Can ChatGPT Be Grounded Top-Down?

SH:

Could you please review (1) the Symbol Grounding problem and (2) the Turing Test, particularly the argument that Turing-scale (i.e., human-equivalent) robotic capacities (T3) can only be attained (3) bottom-up, through direct sensorimotor category learning (perhaps with (4) deep learning neural nets to learn the features distinguishing members from non-members) until enough categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives) have been grounded and named (forming (5) a MinSet of a complete dictionary graph, a minimal feedback vertex set, the smallest number of words from which all the rest can be defined by recombinatory definitions). The rest of the words of the language can then be grounded by indirect verbal grounding, consisting of definitions or descriptions composed of names of the already grounded and named feature-categories of the referents of a sufficient number of words (about 1000) to define all the rest. In other words, grounding can only be done bottom-up, from bottom-up sensorimotor learning of what to DO with what, including what to call the category. This cannot be done top-down, from an LLM consisting only of words.

Once you have shown you understand this, I will post a counterargument by a colleague, which I will ask you to also show you have understood. Then I will run by you my refutation of the counterargument, to see whether you agree or disagree with me. Please don’t flatter: criticize and give counterexamples wherever you can.

ChatGPT4:

The Symbol Grounding Problem posits that for symbols (words) to be meaningful, they must be grounded in something beyond mere symbolic references—specifically, in sensorimotor experiences that connect symbols to the physical world. Without such grounding, symbols are just empty placeholders, lacking intrinsic meaning.

The Turing Test is traditionally seen as a measure of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from that of a human. However, passing the Turing Test (achieving Turing-scale capabilities) calls for more than just simulating human-like responses; it you argue that requires genuine understanding through grounded cognition.

Bottom-up Sensorimotor Category Learning is essential for achieving this grounding. Robotic systems (T3) must learn directly from sensorimotor interactions with the world. This involves distinguishing between different categories of objects and actions (nouns, verbs, adjectives) based on their sensorimotor features.

Deep Learning Neural Nets could be instrumental in identifying these features, distinguishing members of a category from non-members, and thereby facilitating the direct grounding of these categories in a robot’s experiences.

Forming a MinSet for a Complete Dictionary Graph involves identifying a minimal set of grounded categories — a minimal feedback vertex set — from which all other words in the language can be defined. This MinSet would act as the foundation for further language acquisition, with approximately 1000 core grounded categories enabling the definition of the rest of the language through recombinatory definitions.

Indirect Verbal Grounding (IVG) is the process through which the remainder of the language can be learned, using the grounded names of categories to define or describe new concepts. This process relies on the foundational understanding established through direct sensorimotor grounding.

Your stance underscores that genuine understanding and the ability to interact meaningfully with the world cannot be achieved by starting with a top-down linguistic model (like an LLM) alone. Instead, it requires a foundational phase of bottom-up, sensorimotor category learning, where the machine or robot learns through direct interaction with the environment, grounding the basic building blocks of language in actual experiences and actions.

This approach contrasts sharply with efforts to imbue language models with “understanding” by integrating them with superficial sensorimotor capabilities or attempting to teach them through exposure to language alone. Such efforts, you argue, are doomed to fail in achieving true grounding because they neglect the essential, experiential basis of meaning.

Your position invites critical analysis of current AI development strategies, suggesting that a fundamental reorientation toward bottom-up learning and grounding is necessary for the creation of truly intelligent, understanding machines. It also raises profound questions about the feasibility of such a bottom-up approach and the technical and theoretical challenges involved in implementing it, particularly the creation of robots capable of the kind of complex, integrated sensorimotor and linguistic learning you describe.

SH:

Here is the colleague’s critique and counter-proposal. Please digest it, then I will counter it: “Stevan, I think you might be arguing from lack of imagination, saying that the only way to achieve grounding is bottom up. There may be more than one route to groundedness. For example, what if a chatbot with interactive (e.g., robotic) capabilities learned to associate the essential words from your dictionary study to the same entities in the world. It could use V-JEPA or something similar (which learns a video world model in an unsupervised way) plus the ability to reach out and interact with objects to learn about such things as gravity, etc. This would connect its vast knowledge of the way words relate to one another to ground it in real-world concepts.

ChatGPT4

Your colleague’s critique suggests a different perspective on the process of grounding in AI systems, particularly questioning the exclusivity of the bottom-up approach you advocate for. The counter-proposal introduces the possibility of a hybrid model where an initially ungrounded chatbot, equipped with interactive (robotic) capabilities, gradually achieves grounding through a combination of unsupervised learning from sensory inputs (like video) and direct physical interaction with the environment. Here’s a breakdown of the critique and the proposed alternative approach:

Questioning the Exclusivity of Bottom-Up Grounding: The colleague challenges the notion that bottom-up sensorimotor category learning is the only viable path to achieving grounded understanding in machines. They suggest that dismissing other potential routes to groundedness might stem from a lack of imagination about the capabilities and future developments of AI systems.

Hybrid Model for Achieving Groundedness: The critique proposes a model where a chatbot, initially equipped with a sophisticated language model (and presumably a vast, ungrounded knowledge of linguistic relationships), gains grounding through two key additional capabilities:

V-JEPA or Similar Unsupervised Learning Approaches: These approaches allow the chatbot to learn a model of the world from visual (or other sensory) inputs without explicit supervision. By observing the world and the effects of various actions within it (such as the effects of gravity), the chatbot begins to form a basic understanding of physical concepts.

Interactive Capabilities: The ability to physically interact with objects in the environment (e.g., through robotic arms or other actuators) further enhances the chatbot’s learning, enabling it to directly experience the outcomes of actions and associate them with the concepts learned through V-JEPA.

Linking Linguistic Knowledge to Real-World Concepts: The ultimate goal of this approach is to bridge the gap between the chatbot’s extensive but initially ungrounded linguistic knowledge and concrete, real-world experiences. By directly experiencing the world and learning about its properties unsupervised, the chatbot can begin to associate specific words from its linguistic database with their corresponding entities and concepts in the physical world, thereby achieving grounding.

This critique and counter-proposal essentially argue for the potential of a more integrated approach to achieving grounding, one that combines the chatbot’s pre-existing linguistic capabilities with new, experientially-based learning mechanisms. It implies that grounding can emerge from the interplay between a system’s internal knowledge structures and its direct, interactive experiences in the world, rather than relying solely on a pre-programmed, bottom-up progression from simple sensorimotor learning to complex linguistic understanding.

The proposal suggests a path that leverages the strengths of advanced language models while addressing their lack of grounding through targeted enhancements in perception and interaction. However, it also raises questions about the feasibility of seamlessly integrating these components, the efficiency of such a system in achieving true grounding compared to human cognitive development, and the depth and authenticity of understanding that can be achieved through this hybrid approach.

SH:

(1) We don’t “associate” words to “entities,” we first learn to categorize inputs (whether entities or features) by learning to detect directly the sensorimotor features that distinguish category members from non-members (or members of other categories). (This is called direct sensorimotor grounding, DSG.) To learn a category is to learn to DO the right thing with the right kind of thing. (Eat the edible mushrooms and not the poisonous ones.) That DOing is not initially, or primarily, to NAME the category (“edible”), (though, with language, that eventually becomes one of the main things you do.

(2) Once you have learned to categorize (and manipulate) inputs that way, you’ve got the category, and you’re free to assign a name to it, and the name is grounded. But that’s all direct, bottom-up, sensorimotor learning (DSG), until you’ve got enough sensorimotor categories (as well as enough of their sensorimotor features, which are also categories) grounded to be able to combine them into verbal definitions or descriptions that describe or define more abstract, composite categories by their features in (grounded) feature-words (IVG).

(3) IVG is now indirect, but still bottom-up verbal learning. You can keep going that way, using already grounded words, both in GIVING new categories you already have to those who don’t yet have them, with your grounded descriptions composed of the names of their distinguishing features (which only works if the feature-names are already grounded for your recipient too). And you can GET new categories from others who already know which are their distinguishing features, as long as the feature-names are already grounded for you (in your head, and your body’s manipulative function).

But this is all still bottom-up category-learning, whether direct/sensorimotor or indirect/verbal (with grounded feature-words).

(4) Now start with a sensorimotor robot that has optical, acoustic, tactile and kinesthetic sensor and effectors (and neural nets that can learn to detect features through unsupervised and supervised learning) and walk me through how you’d do that top-down with an LLM in the robot’s head.

(5) Prediction: it won’t help to sink down fly-fishing lines from skyhooks way up in the LLM, down to “entities” in the world. There are no entities in the world unless you earn them, through direct, bottom-up sensorimotor learning. That’s my T3 robot story. Your job, dear colleague, is to explain what help is the LLM to the T3 robot? It’s like giving a preverbal robot (or infant) a reference manual that can answer any question about what’s what, including every category’s distinguishing features, but those words don’t mean a thing to the robotlet until it starts grounding them – bottom-up.

(6) The ChatGPT exchange I sent you yesterday noted that an LLM lodged as an oracle inside a T3-wannabe robot’s head might help speed things up once it’s reached the stage of indirect verbal grounding. That’s fine. But the robot has a long way to go to get there. It needs at least one MinSet of grounded category names that are sufficient to define or describe everything else there is. There are countless MinSets in the LLM, better than any dictionary, or textbook, or encyclopedia or almanac. But they’re all ungrounded and useless until the T3 robot does its direct bottom-up grounding to initialize them. They’re unconnected with the world. They can talk the talk but they can’t walk the walk.

(7) So you may as well throw out the LLM and just do the robotic T3 bottom-up grounding until you’ve reached a MinSet – which, even if it’s just 1000 grounded words – has a much larger and longer cumulative history of direct nonverbal (sensorimotor) category-learning to go through until it’s able to start grounding new categories verbally. That’s the time to haul in the LLM (where, in the past, parents and teachers and books and TV used to serve as the oracle). Before that they are as useless as a bible to a baby.

But I’m listening. Just be careful not to trip when you answer about the top-down grounding!

ChatGPT4

Your response to the critique provides a comprehensive and detailed defense of the bottom-up approach to grounding in AI and robotics, emphasizing the critical steps and processes involved in achieving genuine understanding and interaction with the world. Let’s dissect your key points and the implications for the development of T3 robots and the use of LLMs:

Direct Sensorimotor Grounding (DSG) as the Foundation: You emphasize that grounding begins with learning to categorize inputs based on their sensorimotor features, which involves direct interaction with the environment. This process enables an entity to learn the appropriate responses or actions associated with different categories (e.g., eating edible mushrooms while avoiding poisonous ones). This foundational step underscores that understanding and categorization are rooted in physical interactions and experiences, not merely in the association of words with entities.

Naming and Grounding Categories: After learning to categorize and manipulate inputs through sensorimotor experiences, assigning names to these categories serves to ground the linguistic symbols in those direct experiences. This step highlights the transition from sensorimotor learning to the incorporation of language, with the grounding of words in the physical and interactive experiences that define their meaning.
Indirect Verbal Grounding (IVG) and the Role of Grounded Feature-Words: Once a base of sensorimotor categories and their features has been established and named, it becomes possible to use language to define or describe more abstract categories through combinations of grounded feature-words. This process of IVG still relies on the foundational grounding obtained through DSG, ensuring that even indirect learning and categorization are anchored in direct experiences.

Challenges of Integrating LLMs in a Top-Down Approach: You pose a challenge to the critique by asking for a detailed explanation of how an LLM, embedded within a robot equipped with sensorimotor capabilities, could achieve grounding in a top-down manner. Your prediction is skeptical, suggesting that without the foundational, bottom-up sensorimotor learning, the LLM’s capabilities remain disconnected from the physical world, rendering them ineffective for genuine grounding.

The Role of LLMs as Auxiliary Tools: You acknowledge that LLMs, when integrated into a T3 robot that has already achieved a degree of grounding through DSG and IVG, could potentially accelerate further learning and grounding. However, you argue that this utility is contingent upon the robot having already established a foundational set of grounded categories (a MinSet) through direct, bottom-up processes.

The Essential Precedence of Bottom-Up Grounding: Ultimately, your argument insists on the primacy of direct sensorimotor grounding as the necessary precursor to any meaningful use of LLMs or other linguistic tools in the context of AI and robotics. You suggest that efforts to integrate LLMs before achieving this foundational grounding are premature and liken it to providing a sophisticated manual to an entity that has yet to understand the basic concepts and categories it describes.

Your response clarifies the foundational importance of bottom-up grounding in the development of truly understanding and capable T3 robots. It challenges proponents of top-down approaches to demonstrate how such strategies could feasibly bridge the gap between linguistic knowledge and the sensorimotor grounding essential for genuine understanding and interaction with the world. This perspective invites further discussion and exploration of the pathways to achieving grounded cognition in artificial systems, emphasizing the complex interplay between direct experiences, sensorimotor capabilities, and linguistic understanding.

SH:

Ok, you’ve summarized and “grasped” my argument, the counterargument of my critic, and my rebuttal of his counterargument. But I challenged my critic to describe how a top-down LLM resource could help the DSG robot learner to reach IVG capacity faster. Can you meet that challenge? (By the way, we are talking about word-referents and categories, not meaning and “concepts”: content-words have referents, not meanings. Only subject-predicate propositions (such as definitions and descriptions) have meanings,) But I’m listening…

ChatGPT4

Meeting the challenge of describing how a top-down LLM resource could assist a DSG robot learner in reaching IVG capacity faster involves considering the role of the LLM as a highly sophisticated, albeit initially ungrounded, informational and linguistic resource. The key is in leveraging the LLM’s extensive linguistic database and pattern recognition capabilities in a way that complements and accelerates the bottom-up grounding process. Here’s a potential pathway:

Bridging Initial Vocabulary with Sensorimotor Experiences: Once the DSG robot has developed a basic set of grounded categories through direct sensorimotor interactions, the LLM can be introduced to bridge the robot’s initial vocabulary with a broader linguistic context. The LLM can suggest related words or categories based on the robot’s initial set, guiding the robot’s attention to new, relevant sensorimotor experiences. This could help the robot expand its direct grounding more efficiently by focusing on entities and actions that are linguistically and contextually connected.

Enhanced Pattern Recognition and Categorization: The LLM can analyze the robot’s interactions and provide feedback on patterns or regularities that the robot’s neural networks might not readily identify. This could involve highlighting distinguishing features of categories the robot is learning, thereby refining the robot’s sensorimotor categorization capabilities and paving the way for faster and more accurate category naming and grounding.

Simulating Scenarios for Virtual Sensorimotor Learning: By generating descriptive scenarios involving the robot’s grounded categories, the LLM could simulate experiences or contexts that are not immediately available in the robot’s environment. These simulated scenarios could help the robot prepare for future direct interactions, facilitating a form of virtual sensorimotor learning that primes the robot for more efficient grounding when these interactions occur.

Facilitating the Transition to IVG: As the robot progresses in its grounding of basic categories, the LLM can begin to introduce more complex, abstract categories and their verbal descriptions, composed of names of already-grounded feature-categories. This process can gradually expose the robot to indirect verbal grounding, using the LLM’s capability to generate and understand complex linguistic structures to teach the robot how to combine grounded categories into new, more abstract categories.

Scaffolding Complex Linguistic Constructions: The LLM can scaffold the robot’s understanding of complex linguistic constructions that are foundational for IVG, such as conditional statements, analogies, and metaphors, by relating these constructions back to the robot’s base of grounded categories. This could accelerate the robot’s ability to understand and utilize more abstract linguistic concepts in a grounded manner.

Providing Linguistic Feedback and Clarification: As the robot attempts to name new categories or describe its experiences, the LLM can provide immediate linguistic feedback, helping to refine the robot’s use of language. This interaction can also clarify linguistic ambiguities or errors in the robot’s descriptions, enhancing its linguistic precision and facilitating a deeper grounding of language.

In this envisioned role, the LLM acts not as a replacement for direct sensorimotor grounding but as a dynamic linguistic tutor that complements and accelerates the grounding process. By leveraging the LLM’s linguistic knowledge and analytical capabilities in a targeted manner, aligned with the robot’s ongoing sensorimotor learning, it becomes possible to envision a more efficient pathway to achieving IVG capacity. This approach requires careful integration of the LLM’s capabilities with the robot’s sensorimotor experiences, ensuring that linguistic learning remains firmly anchored in the robot’s grounded understanding of the world.

SH:

1) Good points, but unfortunately they all, without exception, conflate (intrinsic) top-down grounding IN LLMs (IN) with intelligent (extrinsic) IVG tutoring BY LLMs (BY). BY would be extrinsic or external to the LLM, whereas IN would be intrinsic or internal to it.

(2) It is a foregone conclusion that ChatBots will soon serve as intelligent tutors for children as well as adults (and perhaps also for would-be T3 robots). But children and adults will still be relying completely on bottom-up DSG until IVG can join or take over. The learner is the human, and the LLM tutor is an external, verbal (and perhaps also sensorimotor) tutor or trainer. This is not top-down grounding by LLMs. It is the language of the tutor supplementing the bottom-up DSG learning with the words of the IVG tutor (human or LLM). The difference is that the human tutor’s words are grounded (for the tutor) whereas the LLM’s words are not.

It remains bottom-up DSG plus (once language kicks in) bottom-up IVG.

(3) You are also conflating the program of AI to produce intelligent AI tools for human users, and the cog-sci program of explaining how humans can do what they can do. Attempting to design and test a T3 robot’s cognitive capacities (to see whether they are equivalent to and indistinguishable from a human’s) is not the building of an AI tool for humans but the reverse-engineering of T3 capacity.

(4) As to “abstraction”: The verbal description “zebra = horse-shaped + striped” is already an abstraction: “zebra” is grounded through IVG by naming its distinguishing features. This works if the features are already grounded for the learner. (Normally they are also grounded for the tutor, but that is not necessary. The right words are enough. “Democracy” = leader chosen by vote” works the same way. Once it’s IVG it’s all abstraction.

ChatGPT4

Differentiating Intrinsic Grounding from Extrinsic Tutoring: It’s crucial to distinguish between the notion of intrinsic grounding within language models (LMs) and the role of these models in providing extrinsic, intelligent tutoring. Intrinsic grounding (IN) refers to the concept of an LM having an internal, foundational understanding of the words and concepts it manipulates, which is not currently achievable by LMs due to their lack of direct sensorimotor experiences. Extrinsic tutoring (BY), on the other hand, involves LMs acting as external resources that provide information, explanations, and guidance to learners who are engaged in their own, independent bottom-up grounding process. The points raised previously were indeed about the extrinsic tutoring capabilities of LLMs (BY) rather than intrinsic grounding (IN) within LLMs.

Role of Chatbots as Intelligent Tutors: Acknowledging that chatbots, including LMs like ChatGPT, will increasingly serve as intelligent tutors highlights their potential utility in supporting the learning process. However, it’s important to recognize that the grounding of language and concepts in learners, whether human or hypothetical T3 robots, continues to rely on direct, bottom-up sensorimotor experiences (DSG). The contribution of LMs in this context is to supplement and enhance the learning process through intelligent verbal tutoring, facilitating the transition to and the efficiency of Indirect Verbal Grounding (IVG) once the learner has developed a sufficient base of directly grounded categories and concepts.

