Chapter 11
Section 11.1
1. Those introduced in the chapter include reflex actions, actions based on
real-world knowledge, goal seeking actions, learning, and perception.
2. Our purpose here is not to give a decisive answer to this issue but to use it to
show how delicate the argument over the existence of intelligence really is.
3. Although most of us would probably say no, we would probably claim that if a
human dispensed the same products in a similar atmosphere, awareness
would be present even though we might not be able to explain the distinction.
4. There is not a right or wrong answer. Most would agree that the machine at
least appears to be intelligent.
5. There is not a right or wrong answer. It should be noted that chat bots,
programs designed to emulate a person chatting, have difficulty carrying on
a meaningful conversation for even a short period of time. Chat bots are
easily be identified as machines.
Section 11.2
1. In the remote control case, the system needs only to relay the picture,
whereas to use the picture for maneuvering, the robot must be able to
“understand” the meaning of the picture.
2. The possible interpretations for one section of the drawing do not match
any of those of another section. To embed this insight into a program, you
might isolate the interpretations allowable for various line junctions and
then write a program that tries to find a set of compatible interpretations
(one for each junction). In fact, if you stop and think about it, this is probably
what your own senses did in trying to evaluate the drawing. Did you
detect your eyes scanning back and forth between the two ends of the
drawing as your senses tried to piece possible interpretations together? (If
this subject interests you, you will want to read about the work of people
such as D. A. Huffman, M. B. Clowes, and D. Waltz.)
3. There are four blocks in the stack but only three are visible. The point is
that understanding this apparently simple concept requires a significant
amount of “intelligence.”
4. Interesting, isn’t it? Such subtle distinctions in meaning present significant
problems in the field of natural language understanding.
5. Is the sentence describing what kind of horses they are, or is it telling what
some people are doing?
6. The parsing process produces identical structures, but the semantic analysis
recognizes that the prepositional phrase in the first sentence tells where
the fence was built, whereas the phrase in the second sentence tells when
the fence was built.
7. They are brother and sister.
Appendix F 589