bobgian@psuvax.UUCP (Bob Giansiracusa) (03/26/84)
My main interest is Artificial Intelligence, although I define that rather broadly: to me, AI is the field which unifies all others. Philosophy, psychology, mathematics, compilers, languages (both programming and natural), "systems" (both of the CS and of the EE variety), data structures, machine architecture, discrete representations, continuous representations, cognitive science, art, history, music, business administration, political science, etc, etc, etc, are ALL subfields of AI to me. They all represent specific domains in which intelligent activity is studied and/or mechanized. I'm sure many agree with me that what the American educational system needs is a program integrating computer "literacy" with critical thinking abilities in many other domains. I do not mean "literacy" in the "Oh yes, I can run statistical packages" sense. I mean an approach to critical thinking built on the foundations of the computational paradigm -- the view that knowledge and understanding can be represented explicitly, and that one can discover procedures for manipulating those representations in order to solve real problems. Such a program could form the backbone of a very stimulating university-wide undergraduate "core" program integrating not only mathematics and the physical sciences but communications skills and all the "liberal arts" as well. I visualize such a program as presenting a coherent and integrated approach to the cognitive skills most important for healthy and productive functioning in the modern world. It would present the major principles of cognition as seen through the organizing principles of information processing. This is more than an approach to teaching. To me, it is also the seed of new approaches to machine learning and cognitive modeling. It uses undergraduate education as an experimental testbed for research in AI, psychology, linguistics, and social systems. That "cutting edge" fervor alone should make it very interesting to students. -- Bob Giansiracusa Computer Science Dept, Penn State U, 814-865-9507 (ofc), 814-234-4375 (home) Arpa: bobgian%PSUVAX1.BITNET@Berkeley UUCP: bobgian@psuvax.UUCP -or- ..!allegra!psuvax!bobgian Bitnet: bobgian@PSUVAX1.BITNET CSnet: bobgian@penn-state.CSNET USmail: PO Box 10164, Calder Square Branch, State College, PA 16805
rcd@opus.UUCP (03/28/84)
Will someone please give Bob Giansiracusa a job before we all have to
unsubscribe to about 3 newsgroups?! Isn't 4 messages in a row a bit much?
--
Relax - don't worry - have a homebrew.
{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd