Article View: comp.ai
Article #8544Re: Thought and Utility
From: Russell Turpin
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1989 03:15
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1989 03:15
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In article <0cTG02uf793w01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, kp@uts.amdahl.com (Ken Presting) writes: > Evaluating a utility function and applying a decision procedure seems to > me to be the formal essence of cognition. Any system that does this has, > I suggest, the beginnings of intelligence. Several other qualities are > relevant (use of a public language, self-modification, susceptibility to > argument) to full "personhood", but you have to respect a machine that > knows what it wants and knows how to get it. You're in good company. John McCarthy makes the same kind of argument. According to him, a thermostat is capable of three different thoughts: "it's too hot", "it's too cold", and "the temperature here is just right". Russell
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!turpin From: turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) Newsgroups: comp.ai,sci.philosophy.tech Subject: Re: Thought and Utility Summary: John McCarthy would agree. Keywords: utility, decision theory Message-ID: <7462@cs.utexas.edu> Date: 29 Dec 89 03:15:35 GMT References: <31821@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> <0cTG02uf793w01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> Followup-To: comp.ai,sci.philosophy.tech Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 14