[ExI] Universal Computing Red Herring [WAS AI Motivation revisited]

[Stefano Vaj]

2011/7/6 Richard Loosemore <rloosemore at susaro.com>:
> Stefano Vaj wrote:
>> I am not sure I understand what the choice of using or non-using it
>> might imply, but if AGI indicated Artificial *General* Intelligence,
>> there might be something mystifying in the term "general", since
>> either it refers to universal computing - and in that case it must be
>> noted for the umpteenth time that almost everything is a universal
>> computer - or it implies that some more fundamental differences would
>> exist amongst different universal computers other than a performance
>> edge at a given task, which is basically false.
>
> Can I just reiterate that universal computing has absolutely NOTHING to do
> with any of the issues related to Artificial General Intelligence, or the
> possibility of a hard takeoff, or the viability of human-like artificial
> intelligence.

Such an unqualified assumption sounds quite weird. Do you seriously
expect that AGIs could be implemented on non-universal computing
devices? After all, human beings themselves do exhibit universal
computing capabilities... :-/

--
Stefano Vaj