Jared FriedmanOctober 22, 2003 Harvard Science ReviewThe Sole Contender for AIAI ha! been brain"dead !ince the #$%0!,
!aid &arvin &in'!(, one of the )ndi!*)ted fo)ndin+ father! of the field of artificial intelli+ence AI-, at a recent !*eech at .o!ton /niver!it( &in!'( wa! referrin+ to the fact that while AI ha! had !)cce!! in narrow, e1*ert domain!, li'e *la(in+ che!! or com*o!in+ m)!ic, it remain! !t)m*ed b( the )ltimate +oal of b)ildin+ a !in+le com*)ter !(!tem that i! +enerall( intelli+ent abo)t the world hile there are man( AI re!earcher! wor'in+ on vario)! !)b"*roblem! of the field, it i! !)r*ri!in+ how few are act)all( tac'lin+ the a+e"old dream of b)ildin+ a com*)ter one co)ld )!t have a conver!ation with, li'e HA4 $000 in
2001: A Space Odyssey
Indeed, &in!'( went on to !a( that, in hi! o*inion, onl( one *roect wa! on the ri+ht trac' to !olvin+ the dee* *roblem! of AI5 the C(c *roect The C(c derived from en"c(c"lo*edia- *roect i! ba!ed on the idea that the *rimar( im*ediment to a HA4"li'e !(!tem i! the lac' of common!en!e 'nowled+e in com*)ter! In AI, common!en!e 'nowled+e i! loo!el( the !et of fact! that an( normal ad)lt *er!on wo)ld be e1*ected to 'now, !)ch a! when *eo*le die, the( !ta( dead, a do+ i! a t(*e of animal, and !)bmarine! are meant to travel )nder water hile it i! diffic)lt to e!timate the !i6e of thi! !et of fact!, it i! 'nown to be ver( lar+e, *erha*! in theten million!, and there i! c)rrentl( no com*)ter !(!tem that *o!!e!!e! it Time and a+ain,AI ha! met a roadbloc' in thi! lac' of common!en!e 'nowled+e The hallmar' of AI, e1*ert !(!tem!, which are *ro+ram! that attem*t to re*licate ta!'! that h)man e1*ert! do !)ch a! +ivin+ medical advice or ma'in+ travel *lan!, are 'nown for their brittlene!! " their tendenc( to brea' down in )nfamiliar !it)ation! A cla!!ic e1am*le i! the *ro+ram &7CI8, which dia+no!e! blood di!ea!e! better than mo!t h)man e1*ert! b)t wo)ld be li'el( to *re!cribe *enicillin for the ailment! of a r)!tin+ car The lac' of common!en!e 'nowled+e al!o limit! the acc)rac( of forei+n lan+)a+e tran!lation !(!tem! For in!tance,a *ro+ram that attem*t! to tran!late the *hra!e bat! and other !mall mammal! into S*ani!h m)!t be able to tell whether the word bat refer! to an animal
murciélago
or toa ba!eball bat
bate
, and to do thi! it m)!t 'now that the former meanin+ i! 'ind of !mallmammal and the latter i! not .eca)!e of the common!en!e *roblem, even the be!t com*)teri6ed tran!lator! +ive ver( mediocre *erformance and commerciall( viable e1*ert !(!tem! are rare The C(c *roect i! an attem*t to brea' thi! bottlenec' on AI once and for all b( *ro+rammin+ the whole of common!en!e 'nowled+e into a com*)ter Common!en!e fact! in C(c are !tored in formal lo+ic, and are hand"entered b( h)man 'nowled+e en+ineer! An inference en+ine i! able to rea!on with the!e fact! to an!wer 9)erie!, and a nat)ral lan+)a+e interface can tran!late between :n+li!h and C(c;! internal re*re!entationlan+)a+e <otential a**lication! for C(c ran+e from the *ro!aic, !)ch a! a !anit("chec'er
#
AI Fo)nder .la!t! &odern Re!earch ired 8ew!, &a( #3, 2003 =htt*5>>wwwwiredcom>new!>technolo+(>0,#2?2,@?%#,00htmlB cited 2% Se*t, 2003-
