Strong vs. Weak AI ECE 847: Digital Image Processing Stan Birchfield Clemson University.

Strong vs. Weak AI

ECE 847:Digital Image Processing

Stan BirchfieldClemson University

The coming takeover

Common theme:- Robots become intelligent- Robots become independent- Robots get out of control- Robots must be subdued

Why all the fuss? Need we fear?

The central question

• This is not just for entertainment• It has far-reaching implications• Two camps:

– strong AI: There is no fundamental difference between man and machine

– weak AI: Only people can think, machines cannot

• Central question: Is there a fundamental difference between man and machine, or is it only a difference in computing power?

The question restated

• Stated another way,– Can computers think?

• What does it mean to think?

In favor of “Strong AI”

• Strong AI argument #1: Look at what machines can do

play soccer (Robocup)

clean(Roomba vaccuum cleaner)

They play music

flute(Atsuo Takanishi’s flute-playing robot)

trumpet(Toyota’s trumpet-playing robot 2008)

conductor(Honda’s Asimo robot conducts

Detroit Symphony Orchestra 2008)

organ(Ichiro Kato’s WABOT II

reads music and plays the organ 1984)

They even compose music

MySong: http://research.microsoft.com/~dan/mysong/

… and have emotions

Rity sobot(from Kim Jong-Hwan at Korea's Institute of

Advanced Science and Technology)

In favor of “Strong AI”• Strong AI argument #2: Look at what

people said machines will never doHubert Dreyfus, Berkeley philosopher: No computer will ever beat me at chess

1967: Richard Greenblatt's MacHack’s program beat him

Then Dreyfus: Well, no computer will beat a nationally ranked player

But it did

Then Dreyfus: Well, no computer will beat a world champion

1997: Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov Kasparov vs. Deep Blue

The clincher

• Many people are fond of saying, “They will never make a machine to replace the human mind --- it does many things which no machine could ever do.”

• J. von Neumann gave talk in Princeton (1948)– Question from audience:

“But of course, a mere machine can't really think, can it?”

– Answer:“You insist that there is something a machine cannot do. If you will tell me precisely what it is that a machine cannot do, then I can always make a machine which will do just that!''

[from E. T. Jaynes, Probability Theory: The Logic of Science]

“Weak AI” responses• Hubert Dreyfus, Berkeley philosopher:

Nonformal aspects of thinking cannot be reduced to mechanized processes

• John Searle, Berkeley philosopher: Chinese room experiment – blindly translating is not the same as thinking

• Thomas Ray, Oklahoma zoologist: carbon medium and silicon medium are fundamentally different

• Roger Penrose, British physicist and mathematician:Consciousness arises from mysterious force of quantum effects

• David Chalmers, UC Santa Cruz philosopher:Basis of consciousness may be mysterious new type that has not yet been observed

One thing in common: All appeal to materialistic (even if mysterious) explanations

An alternative view

• Thesis:– “Strong AI” is fundamentally wrong

• There is a fundamental difference• Machines can never be equivalent to humans

in all respects

– “Weak AI” arguments are – well – weakbecause they all assume materialism in their foundation

– The dilemma is solved by recognizing the role of the spirit (or soul)

The “Strong AI” model

input output

deterministic algorithm(running on silicon)

input output

deterministic algorithm(running on carbon)

Computer Human

The proposed model

input output

deterministic algorithm(running on silicon)

input output

deterministic algorithm(running on carbon)

Computer Human

immaterial spirit

Turing machine

• Recall the Turing machine:

• This simple abstract device (Universal Turing machine) can simulate the behavior of any digital computer – past, present, or future!

Benjamin Schumacher, http://physics.kenyon.edu/coolphys/thrmcmp/newcomp.htm

The proposed model

deterministic algorithm(running on silicon)

deterministic algorithm(running on carbon)

and immaterial decision maker

Computer Human

contingencymechanism

Let’s zoom in

contingency mechanism – decision made by immaterial spirit

affects physical outcome

Computer Human

http://gs.fanshawec.ca/tlc/math270/images/2_7_Bi2.jpg 0

1

How can this model be tested?

input output

• Kolmogorov complexity of output string s is the length of the shortest program that outputs s• Example:

K( 22/7 ) < K()• Define: Complexity of device is the maximum Kolmogorov complexity that it can output, when no input is given• For Turing machines, K(output) ≤ K(input) + C(device)

device0010001010101… 010111010001…

Conservation of information

device

input image output imagelosslesscompression

algorithm(e.g., LZW)

number of bits ( output ) < number of bits ( input )

complexity ( output ) = complexity ( input )

Process is reversible

(Note: This complexity is entropy, not Kolmogorov complexity)