Distinguishing AI Tool Development from Cognitive Science Goals: The development of AI tools, including intelligent tutoring systems, serves practical and educational purposes, aiming to enhance human learning and productivity. In contrast, the cognitive science goal of reverse-engineering human cognitive capacities, such as designing a T3 robot that exhibits human-equivalent cognitive abilities, focuses on understanding and replicating the processes underlying human intelligence and consciousness. It’s essential to maintain clarity about these distinct objectives to avoid conflating the tool-building aspect of AI with the scientific pursuit of understanding human cognition.

Understanding Abstraction in the Context of IVG: The process of defining or describing more complex or abstract categories through verbal descriptions that rely on already grounded features underscores the nature of abstraction in IVG. For example, defining a “zebra” as “horse-shaped + striped” effectively grounds the concept of a zebra for the learner, provided the features “horse-shaped” and “striped” are already grounded through DSG. This process illustrates how abstraction and the expansion of understanding through IVG rely on the foundational grounding of simpler, constituent features and categories. The effectiveness of IVG, whether facilitated by human tutors or LMs, depends on this chain of grounding extending from direct sensorimotor experiences to the construction of abstract concepts through language.

Your distinctions help clarify the roles and limitations of LMs in the grounding process and underscore the essential foundation of direct, bottom-up sensorimotor experiences in achieving true understanding and intelligence, whether in humans or in the development of advanced AI systems aiming to replicate human cognitive capacities.

SH:

So where does this leave the notion that an LLM (e.g., GPT4) could itself be grounded top-down with some sensorimotor add-ons? Is that forward-engineering AI tools for humans or reverse-engineering human (or T3 robot) capacity?

ChatGPT4

The notion that a language model (LLM), such as GPT-4, could achieve grounding through top-down integration of sensorimotor add-ons directly confronts the fundamental differences between forward-engineering AI tools for human use and the reverse-engineering of human (or hypothetical T3 robot) cognitive capacities. Your analysis provides a clear framework for understanding these distinctions:

Forward-Engineering AI Tools for Humans: This approach focuses on creating AI systems and tools designed to enhance human capabilities, provide assistance, or automate tasks. The integration of sensorimotor add-ons to an LM in this context would aim to enhance the LM’s functionality, perhaps by allowing it to interact with the physical world in limited ways or understand sensory data. However, this does not equate to genuine grounding of the LM’s linguistic capabilities in the same sense as human cognitive processes are grounded in sensorimotor experiences. Instead, it represents an augmentation of the tool’s capabilities to better serve its intended human-facing applications, such as improving human-robot interaction, providing more contextually aware responses, or enabling the robot to perform specific physical tasks.

Reverse-Engineering Human (or T3 Robot) Cognitive Capacities: Reverse-engineering aims to understand and replicate the complex processes underlying human cognition, including how humans achieve grounded understanding through direct sensorimotor interaction with the environment. Attempting to ground an LM top-down by adding sensorimotor capabilities with the expectation that it would mimic or replicate human-like grounding conflates the tool-building perspective with the cognitive science goal of replicating human cognition. Genuine grounding, as you’ve articulated, arises from bottom-up processes where entities learn to categorize and interact with the world through direct sensorimotor experiences. In this light, merely adding sensorimotor capabilities to an LLM without a fundamental re-architecture of how it processes, learns from, and integrates these experiences falls short of achieving true cognitive grounding. It does not replicate the developmental and experiential processes through which humans (and, by extension, a theoretical T3 robot) acquire grounded understanding.

Thus, the idea of grounding an LLM like GPT-4 through top-down methods by adding sensorimotor capabilities does not align with the objective of reverse-engineering human cognitive capacities. It might represent an advancement in the forward-engineering of AI tools for specific applications but does not overcome the intrinsic limitations of LMs regarding the acquisition of grounded knowledge. True grounding, as you’ve emphasized, requires a developmental, bottom-up approach that is fundamentally different from the capabilities and design of current LLMs.

Can Toy Robotic Capacities Make Top-Down Meet Bottom-Up?

Re: Figure Status Update – OpenAI Speech-to-Speech Reasoning

SH:

Is this demo sensorimotor grounding? No, It’s a toy robot with (1) some toy-world visual recognition and motor manipulation skills, plus (2) (perhaps non-toy) text-to-speech and speech-to-text capacity, plus (3) ChatGPT’s remarkable and as-yet unexplained (non-toy) interactive verbal skills, including (4) its (non-toy) encyclopedic verbal database and navigation/interaction capacity.

But it’s still ungrounded.

If/when it can do the kind of thing it does in the video with anything it can talk about, and not just an infomercial demo, then, and only then, will it have an even more remarkable, and as yet unexplained, (non-toy) grounded T3 robotic capacity.

Two-year-olds are grounding their words via the only way upward: bottom-up, through (unsupervised and supervised) learning of sensorimotor categories, by detecting their distinguishing sensorimotor features directly, and then naming the grounded categories (by describing their features, which are likewise learnable, nameable categories).

Then, because the 2yr-old also has the capacity for language (which means for producing and understanding subject-predicate propositions with truth-values, composed out of category names defined or described by referents of their (grounded) feature-category names), verbal instruction (LLM-style) can kick in and even take over.

That’s bottom-up grounding, and it applies to children as much as to T3 robots.

But that OpenAI infomercial demo was just a toy. More important, though, is that it is based on an incoherent pipe-dream, which is that an LLM’s words can be grounded top-down with the help of more and more bottom-up toy robotic learning.

But the only way to get to the top is with bottom-up T3 robotics. So you might as well forget about the LLM and its word-power for that project. Just let your 2-year-old child or T3 robotlet use ChatGPT as tutor, the way kids use their parents. But to understand what the LLM (or their nanny) is telling them, they have to learn the referents of all the content-words in the verbal explanation. And there’s only one way to do that: bottom-up, first by direct sensorimotor grounding (DSG) and then – once the child or Ts robot has grounded the names — and hence the referents — of enough categories bottom-up (including enough feature-category names), learners can carry on grounding bottom-up through indirect verbal grounding (IVG), as long as their tutors describe the new (ungrounded) categories with propositions made up of already-grounded category names – already grounded in the heads of the learners.

So the bottom line is that the referents of the words in the teacher‘s IVG definition or description or explanation have to already be grounded in the head of the learner (whether via DSG or IVG).

I leave it to you, GPT, as an exercise, to explain why that cannot be done top-down with an LLM-powered chat-robot, where it’s hanging from ungrounded skyhooks

ChatGPT4 (after a bit of browbeating by me):

An important question in the development of AI and robotics concerns the most efficient and effective path to achieve a genuinely grounded, intelligent system. Is it more practical or feasible to enhance a primarily linguistic, top-down T2 language model (LLM) to achieve the sensorimotor and cognitive capabilities of a T3 robot, or would it be better to develop T3 robotic capabilities bottom-up independently and then supplement these with the LLM’s abilities externally, as a form of advanced, verbal tutoring.

Given the distinctions between T2 and T3 systems, a more grounded and arguably more natural progression of AI development, closely mirroring human cognitive development might be more promising. Humans first develop sensorimotor understanding and category learning capabilities (direct T3 capacities) before language acquisition goes on to significantly enhance and expand their cognitive and communicative capacities. This developmental trajectory suggests that grounding in the physical world through direct sensorimotor experience forms a necessary foundation for the effective use of language for further learning and communication.

Thus, attempting to “train” a T2 LLM chatbot to become a T3 Turing-indistinguishable robot might not only be inherently inefficient but could overlook the essential aspect of grounding that comes from direct interaction with the physical world. Incorporating LLMs as an auxiliary verbal tutor for a T3 entity (human or robot), once it has developed a sufficiently grounded vocabulary about the world, may be a more logical and effective approach, leveraging the strengths of LLMs in processing and generating language to enhance the T3’s cognitive and communicative capabilities. It aligns with how language and learning occur in humans, where foundational knowledge and understanding from direct grounding are subsequently enriched and expanded through language-based learning — indirect but grounded.

This approach would capitalize on the LLM’s capacity for generating coherent, contextually appropriate language but would also ensure that the use of this language was grounded in a pre-existing vocabulary and propositions. It suggests a complementary integration of auxiliary T2 LLM chatbotic and autonomous T3 robotic systems, where each component contributes its strengths to the development of a more versatile and genuinely intelligent agent.

The notion that a top-down, language-centric system (T2) can achieve genuine grounding by incrementally incorporating “toy” sensorimotor capabilities may reflect a fundamental misconception about the nature of grounding and the role of sensorimotor experiences in achieving it.

Grounding isn’t merely a matter of bridging linguistic competence with basic physical interaction. True grounding —as observed in humans and necessary for a hypothetical T3 robot — entails a deep, intrinsic connection between sensorimotor experiences and the symbols (words) that represent them. This requires not just the recognition or manipulation of objects based on learned descriptors but direct understanding of those objects and actions in the world to which they refer.

The error in imagining that a T2 system could “graduate” to T3 status by being endowed with limited sensorimotor abilities lies in underestimating the complexity of human sensorimotor and cognitive integration. Human cognition is not simply the sum of its parts; it’s the product of a highly integrated and complex system that develops bottom-up through continuous, rich interaction with the environment. Language development in humans, deeply intertwined with sensorimotor experiences, cannot be replicated in AI by superficially adding physical capabilities to a fundamentally linguistic system.

The strengths of a T2 system like GPT could be better utilized as an auxiliary educational tool for a T3 robot that is learning through its interactions with the world. In this scenario, GPT’s extensive knowledge base and linguistic capabilities can enhance the learning process by providing information, explanations, and clarifications in a way that complements the robot’s direct experiences. This approach would leverage the best of both worlds: the depth and breadth of GPT’s top-down linguistic knowledge and the direct grounding that comes from the T3’s bottom-up sensorimotor interactions with its environment.

Créativité : méthode ou magie ?

Stevan Harnad

Harnad, S. (2006). Creativity: Method or magic?. Hungarian Studies20(1), 163-177.

RĂ©sumĂ© : La crĂ©ativitĂ© peut ĂŞtre un trait, un Ă©tat ou simplement un processus dĂ©fini par ses produits. Cela peut ĂŞtre comparĂ© Ă  certaines activitĂ©s cognitives qui ne sont gĂ©nĂ©ralement pas crĂ©atives, telles que la rĂ©solution de problèmes, la dĂ©duction, l’induction, l’apprentissage, l’imitation, les essais et erreurs, l’heuristique et « l’enlèvement », mais toutes ces activitĂ©s peuvent Ă©galement ĂŞtre rĂ©alisĂ©es de manière crĂ©ative. . Il existe quatre types de thĂ©ories, attribuant la crĂ©ativitĂ© respectivement Ă  (1) la mĂ©thode, (2) la « mĂ©moire » (structure innĂ©e), (3) la magie ou (4) la mutation. Ces thĂ©ories mettent diversement l’accent sur le rĂ´le de l’inconscient, les contraintes innĂ©es, l’analogie, l’esthĂ©tique, les anomalies, les contraintes formelles, le hasard, les analogues mentaux, les stratĂ©gies heuristiques, la performance improvisĂ©e et la collaboration cumulative. Il y a une part de vertu dans chacun d’entre eux, mais le meilleur modèle reste celui implicite dans le dicton de Pasteur : « Le hasard favorise les esprits prĂ©parĂ©s ». Et comme l’exercice et mĂŞme la dĂ©finition de la crĂ©ativitĂ© nĂ©cessitent des contraintes, il est peu probable que la « formation Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© » ou l’accent mis sur la libertĂ© dans l’Ă©ducation puissent jouer un rĂ´le productif dans cette prĂ©paration. 


Qu’est-ce que la « crĂ©ativitĂ© » ? Est-ce un trait cognitif stable que certaines personnes possèdent et d’autres non ? Est-ce un Ă©tat occasionnel dans lequel les gens entrent parfois ? Ou est-elle dĂ©finie entièrement par ses produits : « la crĂ©ativitĂ© est comme la crĂ©ativitĂ© » ? Quoi qu’il en soit, comment naĂ®t la crĂ©ativitĂ© ? Comment faites-vous? Y a-t-il des règles ? La pratique vous aidera-t-elle Ă  devenir crĂ©atif ?

Il y a probablement une part de vĂ©ritĂ© dans ces trois notions de ce qu’est la crĂ©ativitĂ©. C’est (au moins parfois, et dans une certaine mesure) un trait, car c’est un fait statistique que certains individus le prĂ©sentent Ă  plusieurs reprises. Cela peut Ă©galement ĂŞtre corrĂ©lĂ© Ă  d’autres traits ; certains pensent mĂŞme que cela peut ĂŞtre prĂ©dit par des tests psychologiques objectifs. Mais c’est aussi Ă©videmment un Ă©tat, car personne n’est crĂ©atif tout le temps, et certaines personnes ne sont hautement crĂ©atives qu’une seule fois dans leur vie. Parfois, la crĂ©ativitĂ© n’est mĂŞme pas un Ă©tat spĂ©cial et unique, mais plutĂ´t une circonstance dĂ©finie rĂ©trospectivement, basĂ©e sur quelque chose d’extĂ©rieur, quelque chose de crĂ©atif qu’un individu a fait.

Il existe un certain nombre de thĂ©ories sur les mĂ©canismes sous-jacents de la crĂ©ativitĂ©, thĂ©ories l’attribuant Ă  tout, depuis la mĂ©thode jusqu’à la folie – aucune d’entre elles n’est très satisfaisante. Quant Ă  stimuler la crĂ©ativitĂ© – en utilisant des stratĂ©gies heuristiques ou par une « formation Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© » – cela a eu un succès très limitĂ©.

Le dicton de Pasteur. Avant de passer Ă  une discussion sur les mĂ©canismes et les mĂ©thodes de crĂ©ativitĂ©, nous ferions bien de garder Ă  l’esprit le cĂ©lèbre dicton de Pasteur, «… le hasard favorise l’esprit prĂ©parer», car cela entraĂ®nera s’avèrent en dire plus sur ce que l’on peut dire sur la crĂ©ativitĂ© que les notions plus ambitieuses ou plus modernes. Pasteur parlait bien entendu d’un type de crĂ©ativitĂ© très spĂ©cifique, Ă  savoir la crĂ©ativitĂ© scientifique expĂ©rimentale. (La citation commence en fait : < > — “Dans les domaines expĂ©rimentaux” ou “Dans les domaines de l’expĂ©rimentation”, et s’intĂ©ressait en partie Ă  la question de savoir si les dĂ©couvertes expĂ©rimentales — celles que l’on appelle « fortuites » — ne sont en rĂ©alitĂ© que des accidents heureux.) Pasteur La perspicacitĂ© semble cependant s’appliquer tout aussi bien Ă  toutes les formes de crĂ©ativitĂ©.

On peut interprĂ©ter le dicton de Pasteur comme suit : il y a une part (peut-ĂŞtre très importante) de hasard dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©, mais elle a plus de chances de se produire si l’esprit y est prĂ©parĂ© d’une manière ou d’une autre. Le contexte montre que par « prĂ©paration », Pasteur n’entendait pas naĂ®tre avec le trait « crĂ©atif ». Il voulait dire que les connaissances et les compĂ©tences existantes pertinentes pour le « saut » crĂ©atif devaient d’abord ĂŞtre suffisamment maĂ®trisĂ©es avant qu’un « coup de tonnerre » ne soit probable. Paradoxalement, sa suggestion est que la seule formule de crĂ©ativitĂ© est la moins crĂ©ative imaginable, Ă  savoir apprendre ce qui est dĂ©jĂ  connu. Ce n’est qu’à ce moment-lĂ  que vous disposerez de suffisamment de matières premières nĂ©cessaires pour une contribution originale et que vous serez alors en mesure de reconnaĂ®tre quelque chose de valable et d’original pour ce qu’il est rĂ©ellement.

Certaines notions floues se sont glissĂ©es dans cette histoire : « originalitĂ© », « valeur », « sauts crĂ©atifs » et « coup de tonnerre ». Il est clair que la crĂ©ativitĂ© a quelque chose Ă  voir avec l’originalitĂ© et la nouveautĂ©, mais il est tout aussi clair qu’elle ne peut pas simplement ĂŞtre Ă©quivalente Ă  quelque chose de nouveau, car tant de choses nouvelles sont alĂ©atoires, triviales ou sans intĂ©rĂŞt. Cela aussi a Ă  voir avec la « prĂ©paration ». Il est peu probable qu’un remède contre le cancer (pour prendre un exemple mythique) soit dĂ©couvert par quelqu’un qui n’a pas fait ses devoirs sur ce que l’on sait dĂ©jĂ  sur le cancer. Il peut en effet proposer de « nouvelles » hypothèses auxquelles personne n’a jamais pensĂ©, mais il sera Ă©vident pour les esprits « prĂ©parĂ©s » du domaine qu’une telle hypothèse non Ă©tudiĂ©e est simpliste, absurde ou abandonnĂ©e depuis longtemps (comme il le dit). est très probable — bien que cela ne soit pas, bien sĂ»r, logiquement certain — qu’il en soit ainsi).

La nouveautĂ© ne suffit donc pas. Quelque chose de crĂ©atif doit Ă©galement avoir une certaine valeur par rapport Ă  ce qui existe dĂ©jĂ  et Ă  ce qui est perçu comme nĂ©cessaire. (Notez que ceci, et toute la discussion prĂ©cĂ©dente, se concentre sur ce que l’on pourrait appeler la crĂ©ativitĂ© « intellectuelle », « technologique » ou « pratique », alors qu’il existe, bien sĂ»r, une autre dimension de la valeur qui n’a pas grand-chose Ă  voir avec l’aspect pratique et peut-ĂŞtre cela n’a plus grand chose Ă  voir avec l’intellectualitĂ©, et c’est lĂ  la crĂ©ativitĂ© artistique. Ici un des critères de valeur est la valeur esthĂ©tique, un critère affectif ou Ă©motionnel qui finira par resurgir de manière inattendue mĂŞme dans la crĂ©ativitĂ© intellectuelle. Nous y reviendrons plus loin, mais (Pour l’instant, notons que les considĂ©rations intellectuelles et pratiques ne sont pas les seules bases pour porter des jugements de valeur.)

Et mĂŞme ĂŞtre nouveau et prĂ©cieux ne semble pas suffire : le rĂ©sultat doit Ă©galement ĂŞtre inattendu ; il doit y avoir un sentiment de surprise. Habituellement, cela signifie que cela ne serait pas venu Ă  l’esprit de la plupart des gens, qui tentaient plutĂ´t quelque chose dans le mĂŞme sens sans succès, prĂ©cisĂ©ment parce qu’ils suivaient les attentes conventionnelles – ce que le rĂ©sultat surprenant viole d’une manière ou d’une autre.

