Gnomatron's New Writeups

expert system (thing)

2004-05-05T21:35:56Z

An expert system is a computer system designed to capture the knowledge and behaviour of an expert in some problem domain; they are also known as knowledge-based systems for this reason. Typical domains are medical diagnosis or electronic repair, where the expert identifies problems and solutions to them from a limited set of data, making inferences from the combination of their knowledge of the domain and the data available. In such cases, the aim of the expert system is to reproduce this ability in a computer system, allowing people with less experience access to the expert's knowledge. A typical expert system is composed of an inference engine and a knowledge base. The knowledge base consists of the rules and facts which compose the knowledge acquired from the expert, and the inference engine uses these rules and facts along with data entered by the user to draw conclusions.

technology singularity (idea)

2002-05-30T12:31:55Z

A major problem with this belief is that it relies on the existence of a program capable of designing computers that is at least as good as human engineers. We have no such program now, and we probably could not build one even if we tried. It would be a mammoth task, requiring a massive research program and a far better knowledge of the workings of the human mind and the scientific principles of computer design than we currently have. We may be able to build better computers, but an algorithm that builds better computers is a far more daunting task. It takes years of research and scientific breakthroughs in many fields to make a new computer chip, not just a simple improvement in the old design. In principle, it may be possible, but the predicitions that give a 50-year timeline based purely on Moore's law are flawed, as they pay no heed to whether or not we will have the software to use this mammoth power.

Also, this belief assumes - wrongly - that a computer…

Logical necessity (idea)

2002-02-28T18:24:32Z

A logical necessity is a logical deduction which can be drawn from no premises, and is always true.

The most basic logically necessary argument follows this form:

Either it is raining, or it is not raining.

Or, in a more formal notation:

P v ~P

Which reads "P or not P". There are many other logically necessary deductions, but this is the most basic. Note that this is only true for some forms of logic; in fuzzy logic, for example, P & ~P may be a valid statement, if apparently non-sensical.

February 26, 2002 (idea)

2002-02-26T12:01:13Z

IndefiniteArticle: don't go. Come back. Start a new account. Write more nodes. We need more noders. Not until all the knowledge under the sun has been noded will we be happy. We don't care that you "cheated". It's not a game; you put in a lot of effort, and you deserve some credit for that. So what if you moved up levels while the rest of us didn't? If we never thought of it as a game ourselves, would we care at all? I don't think so. True, most of us try to see xp and levels as secondary at best, but we're all guilty of that little rush of factual nodes when we're just 5 w/u's away from the next level, aren't we? Not that there's anything wrong with factual nodes, but really, would you have written them if it was 50 nodes to level 4, and not 5? So don't leave. Stay with us, just try to play by the rules this time.

genetic algorithm (thing)

2002-02-09T14:19:39Z

A research program recently used a genetic algorithm to design a swimming robot. A computer simulation was used to test the possible designs; the robot that could swim a mile in the fastest time won. All sorts of designs evolved; flappy-arm robots, propellor-driven ones, and so on. Some were quite fast.

The robot that won, however, was amazingly quick; it was a pillar a mile tall that fell over, thus crossing the finishing line in a matter of seconds.

Unsurprisingly, the people running the experiment didn't publish their results. They did, however, spread by word of mouth among the AI community.

November 10, 2001 (idea)

2001-11-10T18:00:05Z

I just saw edibleplastic in the street, which was nice. Always good to meet fellow noders. I was on a supply run for working food - Kettle Chips, Irn-Bru, Red Kola and chicken pakoras. Yum. Anyway, to come to the point, An Edinburgh E2 gathering seems increasingly likely. nine9, edibleplastic /me and a good few others live here, and there are bound to be some who are close enough to travel. As a provisional date, how does Saturday the 24th of November sound for those of you who may be interested? (that's in two weeks time). I was thinking we could go for coffee, watch a film in a nice pub I know - it's a really good place to watch a movie, much better than a cinema - and possibly go to a gallery or do something similarly cultural during the day. Anyway, all interested parties should /msg me, or e-mail me at 9902253@sms.ed.ac.uk

I'll write a proper node with a plan of action at some point in the near future.

Now, back to that damn Cognitive Science assignment.