Re: [FT] Unpredictable AI

On Wed, 20 Jun 2001 18:06:12 -0400, Richard and Emily Bell
<rlbell@sympatico.ca> wrote:

>Computers are really, really bad at
>recognizing things quickly, and it will take an improvement of several
orders of
>magnitude before they are as good as humans. 

I think you're using conflicting arguments to dismantle the AI argument.
At
one point you talk about AIs having the same "learning curve" problem as
humans because they would have to be built using "genetic algorithms".
But,
then you say that AIs can't recognize things as well as humans. In other
words, they will be designed too much like humans that they will have
the same
liabilities, but not have the same benefits? I don't think that's
likely.

Computers are incredibly good at recognizing things quickly. That is,
recognizing SPECIFIC things. Try searching through a list of 100,000
10-digit
numbers for a specific string of digits. A human will probably miss it,
a
computer will find it quickly. 

Unfortunately, computers (currently) have no sense of context. Here's a
good
example. Question 1: What did you have for lunch last Tuesday? Question
2:
Have you ever wrestled an aligator? I'm guessing that you answered
question 2
MUCH faster than question 1. A computer, on the other hand, will
accurately
answer question 1 rather quickly, but would have to go through its
database of
"experiences" to answer question 1.

Human memory is deeply flawed. The human brain has evolved, and still
operates
on a "fight or flight" mechanism. A computer will not panic if swamped
by an
overwhelming number of enemies. A computer will not panic and rout. In
my
original comments, I made mention that a computer controlled fighter
would be
less massive and have faster reaction times. This will be enough that
human
run fighter ships just won't be realistic in the far future... for
combat
roles. 

On the other hand, I can see why you need a sapient lifeform in control
of a
craft when a situation is complex and likely to result in unique
problems all
the time. A _true_ artificial intelligence may make this possible, but I
could
then see such a machine having a survival instinct that would make it
essentially useless in combat. It, quite simply, wouldn't want to die.
I've
actually developed a background universe for this, but I haven't done
anything
with it as yet. I had intended it for DS2 and FT, but I still have to
map it
out...

Allan Goodall		       awg@sympatico.ca
Goodall's Grotto:  http://www.vex.net/~agoodall

"Now, see, if you combine different colours of light,
 you get white! Try that with Play-Doh and you get
 brown! How come?" - Alan Moore & Kevin Nolan,