for !*read!heet! that wo)ld 'now that 2,@2 i! not a rea!onable val)e for a *er!on;! a+e, to the world"chan+in+, !)ch a! a 9)e!tion"an!werin+ !(!tem that co)ld )!e information on the internet to re!*ond to 9)e!tion! li'e hat i! the !econd"talle!t mo)ntain on earth and how hi+h i! itD with a !in+le an!wer E2, 2?,2@# ft The C(c *roect ha! been wor'in+ on thi! *roblem for abo)t twent( (ear!, and C(c now contain! abo)t #@ million fact!, or a!!ertion! Thi! i! b( far the lar+e!t collection of common!en!e 'nowled+e in the world C(cor*, the com*an( that *rod)ce! C(c, ha! abo)t ei+ht( em*lo(ee!, mo!t of whom are ontolo+i!t!, who !*end their time addin+ to and im*rovin+ the C(c 'nowled+e ba!e E.- hile C(c;! E. contain! a !i+nificant fraction of common!en!e 'nowled+e, and C(c ha! in +eneral made +reat !tride! toward! it! )ltimate +oal, it remain! a wor' in *ro+re!! In *artic)lar, C(c ha! (et to be !)cce!!f)ll( de*lo(ed in a commercial !it)ation, and it! develo*ment i! !till f)nded *rimaril( b( AR<A, the efen!e Advanced Re!earch <roect! A+enc( C(c;! E. i! lar+e eno)+h now to an!wer a !)b!tantial *ercenta+e of randoml( cho!en common!en!e 9)e!tion!, li'e hat color i! +ra!!D, o fi!h fl(D, hat !ha*e i! the earthD C(c;! nat)ral lan+)a+e !(!tem can almo!t alwa(! tran!late C(c;! internal 'nowled+e and thin'in+ into :n+li!h, b)t C(c cannot (et )nder!tand mo!t normal :n+li!h !entence! Fi+)re # Five :1am*le Sentence! in C(c4# Gi!a GH)rricaneAndrew GH)rricane- 2 G+enl! GH)rricane GRain<roce!!- 3 GrelationAll:1i!t! GeventOcc)r!At GRain<roce!! GRain(4ocation- G+enl! GRain(4ocation GClo)d(4ocation-@ Gdi!ointith GClo)d(4ocation GS)nn(4ocation-
Screen!hot of C(c Thi! i! the C(c E. brow!er, where )!er! can brow!e and im*rove C(c;! 'nowled+e Thi! *a+e di!*la(! O*enC(c;! 'nowled+e of do+!
Common!en!e 'nowled+e in C(c i! !tored in a *ro*rietar( formal lan+)a+e calledC(c4 C(c4 con!i!t! of abo)t #00,000 con!tant!, each of which corre!*ond! to acommon!en!e conce*t, li'e Go+, GHammer, or GSho)tin+ Combinin+ C(c con!tant! into e1*re!!ion!, C(cor*;! ontolo+ical en+ineer! can !tate fact! abo)t the real world, !)ch a! in the e1am*le !entence! in Fi+)re # C(c;! inference en+inecan then rea!on with the !tored informationto an!wer 9)e!tion! even if the an!wer! are not directl( !tated in the E. So for in!tance, !a( that !ome )!er te!tin+ C(c;! 'nowled+e a!'ed C(c if it wa! clo)d( d)rin+ H)rricane Andrew :ven tho)+h no ontolo+i!t wo)ld a!!ert !)ch a fact directl(, C(c can !till )!e the e1am*le !entence! to derive it C(c wo)ld rea!on that #- H)rricane Andrew i! a h)rricane, and 2- all h)rricane! are rain *roce!!e!, !o H)rricane Andrew m)!t be a rain *roce!! Sentence three tell! C(c that all rain *roce!!e!m)!t occ)r at !ome rain( location, !o Andrew m)!t al!o occ)r at a rain( location .)t -!a(! that all rain( location! are al!o clo)d( location!, !o C(c can concl)de that Andrew m)!t have occ)rred at a clo)d( !*ot It ma( !)r*ri!e (o) to learn that if a!'ed whether the !)n wa! !hinin+ d)rin+ the middle of H)rricane Andrew, C(c will not be able to )!e @-, which !a(! that clo)d( location! are never !)nn(, to *rove that it wa! not The *roblem here i! a !)btle lo+ical flaw in the third !entence, which doe! not r)le o)t the *o!!ibilit( that Andrew mi+ht haveocc)rred at !ome other location which mi+ht be !)nn(- in addition to the clo)d( one Thi! i! e1actl( the 'ind of *roblem that C(cor*;! ontolo+i!t! con!tantl( confront S)btle hole! in C(c;! 'nowled+e are omni*re!ent, and tremendo)!l( diffic)lt to find and *atch S)btle contradiction! are )!t a! m)ch of a *roblem For e1am*le, combinin+ - and @-,we can concl)de that if it i! rain( o)t!ide, it i! not !)nn( Thi! ma( be a +ood +eneral r)le of th)mb, b)t it obvio)!l( brea'! down in the ca!e of !)n !hower! Con!iderin+ ever( !)ch e1ce*tional ca!e i! a da)ntin+ b)t nece!!ar( ta!' for C(cor*;! ontolo+i!t!
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