linkedin facebook twitter rss

28 Jul Patterns in the Mind

Learning Head

As we look for suitable solution designs for representing the knowledge and processes we humans use to communicate, we realize that we have no idea what knowledge in the brain looks like. Further, we only have relatively vague ideas about the processes that occur in the brain as we produce and comprehend words, phrases and sentences. […]

26 Jul Parallel Distributed Pattern Processing

PDP Networks We have discussed recognition processes in the brain. Connectionism, a fundamentally implicit approach to neural modeling, was championed by the parallel distributed processing (PDP) group. PDP networks use many interconnected processing elements (PEs) that, according to the PDP Group, configure themselves to match input data with “minimum conflict or discrepancy” (Rumelhart & McClelland, 1986, Vol. 2, […]

24 Jul Pattern Classification in Space

Deep Space over the Water

Pattern Classification Visual patterns can be recognized and classified based on prior knowledge: I see that this hairy animal has four legs and is about the same size as my dog, so I’ll assume it is (or classify it as) a dog. This may not be a correct classification, but it’s more correct than classifying it […]

15 Jul From Perception and Learning to Logic

Software of Thought

Perception and Learning I am not a cognitive scientist, so all I have said in this section is based on the work of others. On the other hand, I have probably spent more time seriously studying cognition than most computer geeks, and I have tried to form my perspectives around the best of our knowledge. The […]

08 Jul Playing the Slots

Curving Matrix or Frame

Frames and More You could just throw everything into the blender and see if a nice smoothie comes out. But for some cuisine and some complex processing tasks, the blender model is unsatisfactory. With neural networks and semantic networks and concept graphs, it may be best to separate things by category, choose different blender speeds, […]

01 Jul Chaos About Us

Fractal Flower

Chaos About Us Chaos is all about us. I know that for certain each time I look into my kids’ rooms. When I recall my own youth, however, it occurs to me that I had a reason for the way I organized my life. It seemed meaningful to me, and although I recall how difficult it was […]

27 May Machine Components for Intelligence

Complex Flow Chart

If an abacus or a log and rope can be considered intelligent machines, then we can decompose their parts, possibly rearrange them, and get different kinds of intelligent machines. I know this is an extreme example of absurd reasoning. Let’s go from the opposite direction in the complexity spectrum. Can we use the human brain and its parts as […]

26 May AI Domains and Approaches

Grouping, Classifying and Categorizing How do you solve big technical problems? Rather than selecting or inventing an approach and then attempting to apply it to a problem to see how well it works, let’s analyze the problem and see if we can find or invent a solution that matches the problem space, and see if […]

22 May What Constitutes a Brain

Log and Rope

By: Joe Roushar – May 2014 Mechanical Brains In its most general sense, the term mechanical brain could be applied to any man-made contrivance that is capable of functioning or generating information in some manner analogous to thinking. Under this broad definition, if the function were remembering an image (as we remember people’s faces), a camera with […]

20 May Cybernetic Modeling for Smarty-Pants

Model Railroad

Introduction Model railroads come in several scales: O, HO and N gauge enable hobbyists to model real-world objects in miniature using successively smaller standards. In N gauge it is possible to build an entire city in the basement. A good model photographed with still or motion pictures may be so realistic that viewers believe they are looking […]