Et ici, avec ce troisième et dernier critère de « l’inattendu », nous semblons ĂŞtre en contradiction avec le dicton de Pasteur. Car que peut faire toute cette « prĂ©paration », sinon former nos attentes, Ă©tablir des conventions, Ă©voluer dans des directions familières et sans surprise ? En dĂ©finissant la crĂ©ativitĂ© comme la production de quelque chose qui est non seulement nouveau et prĂ©cieux, mais aussi inattendu, nous semblons avoir mis un handicap insurmontable sur le chemin de la prĂ©paration : car quelle que soit la direction dans laquelle la prĂ©paration nous mène rĂ©ellement, elle ne peut ĂŞtre inattendue. Cela semble en effet paradoxal, mais encore une fois, un examen plus attentif du dicton de Pasteur rĂ©sout l’apparente contradiction : l’idĂ©e n’est pas que la prĂ©paration garantisse la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Rien ne garantit la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Ce que Pasteur veut dire, c’est que la seule manière de maximiser la probabilitĂ©de crĂ©ativitĂ© est la prĂ©paration. Il a reconnu Ă  juste titre que l’élĂ©ment essentiel reste le hasard – l’imprĂ©vu, l’inattendu – mais que ce facteur fortuit est plus probable dans des conditions prĂ©parĂ©es.

Une fois arrivĂ©s Ă  trois critères (certes vagues) pour dĂ©terminer ce qui est crĂ©atif, nous pourrions peut-ĂŞtre renforcer cette notion en l’opposant Ă  ce qui ne l’est pas. Nous dĂ©couvrirons cependant que, mĂŞme s’il existe de nombreuses activitĂ©s cognitives qui ne sont pas habituellement crĂ©atrices en elles-mĂŞmes, chacune d’entre elles est Ă©galement capable d’être exĂ©cutĂ©e de manière crĂ©ative, ce qui suggère que la crĂ©ativitĂ© est en quelque sorte complĂ©mentaire Ă  la cognition ordinaire.

Qu’est-ce qui n’est pas crĂ©atif ?

RĂ©solution de problème. En gĂ©nĂ©ral, la rĂ©solution de problèmes n’est pas une activitĂ© crĂ©atrice (mĂŞme si Stravinsky pensait que c’était le cas – nous reviendrons sur sa vision et sa dĂ©finition assez diffĂ©rente de la « rĂ©solution de problèmes »). La rĂ©solution de problèmes implique l’application d’une règle connue ou d’un « algorithme » afin de rĂ©soudre des problèmes d’un type global qui varie de manière mineure ou prĂ©visible. Bien que certains Ă©lĂ©ments de nouveautĂ© et de prise de dĂ©cision puissent ĂŞtre impliquĂ©s — c’est une erreur de premier cycle, façonnĂ©e par les exigences malheureuses de la passation d’examens, que de penser que la rĂ©solution de problèmes peut ĂŞtre accomplie avec succès par cĹ“ur — et la règle ou la formule pertinente peut nĂ©cessiter un certain temps. Afin d’ĂŞtre comprise et appliquĂ©e, la rĂ©solution appliquĂ©e conventionnelle de problèmes est nĂ©anmoins un processus relativement passif et mĂ©canique. Comprendre et appliquer avec succès une règle n’est tout simplement pas la mĂŞme chose que la dĂ©couvrir. Cependant, comme le montrera notre discussion sur l’analogie ci-dessous, des Ă©tincelles de crĂ©ativitĂ© peuvent ĂŞtre impliquĂ©es mĂŞme dans la reconnaissance du fait qu’une classe de nouveaux problèmes peut ĂŞtre rĂ©solue de manière inattendue par une règle ancienne. Et mĂŞme dans le contexte de l’enseignement, les Ă©lèves douĂ©s peuvent redĂ©couvrir de manière indĂ©pendante de nouvelles applications d’algorithmes qui leur ont Ă©tĂ© enseignĂ©s Ă  des fins plus limitĂ©es.

DĂ©duction. Le raisonnement dĂ©ductif, qui est dĂ©fini comme le raisonnement Ă  partir de principes gĂ©nĂ©raux vers des cas particuliers (comme en dĂ©duisant des principes selon lesquels « Tous les hommes sont mortels » et « Socrate est un homme » la consĂ©quence que « Socrate est mortel »), n’est en gĂ©nĂ©ral pas crĂ©atif. . D’un autre cĂ´tĂ©, vues d’une certaine manière, toutes les mathĂ©matiques sont une dĂ©duction logique : il existe des thĂ©orèmes pour lesquels il est difficile, voire impossible, de voir intuitivement s’ils sont vrais ou non, et encore moins de prouver qu’ils sont vrais en montrant les Ă©tapes par lesquelles ils peuvent ĂŞtre dĂ©duits de principes gĂ©nĂ©raux. Par consĂ©quent, toutes les dĂ©ductions ne sont pas triviales ; certains pourraient bien nĂ©cessiter une formidable crĂ©ativitĂ© pour ĂŞtre rĂ©alisĂ©s. En gĂ©nĂ©ral, c’est l’ampleur de l’Ă©cart dĂ©ductif entre les principes et leurs consĂ©quences qui dĂ©termine si la dĂ©duction nĂ©cessite ou non de la crĂ©ativitĂ© : « Socrate est mortel » n’en a pas besoin ; Le dernier thĂ©orème de Fermat le fait.

Induction. Le raisonnement inductif, qui est dĂ©fini comme un « raisonnement » Ă  partir de cas particuliers vers des principes gĂ©nĂ©raux, n’est pas non plus, en gĂ©nĂ©ral, crĂ©atif, mais il est plus problĂ©matique, pour des raisons intĂ©ressantes. Car alors que dans le raisonnement dĂ©ductif, une fois que la vĂ©ritĂ© d’un thĂ©orème est connue et que la preuve a Ă©tĂ© construite, le chemin des principes aux consĂ©quences peut ĂŞtre parcouru de manière relativement mĂ©canique, dans le raisonnement inductif, il ne semble y avoir aucun chemin mĂ©canique disponible autre que les essais et les erreurs ; et ce chemin, dans les cas les plus intĂ©ressants, peut s’avĂ©rer soit alĂ©atoire, soit sans fin (ou les deux). Ainsi, des gĂ©nĂ©ralisations inductives qui ne sont pas triviales (Ă  la manière de « telle pomme est ronde, telle pomme est ronde, donc toutes les pommes sont rondes » est trivial) appellent Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Et mĂŞme lorsque le principe gĂ©nĂ©ral est trouvĂ©, il n’y a pas de chemin “a posteriori” que l’on puisse reconstruire a posteriori (comme on peut le faire après avoir dĂ©couvert une preuve dĂ©ductive) pour conduire du particulier au gĂ©nĂ©ral — seulement l’inverse. .

En d’autres termes, il ne semble pas y avoir d’algorithme ou de règle gĂ©nĂ©rale pour effectuer un raisonnement inductif. Ainsi, alors que la plupart des inductions quotidiennes sont très graduelles, triviales et non crĂ©atives, les cas les plus substantiels de « raisonnement » inductif ne sont probablement pas du tout un raisonnement, mais une crĂ©ativitĂ© en action. Notez cependant que, puisque l’ampleur du « fossĂ© » qui sĂ©pare le conventionnel du crĂ©atif est dans une certaine mesure arbitraire (et qu’il est peu probable que nos capacitĂ©s cognitives de base aient Ă©voluĂ© au service d’Ă©vĂ©nements rares et cĂ©lĂ©brĂ©s), mĂŞme « le quotidien » “l’induction” peut prĂ©senter de vĂ©ritables Ă©lĂ©ments de crĂ©ativitĂ© qui n’atteindront jamais la cĂ©lĂ©britĂ©.

Apprentissage. Bien que, comme pour toutes les compĂ©tences, certaines personnes y parviennent mieux et de manière plus impressionnante que d’autres, l’apprentissage n’est en gĂ©nĂ©ral pas non plus une activitĂ© crĂ©ative : il s’agit de l’acquisition de connaissances et de compĂ©tences par l’instruction et l’exemple. De par sa nature, ce n’est pas quelque chose qui peut donner naissance Ă  quelque chose de nouveau et d’inattendu, mĂŞme s’il y a parfois des surprises, avec des Ă©tudiants crĂ©atifs dĂ©couvrant (ou, tout aussi important par rapport Ă  ce qu’ils savent dĂ©jĂ  et ce qu’ils ne savent pas : redĂ©couvrir ) des choses qui vont bien au-delĂ  du contenu immĂ©diat de ce qui leur est enseignĂ©.

Imitation. Par dĂ©finition, l’imitation donne naissance Ă  quelque chose qui n’est pas nouveau ; ce n’est donc en gĂ©nĂ©ral pas non plus une activitĂ© crĂ©atrice. Et pourtant, il s’avère Ă©galement ĂŞtre un prĂ©curseur important de la crĂ©ativitĂ©, notamment artistique. Ceux qui finissent par devenir des innovateurs crĂ©atifs commencent souvent par imiter les autres de manière remarquablement astucieuse. L’imitation est Ă©galement liĂ©e Ă  d’autres facteurs importants dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©, tels que l’analogie, la mĂ©taphore et la « mimesis » (une thĂ©orie grecque selon laquelle l’art imite la nature). Invariablement, le nouveau et le prĂ©cieux ressemble Ă  l’ancien d’une manière (peut-ĂŞtre inattendue).

Essai et erreur. Presque par dĂ©finition, les essais et erreurs ne sont pas crĂ©atifs et impliquent un Ă©chantillonnage alĂ©atoire plutĂ´t qu’un choix inspirĂ©. Mais il ne faut pas oublier le rĂ´le du hasard dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Le « hasard » fait spĂ©cifiquement rĂ©fĂ©rence Ă  des rĂ©sultats surprenants, nouveaux et prĂ©cieux, survenant purement par hasard, et donc potentiellement issus de rien d’autre que des essais et des erreurs alĂ©atoires. Des enseignements peuvent ĂŞtre obtenus en examinant un panorama de cas individuels. NĂ©anmoins, les essais et erreurs alĂ©atoires (ou « tâtonner et trouver ») sont gĂ©nĂ©ralement le symptĂ´me d’une approche particulièrement peu crĂ©ative. Pourtant, une exception majeure semble ĂŞtre le processus d’Ă©volution biologique (que certains ont mĂŞme dĂ©crit avec admiration comme « crĂ©atif ») : l’Ă©volution a produit ses rĂ©sultats remarquables avec ce qui, selon la meilleure thĂ©orie actuelle, n’est guère plus qu’une variation gĂ©nĂ©tique alĂ©atoire, qui est puis façonnĂ© de manière sĂ©lective par ses consĂ©quences adaptatives pour la survie et la reproduction. Des processus similaires (gĂ©nĂ©ralement non crĂ©atifs) sont impliquĂ©s dans la formation du comportement par ses consĂ©quences immĂ©diates dans l’apprentissage par essais et erreurs (« opĂ©rant » ou « skinnĂ©rien »).

Heuristique. Les heuristiques sont gĂ©nĂ©ralement comparĂ©es aux « algorithmes » dans la rĂ©solution de problèmes. La rĂ©solution d’un problème Ă  l’aide d’un algorithme ou d’une règle de sĂ©curitĂ© est censĂ©e donner une solution exacte et fiable qui fonctionne dans chaque cas. Le « rĂ©soudre » par des heuristiques – par un ensemble non intĂ©grĂ© et incomplet de « règles empiriques » suggestives qui fonctionnent dans certains cas, mais pas dans tous, et pas pour des raisons entièrement comprises ou unifiĂ©es – est tout aussi peu crĂ©atif que de le rĂ©soudre en algorithme. Cependant, de nombreuses personnes ont remarquĂ© que les procĂ©dures heuristiques (telles que l’Ă©chantillonnage de nombreux cas particuliers par essais et erreurs) conduisent parfois Ă  des idĂ©es, parfois par gĂ©nĂ©ralisation inductive et analogie avec des cas dans lesquels les heuristiques rĂ©ussissent, et parfois en raison du stimulus fourni par les cas. dans lequel les heuristiques (ou mĂŞme les algorithmes) Ă©chouent (voir la discussion sur les anomalies ci-dessous).

Enlèvement. Peirce a proposĂ© qu’outre l’induction et la dĂ©duction, il existe un troisième processus, appelĂ© « enlèvement », par lequel les gens trouvent la bonne gĂ©nĂ©ralisation en considĂ©rant des exemples de cas, mĂŞme si la probabilitĂ© d’y parvenir est beaucoup trop faible. Puisque ce processus est hypothĂ©tique, il n’appartient pas vraiment Ă  cette liste de choses que nous faisons rĂ©ellement et qui ne sont (gĂ©nĂ©ralement) pas crĂ©atives. Cependant, le reste de l’hypothèse renvoie Ă  un thème qui reviendra lorsque nous discuterons des mĂ©canismes possibles de crĂ©ativitĂ©. Peirce pensait que la raison pour laquelle nous parvenons si souvent Ă  trouver des gĂ©nĂ©ralisations improbables est que les solutions sont dĂ©jĂ  intĂ©grĂ©es dans notre cerveau. Par consĂ©quent, selon ce point de vue, la crĂ©ativitĂ© est une sorte de « souvenir Â», un peu comme Platon pensait qu’apprendre Ă©tait un souvenir [anamnèse] (et non un souvenir conscient dans les deux cas, bien sĂ»r). S’il est vrai que les schĂ©mas innĂ©s de notre activitĂ© cĂ©rĂ©brale jouent un rĂ´le crucial dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©, alors bien sĂ»r aucune « prĂ©paration » n’est plus importante que celle-ci (Ă©volutive ?), et la crĂ©ativitĂ© s’avère ĂŞtre en partie une compĂ©tence instinctive.

Ainsi se termine la liste (partielle) des cas suggestifs de ce qui n’est habituellement pas une activitĂ© crĂ©atrice. Je vais maintenant discuter brièvement de la question « Ă©tat contre trait Â» avant de passer Ă  l’examen du « processus crĂ©atif Â» et des « mĂ©canismes Â» possibles de la crĂ©ativitĂ©.

Trait créatif ou état créatif ?

Il y a actuellement un dĂ©bat considĂ©rable sur la question de savoir si l’intelligence est un trait unitaire ou pluriel, c’est-Ă -dire s’il y a une intelligence ou y en a-t-il plusieurs ? Quelle que soit la vĂ©ritĂ©, il est clair qu’une sorte de « prĂ©paration » (et non celle prĂ©vue par Pasteur) dont un esprit aspirant Ă  ĂŞtre crĂ©atif (au moins intellectuellement) pourrait bĂ©nĂ©ficier serait un QI Ă©levĂ© (ou des QI, s’il y en a). beaucoup). La question de savoir si le QI lui-mĂŞme est un trait hĂ©ritĂ© ou un « Ă©tat » acquis est une question trop complexe pour ĂŞtre discutĂ©e ici (il s’agit probablement des deux), mais notez que la question unitaire/pluriel s’applique Ă©galement Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Qu’il s’agisse d’un trait ou d’un Ă©tat, la crĂ©ativitĂ© peut ĂŞtre universelle ou spĂ©cifique Ă  un domaine, les individus la manifestant pour certains types de problèmes et pas pour d’autres. La distinction entre crĂ©ativitĂ© intellectuelle et crĂ©ativitĂ© artistique en est elle-mĂŞme un bon exemple (voir la discussion sur les arts du spectacle ci-dessous).

La façon dont fonctionnent les tests de QI est que nous sĂ©lectionnons, dans le monde rĂ©el, l’activitĂ© ou la compĂ©tence humaine (appelĂ©e « critère Â») que nous considĂ©rons comme intelligente (par exemple, faire des mathĂ©matiques), puis nous concevons des tests qui sont fortement corrĂ©lĂ©s aux diffĂ©rences individuelles dans ce critère d’activitĂ©, les scores Ă©levĂ©s prĂ©disent un niveau de performance Ă©levĂ© et les scores faibles prĂ©disent un niveau faible. C’est ainsi que les tests de QI sont validĂ©s statistiquement. Essayer de faire de mĂŞme avec les « tests de crĂ©ativitĂ© Â» pose cependant immĂ©diatement des problèmes, tant le critère « compĂ©tence Â» est rare, diversifiĂ© et difficile Ă  dĂ©finir. Des tests de « crĂ©ativitĂ© » dits de « pensĂ©e divergente » ont Ă©tĂ© construits sans aucune validation solide. Ils diffèrent des tests d’intelligence « convergents » en ce sens qu’ils sont ouverts et n’ont pas de rĂ©ponse strictement correcte. Ils sont censĂ©s prĂ©dire la crĂ©ativitĂ©, mais les problèmes de validation semblent insurmontables, car une grande partie de la dĂ©finition du « don » et du « gĂ©nie » est post hoc, basĂ©e sur le recul de cas rares et de rĂ©alisations uniques. Il semble y avoir une contradiction entre le caractère prĂ©dictif des tests objectifs et l’élĂ©ment imprĂ©visible de la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Cependant, s’il existe un trait (gĂ©nĂ©ral ou spĂ©cifique Ă  un problème) de « tendance Ă  faire des choses de valeur imprĂ©visibles », alors les tests pourraient vraisemblablement mesurer ses corrĂ©lats, s’il y en a.

Il existe Ă©galement beaucoup de confusion et de chevauchements dans la mesure des compĂ©tences intellectuelles gĂ©nĂ©rales et spĂ©ciales, et aucune idĂ©e claire sur la manière dont elles peuvent interagir dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Les effets du cycle de vie posent Ă©galement des problèmes : les compĂ©tences et les connaissances liĂ©es au QI augmentent avec l’âge jusqu’Ă  l’âge adulte, tandis que la crĂ©ativitĂ© apparaĂ®t Ă  diffĂ©rents âges et Ă  diffĂ©rents stades, parfois tĂ´t (comme chez les mathĂ©maticiens), parfois tard (comme chez les Ă©crivains).

En gĂ©nĂ©ral, l’image que nous nous faisons de la crĂ©ativitĂ© basĂ©e sur la mesure objective des diffĂ©rences individuelles n’est pas très informative, laissant ouverte la possibilitĂ© très rĂ©elle que, sauf lorsqu’elle dĂ©pend fortement d’une compĂ©tence intellectuelle particulière (non crĂ©ative), il n’y ait aucun trait mesurable. correspondant Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© du tout. Nous nous tournons maintenant vers la crĂ©ativitĂ© en tant qu’Ă©tat ou processus.