Conservation of information

device

input image output imagelossycompression

algorithm(e.g., JPEG)

number of bits ( output ) < number of bits ( input )

complexity ( output ) < complexity ( input )

Process is NOT reversible

Conservation of information

device

input image output imagedownsample

number of bits ( output ) < number of bits ( input )

complexity ( output ) < complexity ( input )

Process is NOT reversible

• Furby (1998)– speaks Furbish off-the-shelf– learns English over time

• How does it do this?– Pre-programmed to speak English– Program causes more English to be used

over time– Nothing is learned– No new information

Conservation of information

Information generation• We do not expect computers to generate new information• Rather, they only process existing information• This limitation is NOT dependent on the speed / computational

power of the computer

http://www.clipartof.com/images/clipart/xsmall2/4205_motorcycle_policeman_filling_out_a_traffic_citationticket_form.jpg

http://digitalclonesrus.com/assets/images/happy_man_at_computer.jpg

“You have illegal files on your computer!”

“No officer. You see, I just bought this new processor, and it’s so powerful that it decided to create those files.”

Information generation• We DO expect people to generate new information:

– The basic requirement for a PhD is a contribution to human knowledge– Intellectual property assumes that knowledge is created by the inventors– Plagiarism is detected when one person’s work is similar to another’s– There is a distinction between original work and derivative work

• Example:– In 2005, students at MIT (Stribling et al.) wrote a computer program to generate research papers– The automatically generated paper was actually accepted for publication by the World Multi-Conference on

Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI)?– Why was this such a scandal?– Why did people complain that the conference organizers had not reviewed submissions thoroughly rather than

conclude that computers had now reached human intelligence?

Generating information

input output

If complexity ( output ) > complexity ( input ), then the complexity

must arise from the device itself

(cf. Noam Chomsky’s black box for studying children’s innate ability to learn language)

But the human brain is not complex enough. Back-of-the-envelope calculation:• Library of Congress has approx. 20 TB of written information

• Human genome contains 3 billion DNA rungs for a total of 6 billion bits of data

20,000,000,000,000 >> 1,000,000,000

device0010001010101… 010111010001…

Free will• Contingency mechanism enables human to make free

decisions• This is necessary for

– moral responsibility– ethical standards– laws of justice (e.g., was the act intentional?)– self-improvement (Covey’s gap between stimulus and response)

• In historic Christian theology, people are defined as “rational creatures”, which implies– free will– immaterial, immortal soul

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Gen. 1:27

• Without free will, we are either– deterministic, or– random

Either way leads to irrationality

Consciousness

• Common view is that consciousness arises from materialistic processes in body

• Why? Not because of evidence, but because of prior philosophical commitment to naturalism

• Kurzweil proposes to produce exact replica of brain– Then he will be automatically transported to the copy– Why should we think that, even if our brain could be copied,

our consciousness should go with it?– What if the brain is copied multiple times? Will we have

multiple consciousnesses?– This is a vain attempt at immortality (Salvation by computer

upload)– Note that all proponents of this idea predict that the

technology will conveniently be in place by the time they are 70 years old – see Pattie Maes, "Why Immortality is a Dead Idea", 1993

Creativity

• Consider song as point in high-dimensional space

• Interpolating between songs may be possible (blending)

• Creating new songs in local neighborhood may be possible

• Claim: Making meaningful macro-jumps is not possible

• Even if it were possible, who would be the judge of quality? Computer or human?

What’s wrong with the Turing test?

• Turing test:– one computer, one person, one judge– All communication via terminal– Goal: Judge tries to tell which is computer and which is

person• Turing test can never be used to tell whether there is

a fundamental difference between computer and human

• Reason: Judge is required to be a human• In other words,

– Suppose computer = human– Then human judge can be replaced by computer judge– But now test does not make any sense

More…

• Chess revisited: – Sure, computers can play chess, but can

they invent a new game to replace chess?– Can they invent new rules?

• Artificial life started with promise, then fizzled out as hopes were not realized

• Captchas: Reverse Turing tests• Church-turing thesis• Complex specified information

One final thought• Similarity between computers

and animals:– Animals act by instinct– Animals do not have free will

• Learn the lesson of Grizzly Man(Timothy Treadwell):– He thought bears were his friends– He thought they were

misunderstood– He ignored warnings about

getting too close– They killed him

Is computer vision possible?

• Distinction between– information processing: the information is changed from one

form to another, or is lost• algorithms change information

– information generation: the information is created• natural processes cannot create information• there is no algorithm to create information• information generation requires a contingency mechanism• supernatural or metanatural process -> spirit or soul

• Will a computer ever be able to enjoy an aesthetically pleasing painting?

if (painting_is_pretty){

printf(“I love this painting”);}