11 May 2009

Moravec's Paradox

a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec%27s_paradox">Moravec's paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Moravec's paradox is the discovery by artificial intelligence and robotics researchers that, contrary to traditional assumptions, the uniquely human faculty of reason (conscious, intelligent, rational thought) requires very little computation, but that the unconscious sensorimotor skills and instincts that we share with the animals require enormous computational resources.

The principle was articulated by Hans Moravec, Rodney Brooks, Marvin Minsky and others in the 1980s. As Moravec writes: "it is comparatively easy to make computers exhibit adult level performance on intelligence tests or playing checkers, and difficult or impossible to give them the skills of a one-year-old when it comes to perception and mobility."

Marvin Minsky wrote "In general, we're least aware of what our minds do best," and adds "we're more aware of simple processes that don't work well than of complex ones that work flawlessly."<

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