Creativity & Intelligence
Creativity at the Metalevel: AAAI-2000 Presidential Address
Creativity is sometimes taken to be an inexplicable aspect of human activity. By summarizing a considerable body of literature on creativity, I hope to show how to turn some of the best ideas about creativity into programs that are demonstrably more creative than any we have seen to date. I believe the key to building more creative programs is to give them the ability to reflect on and modify their own frameworks and criteria. That is, I believe that the key to creativity is at the metalevel.
The Computer Revolution in Philosophy
"Computing can change our ways of thinking about many things, mathematics, biology, engineering, administrative procedures, and many more. But my main concern is that it can change our thinking about ourselves: giving us new models, metaphors, and other thinking tools to aid our efforts to fathom the mysteries of the human mind and heart. The new discipline of Artificial Intelligence is the branch of computing most directly concerned with this revolution. By giving us new, deeper, insights into some of our inner processes, it changes our thinking about ourselves. It therefore changes some of our inner processes, and so changes what we are, like all social, technological and intellectual revolutions." This book, published in 1978 by Harvester Press and Humanities Press, has been out of print for many years, and is now online, produced from a scanned in copy of the original, digitised by OCR software and made available in September 2001. Since then a number of notes and corrections have been added. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press.
Some methods of artificial intelligence and heuristic programming
Particular attention is given to processes involving pattern recognition, learning, planning ahead, and the use of analogies or?models!. Also considered is the question of designing "administrative" procedures to manage the use of these other devices. The paper begins with a discussion of what is meant by "Intelligence" and concludes with a sec-- tion concerned with some techniques through which a machine might further improve itself by adding to Its collection of problem--solving methods. I. INTELLIGENCE I feel that it would not be useful to lay down any absolute defini-- tion of "intelligence" or of "intelligent behaviour". For our goals in trying to design "thinking machines" are constantly changing in relation to our ever--increasing resources in this area. Certainly there are many kinds of performances which if exhibited by a man we would all agree, today, require or manifest intelligence. But would we agree tomorrow?
Intelligent machinery
The possible ways in which machinery might be made to show intelligent behaviour are discussed. The analogy with the human brain is used as a guiding principle. It is pointed out that the potentialities of the human intelligence can only be realized if suitable education is provided. The investigation mainly centres round an analogous teaching process applied to machines. The idea of an unorganized machine is defined, and it is suggested that the infant human cortex is of this nature. Simple examples of such machines are given, and their education by means of rewards and punishments is discussed.