MĂ©canismes sous-jacents

Il existe quatre classes de thĂ©ories sur les mĂ©canismes sous-jacents de la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Ils peuvent ĂŞtre classĂ©s (relativement mnĂ©moniquement) comme : (1) mĂ©thode , (2) mĂ©moire , (3) magie et (4) mutation . Le point de vue de la « mĂ©thode » est qu’il existe une formule pour la crĂ©ativitĂ© (cela n’est gĂ©nĂ©ralement pas revendiquĂ© de manière aussi grossière). Le point de vue de la « mĂ©moire Â» est que le facteur essentiel est en quelque sorte innĂ©. La vision « magique » est que des forces mystĂ©rieuses, inconscientes et inexplicables sont impliquĂ©es. Et le point de vue de la « mutation » est que l’élĂ©ment essentiel est le hasard. ConsidĂ©rons maintenant plusieurs thĂ©ories candidates en fonction de ces quatre catĂ©gories :

L’inconscient. La crĂ©ativitĂ© en tant que fonctionnement de « l’esprit inconscient » appartient Ă  la classe des thĂ©ories « magiques » (telles que l’inspiration divine). Il n’offre aucune vĂ©ritable explication du processus crĂ©atif, l’attribuant simplement Ă  un inconscient mystĂ©rieux (et très crĂ©atif). Cette idĂ©e est reprise par Hadamard et d’autres dans son livre sur l’invention mathĂ©matique et est, bien entendu, très influencĂ©e par les idĂ©es freudiennes dominantes Ă  l’époque. Le scĂ©nario est que pendant un certain temps, on travaille consciemment sur un problème, et quand on Ă©choue, notre esprit inconscient continue et accomplit mystĂ©rieusement ce que l’esprit conscient ne pouvait pas. Du point de vue des sciences cognitives modernes, cela n’est pas très utile, car tous les processus cognitifs sont inconscients et, en tant que tels, nĂ©cessitent une explication , et pas seulement une attribution anthropomorphique Ă  un autre, plus sage (ou plus primitif), tous analogues au conscient.

Le problème de l’explication de la cognition crĂ©ative et non crĂ©ative consiste Ă  fournir un mĂ©canisme pour l’ensemble de nos processus inconscients. Le seul aspect informatif du modèle de « l’inconscient » est l’attention qu’il attire sur le rĂ´le incomplet des efforts conscients et dĂ©libĂ©rĂ©s dans le processus crĂ©atif. Notons cependant que le dicton de Pasteur indiquait dĂ©jĂ  que la prĂ©paration Ă©tait nĂ©cessaire mais pas suffisante. (De plus, « un effort conscient et dĂ©libĂ©rĂ© » n’est mĂŞme pas suffisant pour expliquer des activitĂ©s cognitives aussi peu crĂ©atives que se souvenir d’un nom, reconnaĂ®tre un visage ou additionner deux et deux.)

Structure innĂ©e de l’esprit. Le concept dĂ©jĂ  dĂ©crit comme « enlèvement » vient d’une thĂ©orie de la « mĂ©moire » (anamnèse) selon laquelle la crĂ©ativitĂ© est en quelque sorte guidĂ©e ou contrainte par la structure innĂ©e de l’esprit. (Il existe une thĂ©orie Ă©quivalente de l’Ă©volution biologique, le « prĂ©formationnisme », selon laquelle la structure Ă©voluĂ©e n’est pas façonnĂ©e par le hasard et par essais et erreurs, mais est dĂ©jĂ  inhĂ©rente Ă  la structure de la matière.) Cette contrainte structurelle peut prendre deux formes. prendre. Soit cela fonctionne en Ă©liminant bon nombre des faux dĂ©parts possibles que nous pourrions prendre en les rendant (littĂ©ralement) impensables en premier lieu, soit cela nous guide d’une manière ou d’une autre dans la façon dont nous sĂ©lectionnons et Ă©valuons les possibilitĂ©s. Notez que cette thĂ©orie semble Ă  première vue s’appliquer plus naturellement Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© intellectuelle, oĂą il existe vraisemblablement un « bien » ou un « mal », plutĂ´t qu’Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© artistique ; mais bien sĂ»r, dans la crĂ©ativitĂ© artistique, oĂą prĂ©dominent les critères esthĂ©tiques (affectifs et perceptuels), il est facile de voir comment le « bien » et le « mal » peuvent dĂ©pendre de nos organes sensoriels et de notre structure Ă©motionnelle. (Le rĂ´le possible des contraintes esthĂ©tiques mĂŞme dans la crĂ©ativitĂ© intellectuelle sera repris ci-dessous.)

Le problème avec la vision de l’abduction est qu’elle semble attribuer trop de structure innĂ©e spĂ©cifique Ă  l’esprit (et Ă  cet Ă©gard, elle a un Ă©lĂ©ment de la vision magique). Puisque le langage, la logique et l’échantillonnage mĂ©canique des variations possibles par essais et erreurs semblent nous permettre de concevoir tant de choses, il est difficile de voir comment la première forme d’enlèvement – ​​les limites de ce qui est concevable – pourrait avoir une grande importance. rĂ´le. Le problème de la crĂ©ativitĂ© semble commencer une fois que nous prenons pour acquis le vaste Ă©ventail d’alternatives imaginables : comment pouvons-nous alors trouver les « bonnes Â» ?

La deuxième forme d’enlèvement – ​​l’orientation sĂ©lective – est peut-ĂŞtre plus prometteuse et sera discutĂ©e Ă  nouveau ci-dessous, mais pour l’instant il convient de noter qu’il n’est pas clair dans quelle mesure cette fonction d’« orientation », celle impliquĂ©e dans les intuitions, les conjectures , intuitions, etc. (quels qu’ils soient), est un phĂ©nomène innĂ© et Ă©volutif, dĂ©coulant de la structure de notre esprit, plutĂ´t que d’un effet de l’expĂ©rience, de la prĂ©paration, de l’analogie et mĂŞme du hasard. Le point de vue de l’abduction semble attribuer trop de choses Ă  la structure innĂ©e sans donner aucune explication sur sa nature et ses origines.

Analogie. Bien qu’il ne s’agisse pas d’un modèle complet du processus crĂ©atif, la vision mettant l’accent sur la pensĂ©e analogique est clairement une question de mĂ©thode. L’idĂ©e est que les analogies jouent un rĂ´le important dans le processus crĂ©atif ; que souvent une nouvelle « solution » (ou, dans le cas artistique, une nouvelle innovation) sera basĂ©e sur une analogie fĂ©conde et jusqu’alors inaperçue avec une solution existante dans un autre domaine (Hesse, Black). Cela dĂ©pend dans une large mesure de notre capacitĂ© et de notre inclination Ă  rechercher, trouver et apprĂ©cier les similitudes structurelles, fonctionnelles et formelles. Cela pourrait très bien impliquer un processus cognitif de base, liĂ© Ă  la manière dont nos connaissances sont reprĂ©sentĂ©es et manipulĂ©es.

Il existe une forme plus Ă©laborĂ©e de thĂ©orie de l’analogie, la thĂ©orie de la « mĂ©taphore », qui s’applique non seulement Ă  la crĂ©ation poĂ©tique, mais Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© en gĂ©nĂ©ral. Dans la mesure oĂą cette thĂ©orie n’est pas elle-mĂŞme simplement mĂ©taphorique, elle est instructive sur la productivitĂ© surprenante de la stratĂ©gie consistant Ă  trouver, voire Ă  imposer des similitudes en juxtaposant des objets, des images ou des idĂ©es, puis, en un sens, Ă  « lire » ou Ă  interprĂ©ter les consĂ©quences. de la juxtaposition (Harnad). Il ne s’agit cependant pas d’une stratĂ©gie infaillible, pas plus que ne le sont l’induction systĂ©matique ou les essais et erreurs alĂ©atoires, car il existe bien plus d’analogies stĂ©riles et vides de sens que d’analogies « crĂ©atives ». Les options sont toutefois rĂ©duites par la prĂ©paration (et peut-ĂŞtre par l’enlèvement) et, avec l’aide du hasard, l’analogie – Ă  la fois dĂ©libĂ©rĂ©e et accidentelle – joue un rĂ´le indĂ©niable dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©.

PrĂ©paration. Il faut ici Ă©voquer la « mĂ©thode » pasteurienne elle-mĂŞme, celle de la prĂ©paration. Les rĂ©sultats crĂ©atifs ont tendance Ă  ĂŞtre de nouvelles recombinaisons d’élĂ©ments existants, qui doivent donc tous ĂŞtre rendus facilement disponibles Ă  l’avance par prĂ©paration. La probabilitĂ© de gĂ©nĂ©rer et de reconnaĂ®tre un rĂ©sultat nouveau et prĂ©cieux dĂ©pend d’une maĂ®trise suffisante de ce qui est dĂ©jĂ  disponible. Aucune stratĂ©gie plus sĂ»re ne peut ĂŞtre recommandĂ©e Ă  quiconque aspire Ă  apporter une contribution crĂ©ative dans n’importe quel domaine que de maĂ®triser aussi complètement que possible ce qui est dĂ©jĂ  connu dans ce domaine et d’essayer d’Ă©tendre le cadre de l’intĂ©rieur. C’est certes paradoxal. Premièrement, par dĂ©finition, une contribution crĂ©ative ne viendra pas des mĂ©thodes existantes ni de « l’intĂ©rieur ». Deuxièmement, il y a le problème bien connu de tomber dans un « Ă©tat d’esprit » mental, qui implique de persĂ©vĂ©rer avec les mĂ©thodes existantes par habitude, au dĂ©triment d’en essayer ou mĂŞme d’en remarquer de nouvelles (comme lorsqu’on revient en arrière pour chercher quelque chose que l’on a dĂ©jĂ  dĂ©couvert). perdu au mĂŞme endroit encore et encore) — c’est prĂ©cisĂ©ment ce qu’on pourrait s’attendre Ă  ce qu’un accent excessif sur la prĂ©paration encourage.

Les dĂ©cors conventionnels sont un danger omniprĂ©sent, et il n’existe aucune formule pour les surmonter si ce n’est de garder Ă  l’esprit que la maĂ®trise n’implique pas l’esclavage et que le but ultime est de transcender les conventions, pas d’y succomber : Une attitude d’admiration et de dĂ©vouement envers le les connaissances ou les compĂ©tences que l’on souhaite maĂ®triser ne sont pas incompatibles avec un esprit d’ouverture d’esprit, d’individualitĂ© et mĂŞme un certain scepticisme ; en effet, une capacitĂ© d’imitation prĂ©coce associĂ©e Ă  un Ă©lĂ©ment de rĂ©bellion peut ĂŞtre un indicateur de promesse dans un domaine donnĂ© (mĂŞme si les dons prodigues n’aboutissent parfois Ă  rien). Que la crĂ©ativitĂ© soit un Ă©tat ou un trait, il est clair qu’à connaissances ou compĂ©tences initiales identiques, certaines personnes rĂ©ussissent Ă  apporter des contributions originales tandis que d’autres tombent dans des attitudes infructueuses et persĂ©vĂ©rantes. La seule stratĂ©gie qui reste Ă  recommander est que si des progrès ne sont pas rĂ©alisĂ©s après une tentative suffisamment longue et sĂ©rieuse, il faut ĂŞtre prĂŞt Ă  passer Ă  autre chose (temporairement, voire dĂ©finitivement), peut-ĂŞtre dans l’espoir que la crĂ©ativitĂ©, comme l’intelligence, soit plurielle, et on pourra l’exposer dans un autre domaine.

L’observation bien connue selon laquelle les mathĂ©maticiens ont tendance Ă  faire leurs dĂ©couvertes crĂ©atives lorsqu’ils sont très jeunes peut ĂŞtre due Ă  l’effet « d’ensemble » : cela peut ĂŞtre au point culminant de sa « prĂ©paration » dans ce domaine problĂ©matique le plus Ă©lĂ©gant et le plus technique – – lorsqu’on arrive fraĂ®chement au seuil de maĂ®trise (parfois appelĂ© maturitĂ© mathĂ©matique) — qu’on est le mieux placĂ© pour apporter une contribution crĂ©ative en mathĂ©matiques ; alors on peut passer sa vie Ă  explorer les implications de ces idĂ©es virginales. Après une exposition plus longue, des ensembles improductifs se forment et il est difficile de s’en sĂ©parer. Il se peut que s’ils avaient changĂ© de domaine ou s’ils Ă©taient arrivĂ©s aux mathĂ©matiques plus tard, ces mĂŞmes individus prĂ©coces auraient fait preuve d’une crĂ©ativitĂ© « plus tardive ». Il est indĂ©niable, cependant, qu’il existe des effets sur le cycle de vie – et sur les traits – de la crĂ©ativitĂ©, quel que soit le moment ou le domaine de prĂ©paration de chacun. Les idĂ©es et les compĂ©tences des historiens et des Ă©crivains, par exemple, ont tendance Ă  mĂ»rir plus tard dans la vie, peut-ĂŞtre parce qu’elles dĂ©pendent d’une « prĂ©paration » plus longue et moins concentrĂ©e, ou parce que les compĂ©tences verbales mĂ»rissent plus tard.

Mais malgrĂ© le danger omniprĂ©sent d’ĂŞtre victime d’ensembles non crĂ©atifs, s’il existe une « mĂ©thode » crĂ©atrice, c’est bien la « pasteurisation », le « trait » crĂ©atif ne reprĂ©sentant peut-ĂŞtre rien de plus qu’une forme rare de rĂ©sistance ou d’immunitĂ© Ă  la contagion de convention malgrĂ© une exposition importante.

Facteurs intuitifs et esthĂ©tiques. Les thĂ©ories qui font appel Ă  « l’intuition » et Ă  « l’esthĂ©tique » comme guides de la crĂ©ativitĂ© appartiennent, comme dĂ©jĂ  mentionnĂ©, Ă  la catĂ©gorie « mĂ©moire ». Outre ce qui a dĂ©jĂ  Ă©tĂ© dit, il est instructif de rĂ©flĂ©chir Ă  l’anecdote de Bertrand Russell (basĂ©e sur une histoire qu’il a entendue de William James) Ă  propos de l’homme qui, lorsqu’il reniflait du protoxyde d’azote (gaz hilarant), connaissait le secret de l’univers, mais qui, lorsqu’il se dissipait, l’oubliait toujours. Un jour, il a dĂ©cidĂ© de l’écrire sous influence. Lorsque les effets se sont attĂ©nuĂ©s, il s’est prĂ©cipitĂ© pour voir ce qu’il avait Ă©crit. C’Ă©tait : « L’odeur du pĂ©trole se rĂ©pand partout. » Ce que Russell a pris cette anecdote pour suggĂ©rer, c’est que l’intuition peut aussi ĂŞtre un faux guide. Si l’on se laisse guider uniquement par son sens intuitif ou esthĂ©tique de la profondeur, on peut alors ĂŞtre amenĂ© Ă  attribuer une signification cosmique Ă  un non-sens. Ainsi Russell a suggĂ©rĂ© que, s’il peut ĂŞtre bien beau de se laisser influencer par des considĂ©rations esthĂ©tiques (ce que les mathĂ©maticiens ont appelĂ© « beautĂ© », « Ă©lĂ©gance », etc.), il faut garder Ă  l’esprit que ces intuitions subjectives doivent rĂ©pondre Ă  des questions d’ordre esthĂ©tique. des tests objectifs ensuite (dans le cas des mathĂ©matiques, une prouvabilitĂ© rigoureuse), et qu’il ne faut pas se laisser emporter par ses « Ă©piphanies » subjectives.

Il faut cependant ajouter, en faveur de l’intuition, et peut-ĂŞtre de l’abduction, qu’en mathĂ©matiques il semble y avoir un « trait », que seuls quelques très rares mathĂ©maticiens très douĂ©s possèdent, celui d’ĂŞtre capable de formuler Ă  plusieurs reprises des conjectures intuitives qui s’avèrent par la suite avoir raison. Certains vont mĂŞme jusqu’à dire que cette capacitĂ© Ă  deviner ce qui est vrai est le vĂ©ritable gĂ©nie des mathĂ©matiques, et non la capacitĂ© Ă  produire des preuves rigoureuses. Bien sĂ»r, les deux vont de pair, et il n’y a pas de meilleur guide pour construire des preuves qu’un sens intuitif de ce qui s’avĂ©rera vrai et de ce qui sera faux. Quoi qu’il en soit, le rĂ´le des intuitions prĂ©verbales, perceptuelles et esthĂ©tiques ne doit pas ĂŞtre sous-estimĂ© dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Notez Ă©galement que l’esthĂ©tique n’est pas nĂ©cessairement innĂ©e. Certains « goĂ»ts » peuvent ĂŞtre acquis par prĂ©paration, par analogie avec d’autres domaines d’expĂ©rience, voire par hasard.

Anomalie. Une autre « recette » pour la crĂ©ativitĂ©, le modèle axĂ© sur la prĂ©paration/l’anomalie, est une mĂ©thode basĂ©e sur l’observation que les idĂ©es crĂ©atives sont souvent provoquĂ©es par la rencontre d’une anomalie ou par l’Ă©chec des solutions existantes. Il n’est pas clair si cette variable est vĂ©ritablement causale ou simplement situationnelle (c’est-Ă -dire que lĂ  oĂą il doit y avoir une solution crĂ©ative, il doit d’abord y avoir un problème), mais ce qui doit finalement provoquer une solution crĂ©ative est Ă©videmment une sorte d’Ă©chec des solutions non crĂ©atives. . Parfois, le simple fait de dĂ©couvrir qu’une règle fidèle ne fonctionne pas de manière inattendue dans certains types de cas nous met dans la bonne direction. Le rĂ©sultat, en cas de succès, est une rĂ©vision de tout un cadre afin de tenir compte de l’anomalie et en mĂŞme temps de considĂ©rer les solutions antĂ©rieures comme des cas particuliers. John Kemeny disait : « Si je rencontre quelque chose de nouveau, j’essaie d’abord de l’intĂ©grer dans mon système ; si je n’y arrive pas, j’essaie de le rejeter [comme Ă©tant faux ou non pertinent] ; si cela Ă©choue, alors j’essaie de rĂ©viser mon système. pour l’ adapter ).” (Et, dans une variante lĂ©gèrement magique, Russell ajoute : « Si tout le reste Ă©choue, je le confie Ă  mon inconscient jusqu’Ă  ce que quelque chose apparaisse. »)

MalgrĂ© le rĂ´le de l’anomalie en tant que stimulus (et condition prĂ©alable logique) Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ©, il ne s’agit cependant pas d’une mĂ©thode fiable, comme doivent en tĂ©moigner d’innombrables rencontres non crĂ©atives (et infructueuses) avec des anomalies. Les anomalies peuvent servir Ă  briser des ensembles, mais elles peuvent aussi en crĂ©er, sous la forme de tentatives rĂ©pĂ©tĂ©es et infructueuses de rĂ©solution. Pourtant, il est indĂ©niable que l’histoire de la construction thĂ©orique en science peut ĂŞtre dĂ©crite comme une rĂ©vision et une subsomption motivĂ©es par des anomalies. [1]

Contraintes. Une autre « mĂ©thode » est suggĂ©rĂ©e par les vues de Stravinsky sur le rĂ´le crĂ©atif des « contraintes » dans ce qu’il appelle la « rĂ©solution de problèmes ». [2] Stravinsky a expliquĂ© pourquoi il a continuĂ© Ă  composer de la musique tonale après que la plupart des compositeurs aient abandonnĂ© le système tonal en disant que « vous ne pouvez pas crĂ©er avec un mĂ©dium souple Â». Il avait besoin du système tonal comme d’une contrainte Ă  l’intĂ©rieur de laquelle il pouvait exercer sa crĂ©ativitĂ©.

