Re: Turing Machines and Physical Computation

From: Neil W Rickert (rickert+nn_at_cs.niu.edu)
Date: 11/30/04 

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 21:09:02 +0000 (UTC)

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examachine@gmail.com (Eray Ozkural exa) writes:
>Neil W Rickert <rickert+nn@cs.niu.edu> wrote in message news:<coe8th$tdu$1@usenet.cso.niu.edu>...

>> Computation is the manipulation of representations.

>I am not sure if that's a good description.

>This formal symbol manipulation idea got some otherwise ambitious
>philosophers like Brian Cantwell Smith and gang quite confused.

>Computers can work on representations, that's true. But it is not
>necessary that what is being manipulated is "representation".

It can be an abstract representation -- that is, one that doesn't
actually represent anything.

   -------

The received view of AI is something like:

  A system of sensors that generates representation in some fixed
  manner.

  A manipulation or transformation of these input representation into
  output representations.

  A system of effectors that, in fixed way, generates physical
  actions (behaviors) from the output representations.

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