since then of course, but at the same time this 30-year-old quote still has a certain ring of truth to it. Here's the clip from the TV programme featuring the quote above: https://computer-literacy-project.pilots.bbcconnectedstudio.co.uk/13d3f4b73e9a2830fecfdc9684805ddf https://computer-literacy-project.pilots.bbcconnectedstudio....

newsbinator 8y ago
The surprising thing might be that humans and other "thinking" animals are nothing more than a series of fast if-then-else rules too. Not sure if this one has been debunked yet, but I remember learning in my psych class about the guy who fell asleep, got out of bed, drove a car a bunch of miles, and at his destination murdered his in-laws, all while apparently asleep. It was used as an example for conscious/unconscious behavior.
jexah 8y ago
You must remember that "Expert System" is a term used in machine learning which specifically means a system in which the input is (logically, not literally) processed by humans at every step until the output is provided, rather than a term to describe "the best" AI systems. As mentioned in the quote, this is usually done though if/else "if this is the case, then the next step is that". The reason they are called Expert Systems is that they provably provide the correct output for any input 100% of the time.

newsbinator 8y ago

The surprising thing might be that humans and other "thinking" animals are nothing more than a series of fast if-then-else rules too. Not sure if this one has been debunked yet, but I remember learning in my psych class about the guy who fell asleep, got out of bed, drove a car a bunch of miles, and at his destination murdered his in-laws, all while apparently asleep. It was used as an example for conscious/unconscious behavior.

jexah 8y ago

You must remember that "Expert System" is a term used in machine learning which specifically means a system in which the input is (logically, not literally) processed by humans at every step until the output is provided, rather than a term to describe "the best" AI systems. As mentioned in the quote, this is usually done though if/else "if this is the case, then the next step is that". The reason they are called Expert Systems is that they provably provide the correct output for any input 100% of the time.