[ExI] The symbol grounding problem in strong AI

[Gordon Swobe]

--- On Fri, 12/18/09, Ben Zaiboc <bbenzai at yahoo.com> wrote:

> We do not know what 'reality' is.  There is nothing in
> our brains that can directly comprehend reality (if that
> even means anything).  What we do is collect sensory
> data via our eyes, ears, etc., and sift it, sort it, combine
> it, distort it with preconceptions and past memories, and
> create 'sensory maps' which are then used to feed the more
> abstract parts of our minds, to create 'the World according
> to You'.  

Ok.

 
> We use this constantly changing internal 'world
> representation' to make models about our environment, other
> people, imaginary things, etc., and most of the time it
> works well enough that we habitually think of this as
> 'reality'.  *But it's not*.  The 'real reality' is
> forever unknowable.

Ok, if you say so.

 
> OK, so given that, what does 'symbol grounding' mean? 
> It means that the meaning of a mental symbol is built up
> from internal representations that derive from this 'World
> according to You'.  There's nothing mysterious or
> difficult about it, and it doesn't really even deserve the
> description 'problem'.  

It's a problem for simulations of people, Ben. Not a problem for real people.

> There seems to be an implication that a simulation is
> somehow 'inferior' to the 'real thing'. 
> 
> I remember simulating my father's method of tying shoelaces
> when I was small.  I'm sure that my shoelace-tying now
> is just as good as his ever was.

You didn't simulate you father. You imitated him.

If you took a video of your father tying his shoelaces and watched that video, you would watch a simulation.

Is that really your father tying his shoelaces in the video, Ben? Or it just pixels on the screen? I.e., just a simulation? 

And if you ever watched a video of your father taken while he read and understood a newspaper, you watched a simulation of your father overcoming the symbol grounding problem. You watched a cartoon. Perhaps you confused the cartoon with reality, and thought you saw your real father understanding something, but in that case you weren't paying attention.

-gts