Oh! I didn't know that was the sort of VR you meant. I still think of that as pattern matching.

See, that's the thing. That kind of pattern-matching used to be hard, even for a single user; now you're used to it and you think of it as easy. When an AI application hits the mainstream, you don't think of it as AI any more.

And incidentally, just because something's sucky doesn't mean it isn't an instance of the class. O'Hare Airport is still an airport. "Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire" is still a TV show. George W. Bush is still a human being.

George W. Bush is still a human being.

Emmett disputes this.

That kind of pattern-matching used to be hard, even for a single user; now you're used to it and you think of it as easy.

But being hard doesn't make it AI. That's my whole wondering--what is resource intensive computing, what's extended problem solving, and what's intelligence? Does any of that lead to artificial sentience?

Was it hard because you couldn't harness the power in something usefully small? Was it hard because we didn't know how to do it yet? Why didn't we know? How fuzzy is the logic? How heuristic? How independent?

just because something's sucky doesn't mean it isn't an instance of the class

But can also make it not an instance. How big a failure does a spoon have to be as a piece of underwear to not be one? Just because I'm calling this piece of metal clothing doesn't make it so.

I don't know who this is in response to and which article but I agree that the sf chron article about trend pieces managed to be guilty most of the exact same sins-- fudging, hedging, observation posing as proof, and speculation.

bon bon, here: DavidS "Natter 41: Why Do I Click on ita's Links?!" Jan 4, 2006 11:54:47 am PST

Here's a trend: Every newspaper is annoying! See Times, New York; and Chronicle, San Francisco.

I'm going through a bit of a Music Man phase.

Amish Rodney on the auction block!

Amish Rodney on the auction block!

This is why you are the wind beneath my wings.

Well, AI is a huge umbrella of computer science topics, a lot of things that individually wouldn't be considered "intelligent".

I think though at some point we will see software that interacts so much like a sentient being that it will be difficult to not call it sentient. However you won't be able to point to any single part of it and say that's what did it, that's what crossed the line.

This is why you are the wind beneath my wings.

It's always good to have a partner in crack. That way you have somebody to blame.

I'm going through a bit of a Music Man phase.

I'm thinking about getting my dad a plaque saying, "I consider the hours I spend with a cue in my hand are golden" that he can put over his pool table (my sister gave him a very pretty cuestick for Christmas).