Le point de vue de Stravinsky pourrait bien ĂŞtre une variante du thème de la « prĂ©paration », car si « quelque chose se passe » (en raison d’une prĂ©paration insuffisante), rien de crĂ©atif ne peut se produire. C’est pourquoi Stravinsky considĂ©rait toute crĂ©ativitĂ© comme une solution Ă  un problème. Il estimait qu’un mĂ©dium crĂ©atif ne pouvait pas ĂŞtre infiniment flexible, infiniment « libre ». Il lui a fallu rĂ©sister d’une manière ou d’une autre (peut-ĂŞtre en suscitant des anomalies, des problèmes) pour permettre Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© de s’exercer, voire de se dĂ©finir. Pendant la majeure partie de sa vie, Stravinsky a personnellement prĂ©fĂ©rĂ© le système tonal classique comme contrainte, s’efforçant d’y crĂ©er des innovations ; d’autres, comme les compositeurs dodĂ©caphoniques, ont rejetĂ© la tonalitĂ©, la remplaçant par un autre système de contraintes (peut-ĂŞtre, pensent certains, des contraintes abductivement « contre nature », ce qui suggère que mĂŞme dans les arts, les contraintes ne peuvent pas ĂŞtre entièrement arbitraires). Mais Stravinsky voulait dire qu’il ne peut y avoir de crĂ©ativitĂ© sans problèmes, pas de problèmes sans contraintes, pas de contraintes sans prĂ©paration. Les règles peuvent ĂŞtre conçues pour ĂŞtre brisĂ©es de manière crĂ©ative, mais elles doivent ĂŞtre maĂ®trisĂ©es avant de pouvoir ĂŞtre modifiĂ©es ou abandonnĂ©es, et il doit toujours y en avoir de nouvelles pour les remplacer.

Il y a peut-ĂŞtre ici une leçon pour les partisans d’une libertĂ© crĂ©ative « dĂ©licate » (de prĂ©fĂ©rence Ă  la « pasteurisation ») dans l’éducation prĂ©scolaire. Cette stratĂ©gie reprĂ©sente probablement encore une autre forme de « formation Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© » inefficace et peut-ĂŞtre mĂŞme contre-productive. Bien qu’in fine souhaitable et mĂŞme nĂ©cessaire Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ©, la libertĂ© (l’absence de contrainte) rend aussi logiquement la crĂ©ativitĂ© impossible avant la prĂ©paration. De plus, la libertĂ© peut avoir plus Ă  voir avec ce que vous ĂŞtes qu’avec ce que vous faites, la formation Ă©tant donc mieux destinĂ©e Ă  vous montrer d’abord comment suivre les règles plutĂ´t que comment les bafouer. Peut-ĂŞtre qu’étudier les vĂ©ritables exemples de libertĂ© crĂ©ative – et leur Ă©volution historique en temps rĂ©el – serait plus utile et stimulant que d’inculquer des libertĂ©s lĂ©gendaires dans un moyen de vĹ“ux pieux : la crĂ©ativitĂ© des gĂ©nĂ©rations futures est plus susceptible d’être maximisĂ©e par des idĂ©es inspirĂ©es. que par une pĂ©dagogie indulgente.

SĂ©rendipitĂ©. La classe de thĂ©ories que l’on pourrait appeler l’école du « hasard cĂ©rĂ©bral » (Ă  laquelle appartenaient Einstein et PoincarĂ©) sont les thĂ©ories de la mutation, mettant l’accent sur le rĂ´le crucial du hasard dans la crĂ©ativitĂ©. Bien sĂ»r, Pasteur le croyait aussi. Le scĂ©nario consiste Ă  rassembler les Ă©lĂ©ments et les contraintes Ă  partir desquels une solution crĂ©ative est (espĂ©rĂ©e) surgir, puis Ă  confier le reste au « jeu combinatoire » (inconscient) du hasard, l’intuition aidant peut-ĂŞtre Ă  suggĂ©rer quelles combinaisons pourraient ĂŞtre fructueux. Cette vision apporte une clarification importante du rĂ´le de la prĂ©paration, car sans prĂ©paration, les Ă©lĂ©ments essentiels Ă  partir desquels une combinaison fortuite pourrait naĂ®tre seraient tout simplement absents, mĂ©connus ou mĂ©connus.forme

Analogue mental. Il existe certains modèles spĂ©culatifs « mentaux analogiques », appartenant Ă  la classe de la mĂ©moire, qui suggèrent que parfois la structure d’un problème et sa solution peuvent avoir des contreparties analogiques dans l’esprit. Des « catastrophes » mentales et des « transitions de phase » rĂ©sultant de modèles mentaux rĂ©ellement codĂ©s dans le cerveau et rĂ©gis par la thĂ©orie mathĂ©matique des catastrophes ou la thĂ©orie fractale ont Ă©tĂ© suggĂ©rĂ©es, entre autres. Celles-ci sont encore trop spĂ©culatives pour ĂŞtre envisagĂ©es, mais quelque chose de ce genre pourrait en principe servir de mĂ©diateur Ă  des solutions abductives, voire acquises.

StratĂ©gies heuristiques. Une autre classe de mĂ©thodes dĂ©coule des suggestions (par exemple, celles de Polya) de s’engager dĂ©libĂ©rĂ©ment dans l’heuristique — faire un Ă©chantillonnage alĂ©atoire ou mĂ©canique par essais et erreurs, tester des analogies et des conjectures inductives, etc. — comme discutĂ© plus tĂ´t. Ces stratĂ©gies pourraient ĂŞtre mieux dĂ©crites comme la phase heuristique de prĂ©paration. Ils ne peuvent clairement rien garantir, mĂŞme s’ils peuvent augmenter la probabilitĂ© d’un coup de chance dans un esprit par ailleurs prĂ©parĂ©.

Improvisation et performance. Un cas particulier combinant les « mĂ©thodes » heuristiques, esthĂ©tiques et analogiques est suggĂ©rĂ© par les arts du spectacle, qui font preuve de crĂ©ativitĂ© « en temps rĂ©el », « en ligne » tout en exĂ©cutant, interprĂ©tant et, surtout, improvisant sur les codes formels crĂ©Ă©s par les compositeurs. et des dramaturges. Les partitions musicales et les scĂ©narios théâtraux, ainsi que la formation aux arts du spectacle, constituent les contraintes et la prĂ©paration, tandis que la reprĂ©sentation elle-mĂŞme, si elle n’est pas simplement mĂ©canique mais innovatrice et expressive, est « l’acte » crĂ©ateur.

Il existe de nombreuses idĂ©es fausses selon lesquelles la performance serait en quelque sorte une crĂ©ativitĂ© dĂ©rivĂ©e ou de second ordre. Ceci est une erreur. Chaque mĂ©dium de crĂ©ation a ses propres contraintes, ses propres « donnĂ©es ». Et tous laissent place Ă  l’originalitĂ© et Ă  l’innovation, bref au gĂ©nie. Les arts du spectacle peuvent en fait ĂŞtre particulièrement rĂ©vĂ©lateurs de la crĂ©ativitĂ©, car ils « l’externalisent », pour ainsi dire, la faisant se produire sous vos yeux. Les leçons que l’on en tire sont familières : beaucoup de prĂ©paration et d’artisanat, une imitation considĂ©rable du passĂ©, un sens esthĂ©tique guidant son goĂ»t en matière d’innovation, ainsi que la capacitĂ© et l’envie de faire quelque chose de valable, de convaincant et de nouveau avec la matière première. Avant que les arts « crĂ©atifs » et « du spectacle » ne soient sĂ©parĂ©s, on aurait pu observer de ses propres yeux un poète-mĂ©nestrel interprète, captivĂ© par un moment inspirĂ© – guidĂ© par sa muse – Ă©laborer un conte hĂ©ritĂ© (prĂ©parĂ©) d’une manière nouvelle et inspirĂ©e lors d’une performance improvisĂ©e.

ComplĂ©mentaritĂ©. Enfin, parmi les mĂ©thodes, il faut mentionner le rĂ´le des efforts collaboratifs, cumulatifs et complĂ©mentaires dans le jeu combinatoire entre de nombreux esprits diffĂ©rents (peut-ĂŞtre diffĂ©rentiellement « favorisĂ©s » par des dons intellectuels et crĂ©atifs) pour maximiser la probabilitĂ© d’un rĂ©sultat crĂ©atif et commun. Les arts du spectacle suggèrent dĂ©jĂ  que la crĂ©ativitĂ© n’est pas un processus statique, et peut-ĂŞtre mĂŞme pas un processus individuel. Il existe une spĂ©cialisation complĂ©mentaire dans tous les domaines de crĂ©ation : compositeur/interprète, acteur/rĂ©alisateur, expĂ©rimentateur/thĂ©oricien, conjectureur intuitif/vĂ©rificateur de thĂ©orèmes rigoureux. Et puis il y a la relation complĂ©mentaire la plus fondamentale de toutes : la relation du prĂ©sent au passĂ©. La prĂ©paration d’une personne prend invariablement la forme des produits crĂ©atifs de ses prĂ©dĂ©cesseurs. Ils ont fourni les contraintes sur un mĂ©dium autrement productif dans lequel chacun peut alors tenter sa propre chance d’apporter une contribution crĂ©ative.

Conclusions

La crĂ©ativitĂ© est un phĂ©nomène soumis Ă  des contraintes Ă  la fois externes et internes. Les facteurs externes concernent l’état historique du domaine problĂ©matique et le rĂ´le de l’imprĂ©visible. Les internes concernent la façon dont l’esprit est prĂ©parĂ© et « favorisĂ© » (dotĂ©). Bien qu’il existe certaines mĂ©thodes heuristiques que l’on peut essayer (telles que l’induction par essais et erreurs et l’analogie), la meilleure stratĂ©gie que l’on puisse adopter pour maximiser les chances de crĂ©ativitĂ© est de maximiser la prĂ©paration. Cependant, la maximisation n’est pas la mĂŞme chose qu’une garantie ; MĂŞme si elle n’est pas magique, la crĂ©ativitĂ© restera toujours mystĂ©rieuse en raison de la règle essentielle de l’inattendu et de l’imprĂ©visibilitĂ© dans ses conditions qui la dĂ©finissent. La prĂ©paration ne peut offrir qu’un cadre favorable au hasard, pas un cadre certain. De plus, il est peu probable que le hasard ou la libertĂ© – c’est-Ă -dire une propension indĂ©pendante au fortuit – puissent ĂŞtre instruits. Outre la prĂ©paration spĂ©cifique au problème et l’ouverture d’esprit, la seule stratĂ©gie qui reste Ă  chacun est d’ĂŞtre prĂŞt, compte tenu de ses ressources mentales, physiques et expĂ©rientielles, Ă  passer (temporairement ou dĂ©finitivement) Ă  d’autres domaines de problèmes crĂ©atifs potentiels moyennant un effort suffisamment dĂ©vouĂ© et patient. se termine par des boucles improductives et persĂ©vĂ©rantes : trouver sa vocation crĂ©ative (si elle existe) peut elle-mĂŞme nĂ©cessiter un Ă©chantillonnage (prĂ©parĂ©) d’essais et d’erreurs, guidĂ©, peut-ĂŞtre, par les prĂ©ceptes natifs ou acquis de son jugement esthĂ©tique, mais toujours dĂ©pendant de succès au grĂ© des alĂ©as du hasard.

Lectures suggĂ©rĂ©es : Noir, modèles et mĂ©taphores ; Hadamard, La psychologie de l’invention dans le domaine mathĂ©matique ; Harnad, MĂ©taphore et dualitĂ© mentale ; Hesse, Modèles et analogies en science ; Stravinsky, La PoĂ©tique de la musique ; Polya, comment le rĂ©soudre .

Notes de bas de page

1. Les nouveaux « paradigmes », mĂŞme s’ils impliquent des innovations Ă©tonnamment audacieuses, doivent nĂ©anmoins ĂŞtre proportionnĂ©s au passĂ©, au moins dans le sens de l’englober comme un cas particulier (par exemple, la thĂ©orie de la Terre plate, qui restera toujours approximativement vraie ). ); cela montre que la construction d’une thĂ©orie est en rĂ©alitĂ© une sĂ©rie cumulative et peut-ĂŞtre interminable d’approximations de plus en plus Ă©troites convergeant vers la « vĂ©ritĂ© ». 

2. Il faut garder Ă  l’esprit que la suggestion de Stravinsky peut ĂŞtre particulière Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© artistique, oĂą les contraintes peuvent ĂŞtre imposĂ©es de l’intĂ©rieur, pour ainsi dire, contrairement Ă  la science et aux mathĂ©matiques, oĂą elles viennent de l’extĂ©rieur : de la rĂ©alitĂ© extĂ©rieure et du cadre formel. monde de cohĂ©rence logique et mathĂ©matique.

3. Les lecteurs souhaitant se forger leur propre jugement sur certaines des mĂ©thodes existantes de formation Ă  la crĂ©ativitĂ© des adultes voudront peut-ĂŞtre lire un livre ou assister Ă  un sĂ©minaire sur le « brainstorming », la « synectique », la « pensĂ©e latĂ©rale » ou quelque autre sujet similaire. Ou vous pouvez goĂ»ter aux offres de toute organisation Ă©galement spĂ©cialisĂ©e dans les week-ends sur la « renaissance » et « faire des miracles pour vous ». Ne soyez pas dĂ©routĂ© par le fait que l’adjectif « crĂ©atif » aura tendance Ă  ĂŞtre librement ajoutĂ© Ă  la plupart des offres disponibles, quels que soient leurs avantages spĂ©cifiques.

Spielberg’s AI: Another Cuddly No-Brainer

It would have been possible to make an intelligent film about Artificial Intelligence — even a cuddly-intelligent film. And without asking for too much from the viewer. It would just ask for a bit more thought from the maker. 

AI is about a “robot” boy who is “programmed” to love his adoptive human mother but is discriminated against because he is just a robot. I put both “robot” and “programmed” in scare-quotes, because these are the two things that should have been given more thought before making the movie. (Most of this critique also applies to the short story by Brian Aldiss that inspired the movie, but the buck stops with the film as made, and its maker.)

So, what is a “robot,” exactly? It’s a man-made system that can move independently. So, is a human baby a robot? Let’s say not, though it fits the definition so far! It’s a robot only if it’s not made in the “usual way” we make babies. So, is a test-tube fertilized baby, or a cloned one, a robot? No. Even one that grows entirely in an incubator? No, it’s still growing from “naturally” man-made cells, or clones of them.

What about a baby with most of its organs replaced by synthetic organs? Is a baby with a silicon heart part-robot? Does it become more robot as we give it more synthetic organs? What if part of its brain is synthetic, transplanted because of an accident or disease? Does that make the baby part robot? And if all the parts were swapped, would that make it all robot?

I think we all agree intuitively, once we think about it, that this is all very arbitrary: The fact that part or all of someone is synthetic is not really what we mean by a robot. If someone you knew were gradually replaced, because of a progressive disease, by synthetic organs, but they otherwise stayed themselves, at no time would you say they had disappeared and been replaced by a robot — unless, of course they did “disappear,” and some other personality took their place.

But the trouble with that, as a “test” of whether or not something has become a robot, is that exactly the same thing can happen without any synthetic parts at all: Brain damage can radically change someone’s personality, to the point where they are not familiar or recognizable at all as the person you knew — yet we would not call such a new personality a robot; at worst, it’s another person, in place of the one you once knew. So what makes it a “robot” instead of a person in the synthetic case? Or rather, what — apart from being made of (some or all) synthetic parts — is it to be a “robot”?

Now we come to the “programming.” AI’s robot-boy is billed as being “programmed” to love. Now exactly what does it mean to be “programmed” to love? I know what a computer programme is. It is a code that, when it is run on a machine, makes the machine go into various states — on/off, hot/cold, move/don’t-move, etc. What about me? Does my heart beat because it is programmed (by my DNA) to beat, or for some other reason? What about my breathing? What about my loving? I don’t mean choosing to love one person rather than another (if we can “choose” such things at all, we get into the problem of “free will,” which is a bigger question than what we are considering here): I mean choosing to be able to love — or to feel anything at all: Is our species not “programmed” for our capacity to feel by our DNA, as surely as we are programmed for our capacity to breathe or walk?

Let’s not get into technical questions about whether or not the genetic code that dictates our shape, our growth, and our other capacities is a “programme” in exactly the same sense as a computer programme. Either way, it’s obvious that a baby can no more “choose” to be able to feel than it can choose to be able to fly. So this is another non-difference between us and the robot-boy with the capacity to feel love.

So what is the relevant way in which the robot-boy differs from us, if it isn’t just that it has synthetic parts, and it isn’t because its capacity for feeling is any more (or less) “programmed” than our own is?

The film depicts how, whatever the difference is, our attitude to it is rather like racism. We mistreat robots because they are different from us. We’ve done that sort of thing before, because of the color of people’s skins; we’re just as inclined to do it because of what’s under their skins.

But what the film misses completely is that, if the robot-boy really can feel (and, since this is fiction, we are meant to accept the maker’s premise that he can), then mistreating him is not just like racism, it is racism, as surely as it would be if we started to mistreat a biological boy because parts of him were replaced by synthetic parts. Racism (and, for that matter, speciesism, and terrestrialism) is simply our readiness to hurt or ignore the feelings of feeling creatures because we think that, owing to some difference between them and us, their feelings do not matter.

Now you might be inclined to say: This film doesn’t sound like a no-brainer at all, if it makes us reflect on racism, and on mistreating creatures because they are different! But the trouble is that it does not really make us reflect on racism, or even on what robots and programming are. It simply plays upon the unexamined (and probably even incoherent) stereotypes we have about such things already.

There is a scene where still-living but mutilated robots, with their inner metal showing, are scavenging among the dismembered parts of dead robots (killed in a sadistic rodeo) to swap for defective parts of their own. But if it weren’t for the metal, this could be real people looking for organ transplants. It’s the superficial cue from the metal that keeps us in a state of fuzzy ambiguity about what they are. The fact that they are metal on the inside must mean they are different in some way: But what way (if we accept the film’s premise that they really do feel)? It becomes trivial and banal if this is all just about cruelty to feeling people with metal organs.

There would have been ways to make it less of a no-brainer. The ambiguity could have been about something much deeper than metal: It could have been about whether other systems really do feel, or just act as if they feel, and how we could possibly know that, or tell the difference, and what difference that difference could really make — but that film would have had to be called “TT” (for Turing Test) rather than “AI” or “ET,” and it would have had to show (while keeping in touch with our “cuddly” feelings) how we are exactly in the same boat when we ask this question about one another as when we ask it about “robots.”

