Ok so here's an attempt to clear up the feud. As i see it, what Hofstadter wants is an anti-gravity elevator. The "Modern" (aka practical) AI approach is ladder

Ok so here's an attempt to clear up the feud. As i see it, what Hofstadter wants is an anti-gravity elevator. The "Modern" (aka practical) AI approach is ladders, stairs... and eventually mechanical elevators. Now ofcouse, progress along the "practical" approach will NEVER lead to an anti-gravity elevator, as the fundamental principles are completely different. But they get the job done. See, that's the point, as incredibly awesome and useful as the anti-gravity elevator might be, mankind can't wait around for someone to invent it, just raise stuff, or travel in the vertical dimension. And hence all our modern AI systems (including google, siri, robots, warehouse management systems, etc etc) are powered by this approach. So should we scrap stairs an elevators in pursuit of anti-gravity? Certainly not, we NEED them right NOW. But does this mean we should dreaming about, and working towards anti-gravity? HELL NO!! We need that too. And hence, as much as i LOVE Hofstadter (i have had the same approach to AI ever since i was a kid), i still have a very PROFOUND respect for modern approaches because they help me create some functionally amazing software.