Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Part I: Introduce you to what’s happening in Artificial Intelligence Part II: Give you an appreciation for the big picture  Why it is a grand challenge Done

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Part I: Introduce you to what’s happening in Artificial Intelligence Part II: Give you an appreciation for the big picture  Why it is a grand challenge Done

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Looking at the Science  Engineering vs. Science  Introduction to Cognitive Science  Cognitive Psychology 1  Cognitive Psychology 2  Cognitive Development  Linguistics  Neuroscience  Philosophy

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Looking at the Science  Engineering vs. Science  Introduction to Cognitive Science  Cognitive Psychology 1  Cognitive Psychology 2  Cognitive Development  Linguistics  Neuroscience  Philosophy

Language Module  Specialised module in the brain?  What other evidence could support Chomsky’s hypothesis?  Neuroimaging can’t pinpoint a single area  Many different areas involved in different aspects of language  Some areas seem to serve a number of different functions  Modular processing could still exist within a functional module  Functionally specialised neural circuits  A combination of components some special to language, others more general

Language Module  Evidence…  People with damaged “language module”, but other cognitive abilities ok  Damage in Broca’s area in the left hemisphere –can be unable to produce or perceive language with complicated grammar  People with limited cognitive abilities, but “language module” ok  Williams Syndrome –severe mental deficits, but grammatical language  Many recent results/theories contradict this  Damage in Wernicke's area – specialised language skill areas  Poor comprehension  Speech has a natural-sounding rhythm and normal syntax  …but no recognisable meaning (fluent or jargon aphasia)  Specific language impairment – 6% of population  Not related to or caused by other developmental disorders  Difficulty with inflected forms of words, "-ed"  Alternative: language processed in general cognitive system  No clear consensus yet… grammar localised… words not

Can Chimpanzees Learn Sign Language?  Washoe was trained for sign “More”  Learned sign for toothbrush by imitation  Made up some novel combinations of words:  refrigerator = OPEN FOOD DRINK  Some criticisms of results  Tried to replicate results with Nim Chimpsky, failed  Learnt some signs, but no grammar  Learnt nothing that could not be taught to a pigeon  Much controversy about these studies  Some claim it was self deception  Example (Pinker): Researchers said chimp was making a sign  Native human signer said he was just scratching himself

Can Chimpanzees Learn Sign Language?

No

Recommended Reading

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis  Language's nature influences the habitual thought of its speakers.  Hopi language  Western languages : the present and future are thought of as "places“  Time is a path linking them  "three days" equivalent to "three apples", or "three kilometres“  Native American languages oriented towards process  Inuit people  Numerous words for snow  Modifies the world view of the Eskimo  Creates a different mode of existence for them  Geoffrey Pullum: "The great Eskimo vocabulary hoax“  Language of the Pirahã tribe of Brazil  Contains three counting words: one, two and many.  Pirahã people have difficulty recounting numbers > 3  Controversy: maybe Pirahã have no need to practice doing so

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis  Strong form of hypothesis: language determines thought  Popular in fiction: Orwell’s 1984 newspeak, e.g. no freedom  Generally not accepted nowadays  But some weaker elements may be present  Different languages categorise the world in different ways  In English:  The dog ran through the forest  The dog ran through the table(!)  In English the table is more thought of as its top  Other languages think of it more as its legs

Classifiers and Categories  George Lakoff book: Women, Fire and Dangerous Things  Dyirbal language  I - most animate objects, men  II - women, water, fire, violence, and exceptional animals  III - edible fruit and vegetables  IV - miscellaneous (everything else)

Metaphors  Argument is war  Your claims are indefensible  He attacked every weak point in my argument  His criticisms were right on target  I demolished his argument  I’ve never won an argument with him  You disagree? Okay, shoot.  If you use that strategy he’ll wipe you out.  He shot down all of my arguments.

Metaphors  Time is a resource  You’re wasting my time  This gadget will save you hours  I don’t have the time to give you  How do you spend your time these days?  That flat tire cost me an hour  I’ve invested a lot of time in her  I don’t have enough time to spare for that  You’re running out of time  Do you have much time left?  He’s living on borrowed time  Thank you for your time  I lost a lot of time when I got sick

Metaphors  The conduit metaphor  Ideas are objects  Language expressions are containers  Communication is sending  Examples  It’s hard to get that idea across to him  I gave you that idea  Your reasons came through to us  It’s difficult to put my ideas into words  His words carry little meaning  Your words are hollow  The idea is buried in terribly dense paragraphs

Metaphors Up is positive, down is negative  He is at the peak of health  He came down with flu  His health is declining  I am on top of the situation  He is at the height of his power  His power rose  He fell from power  The stock is rising  We are at an all-time low

Metaphors  Personification  Life has cheated me  His religion tells him he cannot drink wine  The Michelson-Morley experiment gave birth to a new physical theory  Cancer finally caught up with him  Inflation has attacked the foundations of our economy  Inflation is eating up our profits  Inflation has robbed me of my savings  Inflation has outwitted the best economic minds in the country  …inflation is an adversary  Declare war on inflation  Call for sacrifices  Install a new chain of command

Metaphors  Lakoff’s Thesis: cognition is depends on the linguistic metaphor  We are completely immersed in metaphors  There seems to be no way to say some things without metaphors

Course Overview  What is AI?  What are the Major Challenges?  What are the Main Techniques?  Where are we failing, and why?  Step back and look at the Science  Step back and look at the History of AI  What are the Major Schools of Thought?  What of the Future? Looking at the Science  Engineering vs. Science  Introduction to Cognitive Science  Cognitive Psychology 1  Cognitive Psychology 2  Cognitive Development  Linguistics  Neuroscience  Philosophy