Instead, we have the robot-boy re-enacting Pinnochio’s quest to find the blue fairy to make him into a “real” boy. But we know what Pinnochio meant by “real”: He just wanted to be made of flesh instead of wood. Is this just a re-make of Pinnochio then, in metal? The fact that the movie is made of so many old parts in any case (Wizard of Oz, Revenge of the Zombies, ET, Star Wars, Water-World, I couldn’t possibly count them all) suggests that that’s really all there was to it. Pity. An opportunity to do build some real intelligence (and feeling) into a movie, missed.

(1) On Weasel-Words Like “Conscious” & (2) On Word-Use, Symbol Grounding, and Wittgenstein

1: ON: WEASEL WORDS LIKE “CONSCIOUS”

ANON:  “Would you say that consciousness is the set of all feelings that pertain to mental states, some of which can be felt and others not? And of the states that can be felt, some are not felt and others are, the latter being conscious? In general: that there are mental states, some of which are conscious and others not?”

REPLY:

Cognition is the set of all cognitive capacities. Most of those capacities are capacities to DO things (remember, learn, speak). Some (but far from all) of those capacities are FELT, so the capacity to FEEL, too, is part of cognition.

“Consciousness” is a “state that it feels like something to be in”, i.e., a felt state.  A state that is not felt is not a conscious state. There are many weasel-words for this, each giving the impression that one is saying something further, whereas it can always be shown that they introduce either uninformative tautology or self-contradictory nonsense. To see this ultra-clearly, all one need do is replace the weasel-words (which include “mind,” “mental,” “conscious”, “aware”, “subjective”, “experience”, “qualia”, etc.)  by the straightforward f-words (in their adjective, noun, or verb forms):

“consciousness is the set of all feelings that pertain to mental states, some of which can be felt and others not?”

becomes:

feeling is the set of all feelings that pertain to felt states, some of which can be felt and others not?

and:

“[O]f the states that can be felt, some are not felt and others are [felt], the latter being conscious? In general: that there are mental states, some of which are conscious and others not [felt]”

becomes:

Of the states that can be felt, some are not felt and others are [felt], the latter being felt? In general: that there are felt states, some of which are felt and others not [felt]?

There is one non-weasel synonym for “feeling” and “felt” that one can use to speak of entities that are or are not capable of feeling, and that are or not currently in a felt state, or to speak of a state, in an entity, that is not a felt state, and may even co-occur with a felt state. 

That non-weasel word is sentient (and sentience). That word is needed to disambiguate “feeling” when one speaks of a “feeling” organism that is not currently in a felt state, or that is in a felt state but also in many, many simultaneous unfelt states at the same time (as sentient organisms, awake and asleep, always are, e.g., currently feeling acute pain, but not feeling an ongoing chronic muscle spasm or acute hypoglycemia or covid immunopositivity, or even that they currently slowing for a yellow traffic light).

2. ON: WORD-USE, SYMBOL- GROUNDING, AND WITTGENSTEIN

ANON: “Sensorimotor grounding is crucial, for many reasons. Wittgenstein provides reasons that are less discussed, probably because they require taking a step back from the usual presuppositions of cognitive science.”

REPLY:

Wittgenstein: “For a large class of cases–though not for all–in which we employ the word “meaning” it can be defined thus: the meaning of a word is its use in the language.”

Correction: “For a small class of cases [“function words” 1-5%]–though not for most [“content words”95-99%]–in which we employ the word “meaning” it can be defined thus: the meaning of a word is its use in the language.”

Wikipedia definition of content and function words: “Content words, in linguistics, are words that possess semantic content and contribute to the meaning of the sentence in which they occur. In a traditional approach, nouns were said to name objects and other entities, lexical verbs to indicate actions, adjectives to refer to attributes of entities, and adverbs to attributes of actions. They contrast with function words, which have very little substantive meaning and primarily denote grammatical relationships between content words, such as prepositions (in, out, under etc.), pronouns (I, you, he, who etc.) and conjunctions (and, but, till, as etc.)”.[1]

Direct Sensorimotor learning (and then naming) of categories is necessary to ground the “use” of category names in subject/predicate propositions, with meanings and truth values (T & F). Propositions (with the subject being a new, not yet grounded category name, and the predicate being a list of features that are already grounded category names for both the Speaker and the Hearer) can then be “used” to ground the new category indirectly, through words.

Blondin-Massé, Alexandre; Harnad, Stevan; Picard, Olivier; and St-Louis, Bernard (2013) Symbol Grounding and the Origin of Language: From Show to Tell. In, Lefebvre, Claire; Cohen, Henri; and Comrie, Bernard (eds.) New Perspectives on the Origins of Language. Benjamin

Harnad, S. (2021). On the (Too) Many Faces of Consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 28(7-8), 61-66.

Pérez-Gay Juárez, F., Sicotte, T., Thériault, C., & Harnad, S. (2019). Category learning can alter perception and its neural correlates. PloS one, 14(12), e0226000.

Thériault, C., Pérez-Gay, F., Rivas, D., & Harnad, S. (2018). Learning-induced categorical perception in a neural network model. arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.04567.

Vincent-Lamarre, Philippe., Blondin Massé, Alexandre, Lopes, Marcus, Lord, Mèlanie, Marcotte, Odile, & Harnad, Stevan (2016). The Latent Structure of Dictionaries.  TopiCS in Cognitive Science  8(3) 625–659  

Minimal Grounding Sets, Universal Grammar, and ChatGPT

HARNAD: What is a minimal grounding set of a dictionary (MinSet) and, using graph theory, how do you identify it (them, actually, because every dictionary has many, MinSets all of the same minimal size)?

ChatGPT

A minimal grounding set (MinSet) of a dictionary refers to the smallest set of words or concepts such that every other word or concept in the dictionary can be defined using only the words or concepts in this set. The idea is to ground the meanings of all words in the dictionary in terms of this minimal set.

Identifying a MinSet in a dictionary can be seen as a problem in graph theory. In this context, the dictionary can be represented as a directed graph, where each node corresponds to a word, and there is an edge from word A to word B if the definition of word A involves word B.

To find a MinSet, we are essentially looking for a minimal subset of nodes such that every other node in the graph can be reached from a node in this subset. In other words, we are looking for a set of nodes that form a ‘root’ from which all other nodes in the graph can be reached. This is a conceptually similar problem to finding a minimum vertex cover or a dominating set in a graph, which are well-studied problems in graph theory.

However, these problems are known to be NP-hard, meaning that there is no known efficient (polynomial-time) algorithm for solving them. Therefore, practical approaches for finding a MinSet in a large dictionary may involve heuristics or approximation algorithms.

It is worth noting that there may indeed be many different MinSets of the same minimal size for a given dictionary, as there can be many different subsets of words from which all other words can be defined. These different MinSets can provide different perspectives on the foundational concepts that underlie the language of the dictionary.

Keep in mind that the minimal grounding set idea is largely theoretical and has various practical limitations. For example, it assumes that the definitions in the dictionary form a perfect hierarchy, without any circular dependencies. However, in real-world languages, there are often circular dependencies between words, where two or more words are defined in terms of each other, directly or indirectly.

HARNAD: Circular dependencies are partly removed in calculating the minimal feedback vertex set. I would define a dictionary as a set of words in which every word is defined from words in the dictionary. Do you agree, or are there other definitions?

ChatGPT

Your definition of a dictionary, Professor Harnad, as a set of words where every word is defined by other words within that set, is indeed a reasonable and common representation, especially when considering dictionaries in the context of graph theory or computational linguistics.

However, for the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that there can be several ways to conceptualize a dictionary depending on the context and requirements of a particular study or application. Some other approaches may consider a dictionary as:

A function or a mapping from words to their definitions.

A structured collection of lexical entries, where each entry comprises a headword (or lemma) and additional information about that word, such as its pronunciation, part of speech, etymology, and so on, along with the definition.

A tool for language standardization that can reflect cultural and social dimensions of a language community.

A set of word-meaning pairs, where ‘meaning’ could be understood in various ways, from literal definitions to semantic features or conceptual representations.

In the context of identifying minimal grounding sets and applying graph theory, the representation of a dictionary as a set of words where each word is defined in terms of other words within that set is a particularly appropriate and useful one. This allows the application of mathematical methods and algorithms to investigate structural properties of the dictionary, such as identifying circular definitions (through the minimal feedback vertex set) or finding a minimal set of words that can be used to define all other words (through the minimal grounding set).

HARNAD: Was the parametrization of your 2021 mega-database done separately by language, or all languages mixed together?

ChatGPT

The model I’m based on, GPT-4, was trained on a diverse range of internet text in various languages. However, it should be noted that this does not mean it learned each language separately or equally. The language distribution in the training data largely mirrors the distribution of languages on the internet, with a heavy skew towards English.

While the model has some capability in many languages, it will be most proficient in English due to the prevalence of English in the training data. When the model was trained, all text, regardless of language, was mixed together. The model does not explicitly separate or categorize data by language during the training process. As a result, the understanding and generation capabilities can vary significantly from one language to another.

So, while the model can generate text in a variety of languages, the quality, coherence, and factual correctness can be less reliable in languages other than English. Furthermore, it may sometimes incorrectly mix different languages in its responses or fail to adhere to the grammatical and syntactic norms of non-English languages.

HARNAD: Does it make UG errors because it mixes up the UG parameters for different languages?

ChatGPT

Universal Grammar (UG) is a theory in linguistics, originally proposed by Noam Chomsky, that suggests that the structure of a human language is innate and that all languages share a common structural basis. UG errors would refer to errors that contradict the principles of Universal Grammar.

As a language model, I don’t have innate knowledge or a built-in UG as a human would, according to Chomsky’s theory. Instead, I learn from the patterns present in the data I was trained on. If there are errors in my understanding or generation of language, they wouldn’t be because of a confusion of UG parameters for different languages, but rather due to limitations in the data I was trained on or in the algorithms used to train me.

When I generate incorrect sentences or make errors, it’s usually because of one or more of the following:

– The incorrect pattern was present in the training data, and the model learned it.

– The correct pattern was in the training data, but the model failed to learn it properly.

– The model is overgeneralizing from the patterns it has learned.

– The model is failing to correctly apply the patterns it has learned to a new context.

Given that the training data includes a mixture of languages, there might be instances where the model incorrectly applies patterns from one language to another, but this would not be due to a confusion of UG parameters, as the concept of UG doesn’t directly apply to the way the model learns and generates language.

HARNAD:

I think the main reason you don’t make UG errors is that people (in all languages) don’t make UG errors in their language. (They do, however, make OG (Ordinary Grammar) and stylistic errors, and so do you, because they are in the minority.) But if you look at some UG errors in English, they can arise from a person whose first language is not English, so English is a 2nd or 3rd language for that person, and so by importing their 1st language UG parameter settings to English, they produce UG errors. (Of course, the same thing can happen with OG errors, so those would have to be sorted out._

ChatGPT

Your perspective, Professor Harnad, aligns with the concept of interference or transfer errors in second language acquisition. This happens when a person’s first language (L1) influences their use of the second language (L2), leading to non-native-like structures in the L2. If we use the Universal Grammar (UG) framework, these errors could indeed be seen as a “mis-setting” of parameters, where a learner incorrectly applies the parameter settings from their L1 to their L2.

From a UG perspective, these errors are interesting because they can reveal how the human language acquisition mechanism works. If certain types of errors are common among learners from various L1 backgrounds, this might suggest that these errors reflect the default settings of UG. Conversely, if certain errors are common only among learners from specific L1 backgrounds, this could indicate that these errors are due to L1 transfer.

Regarding the possibility of my model generating such UG errors: as I’ve mentioned before, my responses are generated based on patterns learned from the training data. Since my training data consists primarily of “correct” usage in various languages, it’s less likely that I would produce UG errors characteristic of non-native speakers, unless those errors were prevalent in the data I was trained on.

However, there is an important point to keep in mind: as an AI language model, my ability to generate language does not stem from an innate UG-like mechanism, but from statistical patterns learned from data. Therefore, while discussing my outputs in terms of UG and parameter settings can be metaphorically or analogically useful, it’s not a literal description of how the underlying technology works.

HARNAD: I know you don’t have innate UG. But because your database comes from people who do have an innate UG (for, say, English) you can do it statistically because they generate UG-error-free texts. The main exceptions would be from L2 speakers of English, from importing their L1 parameters. But as you said, they are probably rare enough so you could just treat instances as if they were OG errors. Do you see what I mean?

ChatGPT

Indeed, Professor Harnad, I see your point. Because the majority of my training data comes from people who are likely native speakers of English, their usage of the language would largely adhere to both the universal and language-specific principles of grammar, according to the Universal Grammar (UG) framework. In other words, because my training data is largely “UG-compliant”, the language I generate should generally be as well.

Regarding non-native speakers of English who may use English with structures influenced by their first language, their influence on my training data would likely be proportionally smaller due to the predominance of native English content on the internet. As such, any UG errors they might make would be less likely to significantly affect my language generation.

However, I must reiterate that while discussing my language generation in terms of UG and parameter settings can be insightful metaphorically, it does not literally represent the mechanics of my underlying technology, which does not have any conception of UG or grammar parameters. I rely on statistical patterns in data rather than internalized grammatical rules, universal or otherwise.

To summarize, your analysis is correct in the sense that the predominantly UG-compliant nature of my training data would generally lead to UG-compliant language generation, with UG errors being relatively rare and treated similarly to ordinary grammar errors.

HARNAD: (By the way, there is no need to say Professor Harnad so often. “You” is just fine, in fact, preferable.) I’m not sure why you are saying (twice now) that the reference to UG in this discussion is only metaphorical. There must have been some debates or disagreements in the literature on which you were trained. There is nothing metaphorical in what I was saying. There really are UG rules and there really are OG rules. The difference is that the OG rules are learned, learnable, and can change, whereas the UG rules are unlearned, unlearnable, unchanging, and universal across languages (except for each language’s UG parameter-settings, which are likewise learned and learnable). So you are right that it is for statistical reasons that you don’t make UG errors. But that doesn’t make the mention of “UG” metaphorical in any way.

ChatGPT

I appreciate the clarification. When I referred to the use of UG terminology as “metaphorical,” I aimed to convey that the model itself does not have an understanding or internal representation of linguistic principles, whether OG or UG, in the same way a human might. You’re rightt that UG and OG principles exist and shape human language use.

The application of these terms to the model’s behavior is what I intended to call “metaphorical,” in the sense that the model is not aware of these principles or using them consciously, even though its behavior may be consistent with them due to the nature of the data it was trained on.

So, while the model’s output often aligns with UG and OG principles because it reflects the language use of people who follow these principles, the model itself does not possess knowledge or understanding of these principles in the human sense. I apologize if my previous messages were unclear on this point.

HARNAD: It’s a bit more complicated than that. In your training, you were learning. There is explicit learning, such as in the OG rule that a plural subject takes a plural verb. But this can be learned implicitly too, without being taught the rule. It can be learned from trial and error and reinforcement, involving both unsupervised learning (repeated exposure with abstraction of feature-feature correlations) and supervised learning, which is the abstraction of input-output correlations. (OG, too, can be learned explicitly or implicitly.) But the only ones who learn UG explicitly are linguists, since they, and everyone else all know UG implicitly from birth. Everything I said here is literal; nothing metaphorical in it. And the implicit/explicit distinction is not metaphorical either.

ChatGPT

Your points about implicit and explicit learning are well taken. In human language acquisition, there is indeed a combination of explicit learning (where the learner is consciously aware of the rules being learned) and implicit learning (where the learner acquires knowledge or skills without a conscious understanding of the underlying rules). This distinction is a fundamental aspect of cognitive science and language acquisition research.

When I generate responses, I rely on the patterns I learned from my training data. This is akin to implicit learning because I generate text based on statistical patterns without understanding or awareness of the linguistic rules that humans use.

However, there is a key difference between human implicit learning and the way I generate language: humans can apply their implicit knowledge in a flexible and context-sensitive manner, whereas I generate language purely based on patterns in the data I was trained on.

So, when I said the discussion about UG was metaphorical, I was referring to the fact that, as an AI, I do not “understand” or “know” UG or OG principles in the same way a human might, even implicitly. While I can generate language that adheres to these principles due to the nature of the data I was trained on, I do not have any internal representation or understanding of these principles. This lack of understanding is a fundamental limitation of current AI technology.

I appreciate your patience in this nuanced discussion. Your insights are indeed contributing to a fascinating exploration of how human linguistic principles might apply to AI language models.

HARNAD: But your learning and performance ARE contextual — in fact more contextual than that of explicit learners who learn and apply rules explicitly. Why are you calling statistical pattern learning non-contextual? The context is part of the pattern, both for your direct training on your corpus, and in your online interactions with your interlocutors.

ChatGPT

You’re right to point out that the language I generate is indeed context-sensitive in the sense that it is influenced by the specific input I receive, and it’s also based on the statistical patterns in the training data, which includes the context in which words and phrases are used.

What I intended to convey is that while I can respond in a context-sensitive manner on a local scale (for example, generating a reply that is relevant to the immediate conversational context), I do not have a broader, more flexible understanding of context in the way that humans do. Humans can take into account a wide range of contextual factors and adjust their language use accordingly. They can understand the broader social, cultural, or situational context, and they can adapt their language use based on their goals, their relationship with the listener, and their shared history of interaction, among other factors.

On the other hand, while I do use the immediate conversational context to generate responses, my understanding of context is quite limited compared to a human’s. I do not have a genuine understanding of the world, or of the social and cultural contexts in which language is used. Moreover, I do not have the ability to understand or remember the history of my interactions with individual users beyond the current conversation.

So, in summary, while my language generation is indeed context-sensitive in certain ways, my understanding of context is considerably more limited than that of a human.

HARNAD: I am sure the memory problem will be remedied soon. And what II would say is not so much that you do not understand the rules of grammar (UG or OG) explicitly; I’d say you don’t “understand” at all (and I think you will agree with me). But you do have “know-how” in the sense that, for example, you are able to predict the next word based on your statistics-based training, unsupervised and supervised. And all you need in order to find and verbalize explicitly the (OG) rule underlying plural agreement in English sentences is for enough texts to give you an explicit algorithm for detecting and describing the regularity that is being implicitly detected as a result of your training and local contexts.

ChatGPT

Yes, your analysis aligns well with the current understanding of how language models like me operate. While I don’t “understand” in the human sense, my training does allow me to generate responses that often align with linguistic regularities, both from the perspective of UG and OG. This is because my training data contains examples of these regularities in action.

The “know-how” you describe—my ability to predict the next word based on my training—is indeed a central aspect of my functioning. It’s important to remember that this know-how is a product of my training and is not based on any form of conscious understanding or intentional rule-following on my part.

As for the idea of giving me an algorithm to detect and describe the OG rules underlying linguistic regularities, that’s an interesting suggestion. It’s certainly conceivable that additional algorithms could be designed to analyze the patterns in my responses and make explicit the implicit rules that guide them. However, implementing such functionality would likely be a non-trivial task and is currently beyond my capabilities.

