On Wednesday 21 February 2007 11:52, Aki Iskandar wrote:
> I'd be interested in getting some feedback on the book "On
> Intelligence" (author: Jeff Hawkins).
> ...
> The basic premise of the book, if I can even attempt to summarize it
> in two statements (I wouldn't be doing it justice though) is:
>
> 1 - Intelligence is the ability to make predictions on memory.
> 2 - Artificial Intelligence will not be achieved by todays computer
> chips and smart software. What is needed is a new type of computer -
> one that is physically wired differently.
1 is a piece of the truth, to what extent varies in the opinions of people
here and has been discussed extensively. It isn't particularly original with
Hawkins.
2 is silly. Once any particular function in the nervous system has been worked
out, it's straightforward to simulate it in software. You can vary the
hardware to optimize, if the algorithm is wierd enough (see graphics
accelerators) but that should come *after* you know what you're doing.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- C.A.R. Hoare
The other idea in OI worth noting is Mountcastle's Principle, that all of the
cortex seems to be doing the same thing. Hawkins gets credit for pointing it
out, but of course it was a published observation of Mountcastle in the first
place. My AI architecture is influenced by the observation, although it's not
quite as useful as it might seem. (E.g. it would be satisfied by saying each
column is a general-purpose processor.)
Josh
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