[ExI] Oxford scientists edge toward quantum PC with 10b qubits.

[Dave Sill]

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 11:36 AM, Kelly Anderson <kellycoinguy at gmail.com>wrote:

> 2011/1/28 Dave Sill <sparge at gmail.com>:
>
> > These isolated systems act intelligent, but they're not really
> intelligent.
> > They can't learn and they don't understand. Deep Blue could dominate me
> on
> > the chess board but it couldn't beat a 4-year-old at tic tac toe. Make a
> > system that knows nothing about tic tac toe but can learn the rules (via
> > audio/video explanation by a human) and play the game, and I'll be
> > impressed.
>
> Actually, it is pretty trivial for a computer to learn tic-tac-toe
> without any explanation at all.


Perhaps, but I don't think it's trivial for a computer to learn it via an
explanation, and the communication, reasoning, problem solving, and
understanding required to do so make it a good test of real intelligence. Of
course, tic-tac-toe is just an example. If I were tasked to conduct a Turing
test I wouldn't use tic-tac-toe, I'd make up a simple game of my own.


> Now, if you want a challenge for a computer, try the oriental board
> game Go. As far as I know, there aren't any computers that can grok
> that as good as people yet. I'm sure it's coming soon though. :-)
>

No doubt. And it'll be impressive. But it'll still just be a Go computer and
not generally intelligent.

I think the problem is really related to the definition of
> intelligence. Nobody has really defined it...


Wikipedia has a pretty good one:

  "Intelligence is an umbrella term describing a property of the mind
including related abilities, such as the capacities for abstract thought,
understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, learning from past
experiences, planning, and problem solving."

... so the definition seems to
> fall out as "Things people do that computers don't do yet."


I disagree. Show me a computer that meets the above definition of
intelligence at an average human level.


> So what is
> "Things computers do that people can't do"? Certainly it is not ALL
> trivial stuff. For example, using genetic algorithms, computers have
> designed really innovative jet engines that no people ever considered.
> Is that artificial intelligence (i.e. the kind people can't do?)


You mean that people have designed and used programs with genetic algorithms
to create innovative designs. Or did a computer wake up one day and say
"hey, I've got wicked new idea for a jet engine!"?

-Dave
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