Thomas comments on LINK: AI Researcher Yann LeCun on AI function - Less Wrong

0 Post author: shminux 11 December 2013 12:29AM

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Comment author: Thomas 12 December 2013 10:48:32AM *  1 point [-]

No, they are not. Every intelligent agent is just a piece of environment.

Comment author: passive_fist 13 December 2013 04:11:42AM 1 point [-]

Intelligence can exist even in isolation from any other intelligent agents. Indeed, the first super-intelligent agent is likely to be without peer.

Comment author: Thomas 13 December 2013 07:25:26AM 0 points [-]

Look! The point is about predicting and intelligence. Doesn't matter what a predictor has around itself. It's just predicting. That's what it does.

And what does a (super)intelligence? It predicts. Very good, probably.

A dichotomy is needless.

Some examples:

  • predicting the solution of a partial deferential equation
  • predicting the best method to solve the given equation
  • predicting how a process might behave
  • predicting the best action you may take to achieve a goal
  • predicting the best possible move in a given chess position
  • predicting what a cyphered message is about ...

I predict, you can't give me a counterexample. Where an obviously intelligent solution can't be regarded as a prediction.

This went under the name of SP theory, long ago. That the prediction, compression and intelligence are the same thing, actually.

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/235892114_Computing_as_compression_the_SP_theory_of_intelligence

Almost tautological, but inescapable.

Comment author: Houshalter 24 March 2014 02:43:09AM 0 points [-]

predicting the best possible move in a given chess position

In order to do this you need training data on what the optimal move is. This may not exist, or limits you to only doing as good as the player you are predicting.

Additionally, predicting is inherently less optimal than search, unless your predictions are 100% perfect. You are choosing moves because you predict they are optimal, rather than because it's the best move you've found. If for example, you try to play by predicting what a chessmaster would do, your play will necessarily be worse than if you just play normally.

Comment author: passive_fist 13 December 2013 07:38:46AM 0 points [-]

They are closely related but not the same thing.

A counterexample is chess.

Comment author: Thomas 13 December 2013 08:08:28AM 0 points [-]

What an ideal chess player does? It predicts which move is optimal. May be a tricky feat, but he is good and predicts it well.

I looked this thread in past minutes and I clearly saw this "ideological division". Few people thinks as I do. Other say - you can't solve causal problems with a mere prediction. But don't give a clear example.

Don't you agree, that an ideal "best next chess move predictor" is the strongest possible chess player?

Comment author: passive_fist 13 December 2013 08:16:35AM *  0 points [-]

It predicts which move is optimal.

Maybe it would be useful to define terms, to make things more clear.

If you have a time-process X, and t observations from this process, a predictor comes up with a prediction as to what X_t+1 will be.

On the other hand, given a utility function f() on a series of possible outcomes Y from t+1 to infinity, a decision maker finds the best Y_t+1 to choose to maximize the utility function.

Note that the definition of these two things is not the same: a predictor is concerned about the past and immediate present, whereas a decision maker is concerned with the future.

Comment author: Thomas 13 December 2013 08:23:01AM 0 points [-]

a predictor comes up with a prediction as to what X_t+1 will be

This "t+1" might be "t+X". Results for a large X may be very bad. So as results for "t+1" may be bad. Still he do his best predictions.

whereas a decision maker is concerned with the future

He predicts the best decision, which can be taken.