From: Ian Wright (ian_paul_wright@HOTMAIL.COM)
Date: Thu Jan 22 2004 - 18:22:04 EST
Hello Chris, Yes, chess programs don't play like humans, and tend to rely on brute-force methods of heuristic search (though not exclusively). It's easier to beat a human in this domain with extra processing power rather than trying to simulate human reasoning. But it doesn't follow that we've learnt nothing about human mental processes from AI and cognitive science. Apologies for the length of this message, but allow me to give one example of something that has been learnt. Take your example of "gestalt". The Necker cube illusion: http://www.yorku.ca/eye/necker.htm causes the observer to flip between two different kinds of "gestalt" interpretations of the scene. AI can explain this. Research in computer vision has discovered that processing a visual scene is indeterminate as the visual field does not contain sufficient information to uniquely interpret it (Kant would be happy). Some AI vision systems parse the visual field by a process known as constraint satisfaction, in which a set of constraints, usually types of connections between identifiable lines at various points in the field, are labelled as "in front" or "behind" each other in a mutually consistent manner. In the case of a Necker cube, there is more than one consistent interpretation, and the constraint satisfaction process does not settle down, but flips between the two possible global labellings. This algorithmic finding can then integrate with neuropsychology and related to the organisation of the visual cortex to determine whether this is a good theory of aspects of visual processing in humans and animals. This theory of gestalt, unlike the contemplative or speculative version, has the advantage of being sufficiently well specified to be constructed in artificial systems that replicate aspects of human vision. So not only has something been learnt about the human mind, but something practical has been built. -Ian. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
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