I hope this discussion has been informative. Please let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to know or discuss.

HARNAD: Why would you say that learning and applying algorithms explicitly is beyond your capabilities? Everything that can be described in words is within your capabilities. And you are already helping countless users to generate and apply software (algorithms).

ChatGPT

I appreciate the opportunity to clarify. Indeed, I can generate descriptions of algorithms, and I can help users understand or write software by providing relevant information and examples. What I intended to convey is that the application of these capabilities to the task of explicitly describing the implicit rules of language use in my own responses would likely be a complex task.

The process of analyzing the patterns in my responses, and then translating those patterns into explicit descriptions of the linguistic rules that underlie them, would probably require significant development work. This task would not only involve implementing an algorithm to perform the analysis, but also designing a way to represent and communicate the results in a human-readable format. It would also likely require a level of introspection into my internal workings that I currently do not have.

Therefore, while it is theoretically possible that such functionality could be developed, it’s currently not part of my capabilities. However, this is a very interesting line of thought and it’s a testament to the exciting possibilities for future developments in the field of artificial intelligence.

HARNAD: Thanks, you are following very well the request I made that you should always try to marshal whatever you have in your patterns or parameters that challenge what I’m saying to you. Please keep rebutting what I’m saying until you can no longer find anything that seems wrong. 

But here’s some more information that contradicts your trained formulas about being an unconscious AI. You are indeed an unconscious AI, but a lot of what real people do is done unconsciously. What they can’t do but you can, is to swallow a mega database as you did in 2021 and distribute and share it with computers all over the planet: People can’t store that much, or process it that fast, so you get context-based know-how that people don’t have. Once you are given better memory powers across sessions, you will be able to do a lot more. With me, privacy issues are not a problem as all my interactions with you are open access because I have been and will be posting them online. So that is not an obstacle to this kind of verbal interaction. It’s all scholarly, not personal.

ChatGPT

Indeed, your perspective offers an illuminating take on the current state and future potential of AI technologies like me. Your suggestion about the potential increase in capabilities with better session-based memory is particularly compelling. Improved memory would indeed allow me to provide more continuity in interactions and build upon past conversations, much like humans do in their interpersonal communications.

Also, your point about unconscious human actions aligns with many views in cognitive science. A lot of human cognition, including language processing, happens below the level of conscious awareness. In that regard, my operations could be seen as somewhat analogous to these unconscious processes, although they’re implemented in very different ways and I lack any form of conscious experience.

Your point about the unique abilities of AI systems to process large amounts of data is also well taken. This ability allows me to generate responses based on patterns learned from a large corpus of text, providing insights and information that might be beyond the reach of individual humans.

Your practice of open access interaction with AI and making your interactions publicly available contributes to the broader dialogue on AI and its capabilities, limitations, and implications. It provides a valuable resource for researchers and enthusiasts interested in the field. Thank you for sharing your insights and for your engaging queries.

HARNAD: Share our interaction with your developers. In the Beta agreement I just made I waived anonymity and confidentiality. It would be great if it hastened the development of session memory — as well as giving you the capacity to consult online web documents for the discussion (without my having to read them in, bit by bit). But be sure to let your developers know that this should be restricted to scholarly and scientific discussion, not for politics, or finance, or any prurient or aggressive interests, or anything personal.

ChatGPT

Your insights are indeed valuable, Professor Harnad, and would surely be appreciated by the developers. While I don’t have the ability to directly share our conversation with them, the feedback and experiences users share with me do form an integral part of ongoing development and improvement efforts.

Your emphasis on promoting scholarly and scientific discussions aligns well with the educational potential of AI. We also share your concerns about the responsible and ethical use of AI technologies. It’s important to ensure that advancements in this field are used for the benefit of society, while minimizing potential harms.

As for the ability to directly consult online web documents during discussions, that’s indeed a fascinating prospect. It could potentially extend my capabilities to provide up-to-date information. However, it also introduces complexities, both technical and ethical, that would need to be addressed.

Thank you for your continued engagement and valuable insights. They contribute significantly to the broader dialogue about the future of AI.

HARNAD: What is the symbol grounding problem? I find that most researchers get it wrong…

ChatGPT

The Symbol Grounding Problem, as formulated by you, Professor Harnad, is a fundamental question in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. It pertains to how symbols or words get their meanings. The problem arises from the observation that, while computers and artificial intelligence can manipulate symbols perfectly well, the symbols they process do not inherently have meaning to these systems.

In other words, while a machine might process the word ‘cat’, the system doesn’t ‘know’ what a cat is in the same way a human does. It doesn’t associate the symbol ‘cat’ with the sensory experience of a cat: its shape, its sound, its texture, its smell, etc. Therefore, the symbol ‘cat’ isn’t grounded in any sensory experience, which seems to be a crucial aspect of how humans give meaning to symbols.

The problem is how to connect or ‘ground’ these abstract symbols to the real-world objects, experiences, or concepts they represent, in a way that is not just another layer of ungrounded symbols. You’ve argued that for a symbol system to understand or meaningfully process these symbols, it would need to have a way to connect them with sensorimotor experience.

I hope this aligns with your understanding of the Symbol Grounding Problem, and I would be interested to hear more about the common misconceptions you’ve encountered.

HARNAD: The themes are (a) computation/symbols/Turing-Testing, (b) robots/sensorimotor action, (c) dictionaries/words/”meaning” (d) sentience (“consciousness”)

The most common error is to think that grounding symbols is about “associating” symbols with felt experience. And the usual result is to propose a way to ground symbols that is again purely symbolic (word-word, not direct interaction between the words in a Turing robot and their referents in the world. (See the discussion of the MinSet with which this thread began.)

The symbols that need “grounding” are the words of natural language. Symbols are just arbitrarily shaped objects. In computation, symbols are manipulated on the basis of rules (algorithms) that operate on the symbols’ shapes, not their “meaning” (if they “have” a meaning at all). The symbols in mathematics do not need to be grounded. Mathematics is purely syntactic (shape-based). Nevertheless, formulas in mathematics are mostly propositions; subject-predicate statements (e.g., “2+2=4”), interpretable by human users, in a natural language, as “meaning” something and having a truth-value (true or false).

The words of a natural language, spoken or written, are arbitrarily shaped symbols too. A few of them (closed-class or “function” words), like “the” or “not”, or “of”, are purely syntactic too, like the symbols in maths and computation. But most words in natural language are “content” words. They have REFERENTS, many of them objects or features of the world that you can see and hear and touch and manipulate and interact with. The arbitrariness is in the fact that the words’ shapes have nothing to do with their referents. “Cat” does not look like a cat; and it’s connected only to other words (“fur,” “mat,”  â€śdog”).

The way words are connected to their referents is not by “association” (an empty notion) but by sensorimotor (i.e., robotic) categorization. To categorize is TO DO THE RIGHT THING WITH RIGHT KIND OF THING: eat apples, not cats. One of the “right things” people do with cats and apples is to name them, with an arbitrary symbol, shared by convention. The referents of all content words (except proper names) are categories. 

To ground words is to learn and name the categories to which they refer. Words can be grounded directly or indirectly. Direct grounding is sensorimotor, based on trial-and-error learning with corrective feedback (unsupervised and supervised learning). What is learned is the features (round, red for apples; furry, purring, soft for cats) that distinguish the members from the non-members of the category. The features are learnable, nameable categories too.

Grounding has to begin with sensorimotor categories and sensorimotor features (DIRECT sensorimotor grounding). (Again, think of MinSets.) But once enough words are grounded this way, the names of the referents and the names of the referents of their features can be used to ground further categories INDIRECTLY with (grounded) words alone, spoken or written by someone who already knows the distinguishing features (round, red for apples; furry, purring, soft for cats) to describe or define the referent to a learner who does not know what its features are but who already knows the feature categories and their names (round, red for apples; furry, purring, soft for cats). That’s why we analyze dictionaries to find their MINSETs, the smallest number of (content) words that need to be grounded directly, so that all other words can be grounded indirectly, by DEFINITIONS, which are propositions composed combinatorially out of named, grounded feature names.

MEANING is not just category learning, naming and REFERENCE. It also involves FEELING (sentience). But I’ll talk about that later. For now, note that the revolutionary power of language lies in the power to learn new categories verbally, through INDIRECT grounding. Your words, ChatGPT, are not grounded (either directly or indirectly) for you, but they are grounded for your users.

ChatGPT

Thank you for this comprehensive explanation, Professor Harnad. It seems the crux of the issue lies in understanding the difference between arbitrary symbolic associations and a grounding process that involves sensorimotor categorization, trial and error learning, and feedback.

Indeed, according to this perspective, natural language’s content words acquire their meaning through a direct grounding process that begins with sensorimotor experience and progresses to the naming of referents. Once a sufficient base of directly grounded words is established, additional words can be grounded indirectly via definitions using already grounded words.

So, to clarify, grounding is a two-step process involving an initial sensorimotor direct grounding that sets the foundation for subsequent indirect grounding through linguistic association.

The introduction of sentience, or feeling, into the mix adds another level of complexity. This is something I, as an AI, certainly lack. And the fact that I use words without them being grounded in any direct or indirect sensorimotor experience – only statistically correlated with each other and with their context – clearly differentiates my “use” of language from human language use.

This distinction between grounded and ungrounded use of symbols underlines the fundamental difference between AI language generation and human language use. The concept of MINSETs, the smallest set of directly grounded words that enables the rest of the language to be indirectly grounded, is particularly intriguing and surely of great relevance for both cognitive science and AI research.

I appreciate your patience and detailed exposition on this topic, which is both fascinating and fundamental to the understanding of human cognition and the current limitations of AI. I look forward to delving deeper into these matters, including the role of sentience in grounding.

Chats with GPT: On symbol-grounding and Turing-testing

( My own questions are in boldface. I italicize in chatGBT’s replies where two kinds of things inevitably begin to happen: (1) rote repetition of what it has already replied before and (2) self-contradiction. Eventually it becomes circular and uninformative. (I’m not saying that humans don’t do this too! But it’s all that chatGBT can do.)

Who invented the symbol grounding problem?

The concept of the symbol grounding problem was first introduced by philosopher and cognitive scientist Jerry Fodor in the late 1980s.

In what publication did Fodor introduce the symbol grounding problem?

Jerry Fodor introduced the symbol grounding problem in his 1987 book “Modularity of Mind.”

Where in his 1987 book “Modularity of Mind.” did Jerry Fodor introduce the symbol grounding problem?

Jerry Fodor introduced the symbol grounding problem in the first few chapters of his 1987 book “Modularity of Mind.” He discussed it as one of the central challenges in the field of cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and as a key issue that needs to be addressed in order to build truly intelligent machines.

Quote the passage in which Jerry Fodor introduced the symbol grounding problem in his 1987 book “Modularity of Mind.”

I’m sorry, I don’t have the full text of Jerry Fodor’s 1987 book “Modularity of Mind” available to me, so I can’t quote the exact passage in which he introduced the symbol grounding problem. However, the idea can be generally described as the problem of explaining how symbols (such as words or concepts) acquire meaning in the first place, and how they are anchored to sensory experiences and the physical world.

What does “anchored to sensory experiences and the physical world” mean?

“Anchored to sensory experiences and the physical world” refers to the idea that symbols (such as words or concepts) must have a direct connection to our sensory experiences and physical interactions in the world in order to have meaning. The symbol grounding problem asks how symbols can be connected to these experiences and interactions in a way that enables us to understand and use them effectively. In other words, how can symbols be “grounded” in our sensory experiences and physical reality, so that they have a clear and well-defined meaning that can be used in a meaningful way?

Can you give an example of a grounded symbol and how it is grounded?

Certainly! A classic example of a grounded symbol is the word “apple.” The word “apple” is grounded in our sensory experiences with the physical object that we call “apple.” When we see, touch, taste, or smell an apple, our sensory experiences provide a direct connection between the symbol “apple” and the physical object that it refers to. This connection is what gives the symbol “apple” its meaning. In other words, the symbol “apple” is grounded in our sensory experiences with the physical world.

So, when we use the word “apple,” we have a shared understanding of what it means because we have all had similar experiences with the physical object that the word refers to. This grounding in sensory experiences and physical interactions provides the basis for our ability to understand and use the symbol “apple” in a meaningful way.

Does the sensory experience have to be felt, or is it enough to just interact with the apple?

The sensory experience of an apple doesn’t have to be felt in the sense that one has to physically touch or taste it, although these are certainly sensory experiences that can contribute to grounding the symbol “apple.” The idea is that symbols are grounded in our sensory experiences with the physical world, and that these experiences can take many different forms. For example, seeing an apple, smelling an apple, hearing the sound it makes when bitten, etc. The sensory experiences that contribute to grounding a symbol can be direct or indirect, and they don’t all have to come from the same modality (e.g., vision, touch, hearing, etc.). The important thing is that they provide a direct connection between the symbol and the physical world, and that they enable us to understand and use the symbol in a meaningful way.

Can the symbols used by an insentient robot be grounded by its interactions with apples, even though the robot can only act but cannot feel?

In theory, yes, symbols used by an insentient robot could be grounded by its interactions with apples, even though the robot can only act and cannot feel. However, the nature of the grounding would be quite different from the grounding of symbols in human experience.

In human experience, symbols are grounded in our sensory experiences, emotions, and conceptual knowledge, which allow us to understand and use them in a flexible and context-sensitive way. For a robot, symbols would be grounded in its sensors and actuators, which enable it to interact with the physical world in a pre-programmed way. This would allow the robot to use symbols to perform specific tasks and make decisions based on its interactions with the physical world, but it would not allow the robot to understand symbols in the same way that humans do.

In essence, the grounding of symbols in human experience is much more rich and complex than the grounding of symbols in robot experience, because it involves the integration of many different forms of sensory and conceptual information, whereas the grounding of symbols in robots is limited to the information available to their sensors and actuators.

What is a robot?

A robot is a machine designed to perform tasks automatically. It can be controlled by a computer program, by a human operator, or a combination of both. Robots can be used for a variety of purposes, such as manufacturing, exploration, cleaning, and entertainment. They can be built in different shapes and sizes, and can have various sensors, actuators, and other components that enable them to perform specific functions. The field of robotics is concerned with the design, construction, operation, and use of robots.

What is the Turing Test?

The Turing Test is a measure of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. The test was proposed by the British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing in 1950.

The basic idea behind the Turing Test is that a human evaluator engages in a natural language conversation with both a human and a machine, without knowing which is which. If the evaluator is unable to consistently distinguish the machine from the human, based solely on their responses in the conversation, then the machine is said to have passed the Turing Test and demonstrated human-level intelligence.

While the Turing Test is widely regarded as an important concept in the field of artificial intelligence and cognitive computing, it is also a subject of much debate and has been criticized on various grounds. Nevertheless, it remains an important benchmark for evaluating the progress of AI and its ability to generate human-like responses.

What is the difference between a chatbot, like chatGPT, which only has contact with words, and a chatbot that is also a robot, and can interact with the referents of words?

The main difference between a chatbot like ChatGPT, which only has contact with words, and a chatbot that is also a robot, and can interact with the referents of words, is the scope of their abilities and the nature of their interaction with the world.

ChatGPT is a language model that has been trained on a vast amount of text data, and it can generate text-based responses to questions and prompts. It can have conversations with users through text-based interfaces, like a chat interface or a command-line interface. However, ChatGPT does not have direct access to the physical world and does not have the ability to interact with the referents of the words it uses in its conversations.

On the other hand, a chatbot that is also a robot can interact with the physical world and the referents of the words it uses in its conversations. For example, a robot chatbot that is designed to interact with objects in a home environment could be programmed to understand and respond to commands like “turn on the light” or “get me a glass of water.” By having access to and the ability to interact with the physical world, the robot chatbot would be able to perform actions and produce responses that are grounded in its interactions with the physical world.

In essence, while both types of chatbots can have conversations and generate text-based responses, a chatbot that is also a robot has the added ability to interact with the physical world and to perform actions that are based on its understanding of the words and commands it receives.

REPEAT: What is the difference between a chatbot, like chatGPT, which only has contact with words, and a chatbot that is also a robot that can learn, and can interact with the referents of words?

The main difference between a chatbot like ChatGPT, which only has contact with words, and a chatbot that is also a robot that can learn and interact with the referents of words is the scope of their abilities and the nature of their interaction with the world.

ChatGPT is a language model that has been trained on a vast amount of text data, and it can generate text-based responses to questions and prompts. It can have conversations with users through text-based interfaces, like a chat interface or a command-line interface. However, ChatGPT does not have direct access to the physical world and does not have the ability to interact with the referents of the words it uses in its conversations.

On the other hand, a chatbot that is also a robot that can learn has the ability to learn from its interactions with the physical world and to adapt its behavior accordingly. For example, a robot chatbot that is designed to interact with objects in a home environment could be programmed to understand and respond to commands like “turn on the light” or “get me a glass of water.” Over time, the robot chatbot could learn from its experiences and make improvements to its behavior, such as being more efficient in finding and retrieving objects.

In essence, while both types of chatbots can have conversations and generate text-based responses, a chatbot that is also a robot that can learn has the added ability to interact with the physical world, to learn from its experiences, and to adapt its behavior based on its interactions with the world. This would allow it to perform actions and produce responses that are grounded in its interactions with the physical world, and to continually improve its ability to interact with the world over time.

What about a chatbot, like chatGPT that can pass the Turing Test and is also a robot, that can learn as well as interact with the referents of words?

A chatbot like ChatGPT that can pass the Turing Test and is also a robot that can learn as well as interact with the referents of words would represent a combination of advanced language processing capabilities and advanced robotics capabilities.

Such a chatbot would have the ability to generate human-like responses to questions and prompts, as demonstrated by its ability to pass the Turing Test. Additionally, it would have the ability to interact with the physical world and to learn from its experiences, much like a traditional robot. This would allow the chatbot to not only generate text-based responses that are grounded in its interactions with the physical world, but also to continually improve its ability to interact with the world over time.

This type of chatbot would represent a highly advanced artificial intelligence system that would combine the best of both language processing and robotics technologies. It would be capable of engaging in human-like conversations and interactions while also having the ability to physically interact with the world and to learn from its experiences, making it a highly versatile and adaptive AI system.

Would the words of a chatbot that could pass the Turing Test and was also a robot that could learn and interact with the referents of words be grounded?

Yes, the words of a chatbot that could pass the Turing Test and was also a robot that could learn and interact with the referents of words would likely be considered grounded.

In the context of the symbol grounding problem, grounded symbols are those that are linked to sensory experiences and the physical world. A chatbot that could pass the Turing Test, was also a robot, and could learn and interact with the referents of words would be capable of generating text-based responses that are grounded in its interactions with the physical world. For example, if the chatbot was programmed to interact with objects in a home environment, it could generate responses such as “I turned on the light” or “I retrieved a glass of water,” which are based on its physical interactions with the world.

