¶ Computer Asks an Original Question (2)
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Index Entry
Computer Asks an Original Question:
"of the human brain in respect to the computer, some of their claims might in time prove valid. For a long time philosophers assumed that the computer could not ask original questions. They said that the computer could only re-ask a question man has taught it to ask.
"Despite the philosophers’ wishful predictions, the computer has now demonstrated its ability to ask an original question–and it did so without being instructed. Otherwise the question could not be assessed as ‘original.’ The surprise demonstration came about approximately as follows: You can teach a computer to play games, for instance to play checkers. You can also teach a computer to play backgammon. You also can build a computer with enough parts to permit it to play both backgammon and checkers at the same time.
“Now, both backgammon and checkers are played at different rates. Furthermore, the checker moves are simple and direct. Backgammon is complex. Therefore the same computer, playing both games concurrently, completes the checker moves far more rapidly than the backgammon moves. The backgammon rate is not an even wavelength multiple of the checker rate.”
¶ Citations
- THE PROSPECTS FOR HUMANITY, Sat. Review, 29 Aug’64
