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AI - Artificial Intelligence - really?
by Klaus Kohl
A computer, what's it what it is doing? Is it computing? Is it perhaps really (or secretly) thinking for me?
NO!
I use it.
I choose the program to let it work.
I produce inputs and I am awaiting an output corresponding to my anticipations. Intermediately there is the data processing running after a scheme fixed by the programmer(s) and the engineer(s) of the machine.
Eingabe - Verarbeitung - Ausgabe, it is called "EVA"-principle. (Sorry, this pun, common in German, works only in the German language.) At all three places (Input - Processing - Output) there only the human intelligence is or was working!
If a computer could think, then it would be possible to make inputs simply of that kind and I could await an useful output:
- Do my homework!
- Make a three-page summary of my Harry-Potter-Book, I have no time to read it fully. But I want to know what is the most exciting part. Is it funny?
- Here you have my scrap papers - do my Physics journal until tomorrow, French may wait until monday and History... look what is useful for the trimester work.
- Oh, this calculation task. I don't understand it."
No, there won't be any help by "Fuck" or "Please"! That is impossible for any computer and it's still extremely incredible that it will ever happen.
Maybe I choose a word processing program and type that stupid task from my arithmetics book:
"Three workers need four days to dig a ditch, how long will it take for four workers?"
then the program might show my typing errors, on the other hand, when I type "wor" it shows automatically "wordprocessing". But to show, that the four workers will need three days - it doesn't know and it will never know it.
I may make an other program (in a spreadsheet perhaps) with the two columns "Workers" and "Days" and an appropriate formula. And when this is done, I can get the right results by inserting at first in the two columns "Workers" - "Days" in the upper line 3 and 4. And if I consequently in the lower line
Workers | Days |
---|
3 | 4 |
4 | 3 |
6 | 2 |
1 | 12 |
1200 | 0.01 |
into the "Workers" column type "4", in the "Days" column immediately appears "3" and with 6 workers the result is 2 days, 1 worker will need 12 days and logically 1200 workers will do the job in 0.01 days. Logically, but total nonsense, the workers mutually standing on their feet and hitting the shovel sticks into their faces - no computer can imagine that. But I can modify the program to eliminate such a rubbish, eventually decorated by snappish comments - but is then the computer more intelligent?
Intelligence without fantasy? - No. Computers with fantasy? ? ?