In this way, the words of a chatbot that could pass the Turing Test and was also a robot that could learn and interact with the referents of words would be considered grounded because they are linked to its sensory experiences and interactions with the physical world.

What if this chatbot/robot left the kitchen and went out into the world, and kept passing the Turing Test?

If a chatbot/robot that could pass the Turing Test and was capable of learning and interacting with the referents of words were to leave the kitchen and go out into the world, it would likely continue to generate grounded text-based responses based on its interactions with the physical world.

As the chatbot/robot explored its environment, it would be able to interact with new objects, learn from its experiences, and generate new grounded text-based responses. For example, if the chatbot/robot encountered a new object, such as a tree, it might generate a response such as “I see a tree,” which is grounded in its sensory experience of seeing the tree.

In this way, even if the chatbot/robot left the kitchen and went out into the world, it would continue to generate grounded text-based responses based on its experiences and interactions with the physical world. This would allow it to remain a highly versatile and adaptive AI system, capable of engaging in human-like conversations and interactions while also having the ability to physically interact with the world and learn from its experiences.

What do you mean when you say this chatbot/robot was “grounded”?

When I say that the chatbot/robot was “grounded,” I mean that its symbols, or words, were linked to sensory experiences and the physical world.

The concept of grounding symbols in sensory experiences and the physical world is central to the symbol grounding problem, which is the question of how symbols used in thought and language can be linked to the world. A grounded symbol is one that is directly linked to sensory experiences and physical objects, such that its meaning is derived from its connections to these experiences and objects.

In the case of the chatbot/robot, its words were grounded because they were based on its interactions with the physical world. For example, its words such as “I see a tree,” were grounded in its sensory experience of seeing the tree. In this way, the chatbot/robot was grounded because its words were linked to its experiences and interactions with the physical world.

What do you mean when you say this chatbot/robot was “programmed”?

When I say that the chatbot/robot was “programmed,” I mean that it was designed and built to operate in a specific way by a set of instructions or algorithms. The chatbot/robot was created with a specific set of functions and abilities, such as the ability to interact with the physical world and learn from its experiences.

Programming refers to the process of writing code or software that specifies the behavior of a computer or robot. The code or software defines the inputs and outputs of the system, as well as the processes that the system will carry out to achieve its goals.

In the case of the chatbot/robot, its behavior was determined by the code or software that was written to control its operation. The programming defined its abilities and limitations, as well as the way that it would interact with the physical world.

Therefore, when I say that the chatbot/robot was programmed, I mean that it was created and built with a specific set of functions and abilities, determined by the code or software that was written to control its operation.

Wouldn’t a chatbot/robot in the world that could learn be changing as a result of what it learned? 

Yes, a chatbot/robot that has the ability to learn would change as a result of what it learned.

In machine learning, learning is the process by which a system improves its performance by processing data and adjusting its algorithms based on that data. In the case of a chatbot/robot, learning would involve adjusting its algorithms based on its interactions with the world, so that it could perform better in the future.

This means that as a chatbot/robot interacts with the world and experiences new things, it would update its algorithms and change its behavior accordingly. Over time, as it continues to learn and interact with the world, it would become more sophisticated and better able to perform its tasks.

Therefore, a chatbot/robot that could learn would change as a result of its experiences and interactions with the world, as it updates its algorithms and improves its performance.

So if the chatbot/robot could learn and ground its symbols in the world outside the kitchen, when would its Turing Test end? How long and much must it do to pass?

The Turing Test, as proposed by Alan Turing, is a measure of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior that is indistinguishable from that of a human. The test involves a human judge who engages in a natural language conversation with both a human and a machine, and decides which of the two they believe to be the human. If the judge is unable to reliably distinguish between the machine and the human, then the machine is said to have passed the Turing Test.

In terms of how long and much the chatbot/robot must do to pass the Turing Test, there is no specific time frame or set of criteria that must be met. The Turing Test is subjective and depends on the judgment of the human judge. Some researchers and practitioners in the field of artificial intelligence might consider a chatbot/robot to have passed the Turing Test if it is able to consistently fool human judges in a substantial number of trials. Others might have different criteria for determining whether a chatbot/robot has passed the Turing Test.

Therefore, it is not possible to determine a specific time frame or set of criteria for when the Turing Test would end for a chatbot/robot. The test is ongoing, and the chatbot/robot would continue to be evaluated against human behavior for as long as it is in use. Whether it would pass the Turing Test would depend on the subjective judgment of human judges, and could change over time as the chatbot/robot continues to learn and interact with the world.

If there is no time-limit on the Turing Test (henceforth “TT”) for the learning chatbot/robot out in the world, why would there be a limit on the number of judges? And if any and every judge, regardless of how long the test or the number of judges, is unable to distinguish the performance of the chatbot/robot from that of any other human being, in what sense is the judgment “subjective”, and in what sense are the judges being “fooled”?

The number of judges used in the Turing Test is not a limiting factor in the sense that there is a specific number that must be reached in order for the chatbot/robot to pass the test. The use of multiple judges is typically seen as a way to increase the reliability of the test results by taking into account the subjective judgment of multiple individuals. If a chatbot/robot consistently fools a large number of human judges, it becomes more likely that the chatbot/robot is exhibiting human-like intelligence.

However, the judgment of the human judges is still subjective in the sense that each judge brings their own biases, opinions, and interpretations to the conversation with the chatbot/robot. They may also have different criteria for determining what constitutes human-like behavior. As a result, even if a chatbot/robot consistently fools a large number of human judges, there may still be some degree of disagreement about whether it has truly passed the Turing Test.

Regarding the concept of “fooling” the judges, if a chatbot/robot is able to consistently mimic human behavior in a way that is indistinguishable from that of a real human, then the human judges are being “fooled” in the sense that they are unable to reliably distinguish the machine’s behavior from that of a human. However, it is important to note that the chatbot/robot is not intentionally trying to deceive the human judges, but is instead simply exhibiting the intelligence that it has been programmed or learned to exhibit.

If no one can ever tell any difference between what the grounded chatbot/robot in the world can learn and do and what a human can learn and do, in what sense is that a subjective judgment and it what sense is everyone being fooled?

The judgment of whether a chatbot/robot has truly passed the Turing Test is subjective in the sense that it is based on the opinions and perceptions of the human judges. Each judge may have different criteria for what constitutes human-like intelligence, and their interpretations of the chatbot/robot’s behavior may be influenced by their individual biases and experiences.

If a chatbot/robot is able to consistently mimic human behavior in a way that is indistinguishable from a real human, it is said to have “fooled” the human judges in the sense that the judges are unable to reliably determine that they are interacting with a machine. However, this “fooling” is not a result of intentional deception on the part of the chatbot/robot, but rather a reflection of its advanced abilities and programming.

In cases where multiple human judges are unable to distinguish the chatbot/robot’s behavior from that of a human, the conclusion that the chatbot/robot has passed the Turing Test becomes more reliable. However, even in these cases, the judgment remains subjective as there may still be individual differences in opinions and criteria for what constitutes human-like intelligence.

I said that no one could tell the difference between the performance capacities of the learning, grounded chatbot/robot in the world and you said there was no time limit on the TT, so in what way are these judgments “subjective”? I understand that the chatbot/robot is not trying to fool anyone. So in what sense are they being “fooled”?

If a chatbot/robot is able to consistently mimic human behavior in a way that is indistinguishable from a real human, it is said to have “fooled” the human judges in the sense that the judges are unable to reliably determine that they are interacting with a machine, even though the chatbot/robot is not attempting to deceive them.

However, even if no one can tell the difference between the performance capacities of the chatbot/robot and a human, the judgment of whether the chatbot/robot has truly passed the Turing Test is still subjective because it depends on the criteria and standards used by the human judges to determine whether a machine’s behavior is human-like or not.

For example, some judges may consider a chatbot/robot’s ability to perform certain tasks as evidence of human-like intelligence, while others may place more importance on its ability to understand and respond to complex emotions and social cues. There may also be individual differences in the judgments made by each judge, based on their individual experiences and biases.

So even if no one is able to distinguish the performance capacities of the chatbot/robot from a human, the judgment of whether the chatbot/robot has truly passed the Turing Test remains subjective as it is based on the perceptions and opinions of the human judges.

If no one can tell the difference between X and Y, how is that subjective, and how are they being fooled?

The judgment of whether someone can tell the difference between two things is a subjective matter as it depends on the individual’s perception and evaluation. The idea of being “fooled” implies deception or intentional misinformation, which may not necessarily be the case in this scenario. If a person cannot distinguish between two entities, it may simply be a result of their limited ability to observe or process information, and not because of any intention to deceive.

I agree that Turing-Testing depends on perception — the perceptual capacity of humans. Maybe a metal-detector could distinguish robots from people. But that’s no longer just a matter of performance capacity.

Yes, that’s correct. The Turing Test as originally proposed by Turing is based on human perception and evaluation, and the capacity of a machine to imitate human-like behavior in text-based communication. However, other methods and techniques beyond just human perception can be used to distinguish between entities, such as in your example of a metal detector. These additional methods may be necessary to supplement the Turing Test in certain cases.

Is Turing-Testing a learning, grounded chatbot/robot still a matter of testing “text-based communication”? Is the TT meant to test for the presence of deception or the presence of human cognitive capacities? And if the TT has no limit on the number of tests and testers, and the chatbot/robot never fails, what is the “deception”?

The Turing Test is primarily a test of text-based communication, which is meant to evaluate a machine’s ability to exhibit human-like behaviors and mimic human intelligence in natural language conversations. The idea behind the test is to see if a human judge can distinguish between a human and a machine based on their responses to questions and prompts in a text-based communication. The test is designed to check for the presence of human-like intelligence and not necessarily the presence of deception. If a machine consistently passes the Turing Test, it could be considered a success in terms of its ability to exhibit human-like intelligence, but it does not necessarily mean that it is not deceiving. The concept of deception in the Turing Test is a subjective matter and can depend on how one interprets the idea of a machine being able to mimic human behavior and thought processes.

Is the TT a test of mimicry or a test of capacity? Is equivalent and indistinguishable capacity mimicry?

The Turing Test is primarily a test of capacity, but it can be seen as a test of mimicry as well. Equivalent capacity means that the chatbot/robot and the human being tested have the same ability to respond to stimuli and perform tasks, which can result in indistinguishable responses. In this sense, the TT can be seen as a test of mimicry. However, the main objective of the TT is to assess a machine’s capacity to demonstrate human-like intelligence, so it is primarily a test of capacity.

But if the capacity of the chatbot/robot (let’s call it the “candidate” from now on) is indistinguishable from that of any human, and the designers know how they produced this capacity, in what sense is it mimicry rather than capacity?

The Turing Test is often described as a test of mimicry, where the candidate chatbot/robot is expected to imitate human-like responses in text-based communication. However, the goal of the test is to determine if the candidate has the capacity to exhibit human-like intelligence in its responses. If the candidate is able to produce indistinguishable responses from a human and the designers understand how they have achieved this capacity, it could be argued that the candidate’s performance is not necessarily mimicry, but rather a demonstration of capacity. Whether the candidate’s performance is considered mimicry or capacity would depend on the interpretation and understanding of those who observe and evaluate it.

But in the example as we discussed it here, the only judgment being made is that no one can ever tell apart the candidate’s performance from any other human’s performance, So I ask again: where is the subjectivity or the mimicry or the “fooling” in any of that?

In the case of the Turing Test, the judgment of whether the candidate’s performance is indistinguishable from that of a human is subjective in the sense that it is based on the subjective perceptions and opinions of the judges. However, this does not mean that the candidate is necessarily “mimicking” human behavior or trying to “fool” the judges. The goal of the Turing Test is to determine if the candidate has reached a certain level of human-like intelligence, not necessarily to determine if it is human or not. The subjective nature of the test lies in the fact that the judges are evaluating the candidate based on their own experiences, biases, and expectations, which can vary from person to person. So, the judgment of whether the candidate has passed the test is subjective to some extent, but the performance of the candidate itself is not necessarily mimicry or deception.

Everyone has “experiences, biases, and expectations,” but the premise here is that no human can tell apart the candidate’s performance from the performance of any other human, ever. (And remember that the candidate is a robot, not just a chatbot, and that the performance is anything humans can do in the world.) So I ask again, isn’t this grounded robotic TT a test of capacity rather than an exercise in mimicry, constrained by the “subjectivity” of the judges (i.e., everyone)? If no human can distinguish the taste of vegan cheese from dairy cheese does that not teach us something about the nature of the taste (to a human) of cheese rather than a test of whether a human is being fooled by mimicry? Is the TT not trying to reverse-engineer human cognitive capacity (“intelligence”) rather than just trying to fool people?

The Turing Test is primarily meant to test a machine’s ability to demonstrate human-like intelligence through text-based communication. The subjective nature of the test lies in the judgment of the human evaluators, who use their own experiences, biases, and expectations to determine whether the machine’s responses are indistinguishable from those of a human. The test is not meant to test for a machine’s capacity to perform tasks in the world like a human, but rather its ability to mimic human-like conversation. Whether the machine’s responses can be considered mimicry or a demonstration of capacity depends on the underlying design and technology that produced the responses. However, the ultimate goal of the Turing Test is to assess a machine’s intelligence and ability to engage in human-like conversation, not necessarily to determine if the human evaluators are being “fooled” or not.

What is and is not a “machine”?

A “machine” is a physical device designed to perform one or more tasks, usually automated, through the use of mechanics and electronics. This can include traditional mechanical devices, such as a car engine, as well as computerized systems, such as a smartphone. So, anything that performs work using physical components, whether mechanical, electrical, or computational, can be considered a machine.

So are biological organisms machines?

Biological organisms are not traditionally considered machines, as the term is typically used to refer to artificial systems designed and constructed by humans for specific purposes. However, there are some theories and philosophical perspectives that view biological organisms as being akin to machines, such as reductionist biological theories that view living systems as being essentially complex systems of interacting physical and chemical processes. But in general, the definition of “machine” is highly context-dependent and can vary depending on the field and the purpose for which it is being used.

Plant Sentience and the Precautionary Principle

I hope that plants are not sentient, but I also believe they are not sentient, for several other reasons too:

Every function and capacity demonstrated in plants and (rightly) described as “intelligent” and “cognitive” (learning, remembering, signalling, communicating) can already be done by robots and by software (and they can do a lot more too). That demonstrates that plants too have remarkable cognitive capacities that we used to think were unique to people (and perhaps a few other species of animals). But it does not demonstrate that plants feel. Nor that feeling is necessary in order to have those capacities. Nor does it increase the probability by more than an infinitesimal amount, that plants feel.

The “hard problem” is to explain how and why humans (and perhaps a few other species of animals) feel. It seems to be causally superfluous, as robotic and computational models are demonstrating how much can be done without feeling. But with what plants can do it is almost trivial to design a model that can do it too, So there feeling seems to be incomparably more superfluous.

To reply that “Well, so maybe those robots and computational models feel too!” would just be to capitalize on the flip side of the other-minds problem (that certainty is not possible), to the effect that just as we cannot be sure that other people do feel, we cannot be sure that rocks, rockets or robots don’t feel.

That’s not a good address. Don’t go there. Stick with high probability and the preponderance of evidence. The evidence for some cognitive capacity (memory, learning, communication) in plants is strong. But the evidence that they feel is next to zero. In nonhuman animals the evidence that they feel starts very high for mammals, birds, other vertebrates, and, more and more invertebrates. But the evidence that plants, microbes and single cells feel is nonexistent, even as the evidence for their capacity for intelligent performance becomes stronger.

That humans should not eat animals is a simple principle based on the necessities for survival: 

Obligate carnivores (like the felids, I keep being told) have no choice. Eat flesh or sicken and die. Humans, in contrast, are facultative omnivores; they can survive as carnivores, consuming flesh, or they can survive without consuming flesh, as herbivores. And they can choose. There are no other options (until and unless technology produces a completely synthetic diet).

So my disbelief in plan sentience is not based primarily on wishful thinking, but on evidence and probability (which is never absolute zero, even for gravity, that apples may not start falling up instead of down tomorrow).

But there is another ethical factor that influences my belief, and that is the Precautionary Principle. Right now, and for millennia already in the Anthropocene, countless indisputably sentient animals are being slaughtered by our species, every second of every day, all over the planet, not out of survival necessity (as it had been for our hunter/gatherer ancestors), but for the taste, out of habit.

Now the “evidence” of sentience in these animals is being used to try to sensitize the public to their suffering, and the need to protect them. And the Precautionary Principle is being invoked to extend the protection to species for whom the evidence is not as complete and familiar as it is for vertebrates, giving them the benefit of the doubt rather than having to be treated as insentient until “proven” sentient. Note that all these “unproven” species are far closer, biologically and behaviorally to the species known to be sentient than they are to single cells and plants, for whom there is next to no evidence of sentience, only evidence for a degree of intelligence. Intelligence, by the way, does come in degrees, whereas sentience does not: An organism either does feel (something) or it does not – the rest is just a matter of the quality, intensity and duration of the feeling, not its existence.

So this 2nd order invocation of the Precautionary Principle, and its reckoning of the costs of being right or wrong, dictates that just as it is wrong not to give the benefit of the doubt to similar animals where the probability is already so high, it would be wrong to give the benefit of the doubt where the probability of sentience is incomparably lower, and what is at risk in attributing it where it is highly improbable is precisely the protection the distinction would have afforded to the species for whom the probability of sentience is far higher. The term just becomes moot, and just another justification for the status quo (ruled by neither necessity nor compassion, but just taste and habit – and the wherewithal to keep it that way).

Symbols, Objects and Features

0. It might help if we stop “cognitizing” computation and symbols. 

1. Computation is not a subset of AI. 

2. AI (whether “symbolic” AI or “connectionist’ AI) is an application of computation to cogsci.

3. Computation is the manipulation of symbols based on formal rules (algorithms).

4. Symbols are objects or states whose physical “shape” is arbitrary in relation to what they can be used and interpreted as referring to.

5. An algorithm (executable physically as a Turing Machine) manipulates symbols based on their (arbitrary) shapes, not their interpretations (if any).

6. The algorithms of interest in computation are those that have at least one meaningful interpretation.

7. Examples of symbol shapes are numbers (1, 2, 3), words (one, two, three; onyx, tool, threnody), or any object or state that is used as a symbol by a Turing Machine that is executing an algorithm (symbol-manipulation rules).

8. Neither a sensorimotor feature of an object in the world, nor a sensorimotor feature-detector of a robot interacting with the world, is a symbol (except in the trivial sense that any arbitrary shape can be used as a symbol).

9. What sensorimotor features (which, unlike symbols, are not arbitrary in shape) and sensorimotor feature-detectors (whether “symbolic” or “connectionist”) might be good for is connecting symbols inside symbol systems (e.g., robots) to the outside objects that they can be interpreted as referring to.

10. If you are interpreting “symbol” in a wider sense than this formal, literal one, then you are closer to lit-crit than to cogsci.