Artificial intelligence in small bites
Machine Learning Workshop – Talkies
© Lead Image © robsnowstock, 123RF.com
Natural language games highlight artificial intelligence's quest for comprehension.
While thinking about intelligence and its operation dates back at least to the Greek philosophers [1], discussion of creating an artificial brain only credibly emerged after Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace's work on the Analytical Engine [2]. The idea that a mechanical device could be built possessing the ability to reason was further boosted by the appearance of digital computers in the 1940s and a highly symbolic language such as Lisp the 1960s [3], reducing indirection to just another set of parenthesis and thus enabling the efficient encoding and processing of large sets of interdependent rules.
Then progress hit a wall due to the impossibility of encoding in declarative fashion all the rules (some of which were manifestly yet unknown) required to reason from a premise to a conclusion. Nevertheless, interesting experiments emerged, with their results best illustrated by some games built with this design strategy.
Gaming Intelligence
MIT's ELIZA [4] is a set of simple yet clever scripts encoding a few simple strategies to answer a natural language prompt (you can try a modern version online [5]). ELIZA attempts to impersonate a Rogerian psychotherapist (a practitioner of person-centered therapy) by exploiting the reliably predictable subject-verb-object sentence structure found in the English language to mechanically turn statements into questions, or manipulate one clause into another:
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.3 Now Available with New Tools
Linux Mint 22.3 has been released with a pair of new tools for system admins and some pretty cool new features.
-
New Linux Malware Targets Cloud-Based Linux Installations
VoidLink, a new Linux malware, should be of real concern because of its stealth and customization.
-
Say Goodbye to Middle-Mouse Paste
Both Gnome and Firefox have proposed getting rid of a long-time favorite Linux feature.
-
Manjaro 26.0 Primary Desktop Environments Default to Wayland
If you want to stick with X.Org, you'll be limited to the desktop environments you can choose.
-
Mozilla Plans to AI-ify Firefox
With a new CEO in control, Mozilla is doubling down on a strategy of trust, all the while leaning into AI.
-
Gnome Says No to AI-Generated Extensions
If you're a developer wanting to create a new Gnome extension, you'd best set aside that AI code generator, because the extension team will have none of that.
-
Parrot OS Switches to KDE Plasma Desktop
Yet another distro is making the move to the KDE Plasma desktop.
-
TUXEDO Announces Gemini 17
TUXEDO Computers has released the fourth generation of its Gemini laptop with plenty of updates.
-
Two New Distros Adopt Enlightenment
MX Moksha and AV Linux 25 join ranks with Bodhi Linux and embrace the Enlightenment desktop.
-
Solus Linux 4.8 Removes Python 2
Solus Linux 4.8 has been released with the latest Linux kernel, updated desktops, and a key removal.