About Creativity and Computer Reasoning
| Authors | Howell, Russell W.; Howell, Russell W.; Bradley, W. James |
|---|---|
| Date | 2001 |
| Publisher | Wm. B. Eerdmans |
| Place | Grand Rapids, Mich |
| Vol / Pages | pp. 251-277 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8028-4910-6 |
| URL | https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802849106/mathematics-in-a-postmodern-age/ |
Type: Book Section
Tags: Algorithms, Artificial intelligence, computers, creativity, diagonalization, Diophantine equations, Fermat's Last Theorem, halting problem, Hilbert, Image of God, Minsky, programming, proof, reductionism, traveling salesman problem, Turing machine, Weizenbaum, Wiles
Abstract
Looks at the Halting Problem, describing what it entails and what its implications are for computer intelligence. Begins by looking at some early programs for computer discourse with a human in which inferences are made. Discusses claims that the number of areas computers can substantially contribute to and what they can accomplish in those realms is ever increasing. The aim of the chapter is to cast some doubt on the optimism and certainty that some have regarding such computer intelligence claims. Uses the process Wiles followed in developing his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem to suggest that many human creative thought processes are not algorithmic, and thus not simulatable by a computer. To the extent this argument holds, it is protected from recent advances in AI, as any computer program is essentially an algorithm according to the Church-Turing thesis. Nevertheless, it would be useful for any revision of this chapter to comment on recent advances in artificial intelligence. [A, CJ]