Mike, 

 

you are right, emergent inference is contradictory, because the inference
does not emerge. I was thinking of another name, perhaps causal inference. 

 

Inference, to me, is finding new facts from known facts, either formulaic or
not. In this case, EI finds new forms from known forms, but is uncomputable,
so the new forms can not be derived formulaically. EI does not guess or
create anything, it finds its self-organized strctures form information, so
it needs the information first and the structures depend  on and are
determined by the available information. A new geometry or topolgy emerges
in the brain of a scientist from an enormously great deal of knowledge
acquired by the scientist over perhaps many years, observing, reading book,
learning other theories. It seems to me that your undesrstanding of the term
"inference" is different from mine. 

 

Sergio

 

 

From: Mike Tintner [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 4:25 AM
To: AGI
Subject: [agi] Emergent "Inference"?

 

Can we have a simple example of emergent inference, Sergio?

 

Here's a simple example of what I would consider emergent intelligence -  if
a program that deals only in a,b,c,d .. the A-Z alphabet,   can suddenly
start producing something like - though not the same as - Greek or Hebraic
characters, or cuneiform (without of course knowing beforehand of other
alphabets). That's true emergence - and the essence of AGI.

 

Or if a program can suddenly move on from building houses with bricks to
constructing houses of rocks or logs or cardboard boxes. That's true
emergence.

 

Emergence = the generation of  1) new kinds of elements that cannot be
formulaically derived from the existing kinds -  and/or 2) new forms that do
not fit the same pattern as - cannot be inferred from -  existing forms.

 

Could you explain how "emergent **inference**" isn't a contradiction in
terms? Isn't something that emerges precisely something that by definition
CANNOT be "inferred" from what has gone on before?  Every stage of
evolution, natural and technological, is non-inferrable from the previous
one. For example,  the brain is not inferrable from a distributed neural
net, ditto simple amphibian legs from fins, wings from furry pouches (or
whatever). The tablet is not inferrable from the p.c., the jet is not
inferrable from the propellor etc.

 

I've realised that "emergent inference" is a v. useful concept - but useful;
I suspect, precisely because it is a contradiction in terms. Emergence does
not occur by inference but by totally different processes.

 

ONe way of highlighting this is : can you give one example of any new kind
of logic that has been "inferred" from previous kinds? Or any one new kind
of geometry, that has been inferred from previous kinds? .How could topology
have been inferred? Or freeform geometry? Or Riemannian geometry?


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