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Human intelligence is a tool evolved to interact with our environment. Not having an environment to interact with is, imho, a serious problem when trying to def

Human intelligence is a tool evolved to interact with our environment. Not having an environment to interact with is, imho, a serious problem when trying to define/identify intelligence. On the other hand, I'm not sure the environment necessarily needs to be physical. Ages ago, I worked on reinforcement learning in a simulated environment, which can provide lots of advantages.

ethbro 7y ago
It's a mathematical-philosophical question, I suppose. Can one use computers to simulate an environment with such fidelity that another computer doesn't notice the simulation and optimize around its quantum quirks? Nvidia seems to think so. They claimed (a couple GTCs ago) to use virtual driving simulators to train their autonomous vehicle systems.
lioeters 7y ago
That seems a lot more cost effective, to train algorithms in a virtual, rather than physical, environment. On the other hand, like with self-driving cars, for some purposes it makes sense to provide physical, real-life situations and objects, with all its chaos, unexpected and unpredictable events. For "true" intelligence matching human expectations, I imagine an understanding of the physical environment and its complexity is key. Otherwise, it could only deal with abstract concepts, like pure mathematics, but missing the experience of concrete reality - to be able to relate to us.
gerbilly 7y ago
It runs the other way too. Developmental psychology demonstrates that you get very serious functional deficits if you deprive a young developing organism of its normal environment.
randcraw 7y ago
And that's the heart of AI's core problem: an oversimplified world is needed in order for your research to produce short-term results that can sustain your project's existence. But trimming back nature's complex signals and noise also limits your solution/model so much that your system becomes too simplistic and fragile (AKA brittle) to thrive in the much-more-complex real world. After 50+ years of AI research that hasn't scaled or meaningfully progressed on the fundamental capabilities needed by a synthetic mind, you'd think we'd agree more that simplifying reality into something easier to model is the wrong basis for creating AI that's more than a toy.

ethbro 7y ago

It's a mathematical-philosophical question, I suppose. Can one use computers to simulate an environment with such fidelity that another computer doesn't notice the simulation and optimize around its quantum quirks? Nvidia seems to think so. They claimed (a couple GTCs ago) to use virtual driving simulators to train their autonomous vehicle systems.

lioeters 7y ago

That seems a lot more cost effective, to train algorithms in a virtual, rather than physical, environment. On the other hand, like with self-driving cars, for some purposes it makes sense to provide physical, real-life situations and objects, with all its chaos, unexpected and unpredictable events. For "true" intelligence matching human expectations, I imagine an understanding of the physical environment and its complexity is key. Otherwise, it could only deal with abstract concepts, like pure mathematics, but missing the experience of concrete reality - to be able to relate to us.

gerbilly 7y ago

It runs the other way too. Developmental psychology demonstrates that you get very serious functional deficits if you deprive a young developing organism of its normal environment.

randcraw 7y ago

And that's the heart of AI's core problem: an oversimplified world is needed in order for your research to produce short-term results that can sustain your project's existence. But trimming back nature's complex signals and noise also limits your solution/model so much that your system becomes too simplistic and fragile (AKA brittle) to thrive in the much-more-complex real world. After 50+ years of AI research that hasn't scaled or meaningfully progressed on the fundamental capabilities needed by a synthetic mind, you'd think we'd agree more that simplifying reality into something easier to model is the wrong basis for creating AI that's more than a toy.