The article discusses the argument that statistical machine learning is a resolution to the paradox - as it shows that an agent can learn something without bein

The article discusses the argument that statistical machine learning is a resolution to the paradox - as it shows that an agent can learn something without being given explicit instruction. I think this is basically a sound argument, and I find Polanyi pretty unconvincing. It's worth noting that a similar argument (albeit without a demonstration as concrete as modern ML) was actually advanced in the 1960s by Wilfrid Sellars. [0] > There is all the difference in the world between knowing how to ride a bicycle and knowing that a steady pressure by the legs of a balanced person on the pedals would result in forward motion ...It can be argued that anything which can be properly called 'knowing how to do something' presupposes a body of knowledge that; or, to put it differently, knowledge of truth or facts. If this were so, then the statement that 'ducks know how to swim' would be as metaphorical as the statement that they know that water supports them. [0] Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man - Wilfrid Sellars http://www.ditext.com/sellars/psim.html http://www.ditext.com/sellars/psim.html