TLW.MDC@OFFICE-1.ARPA.UUCP (07/10/87)
I'm inclined to belive that Don Norman is right, and that AI is not a science; which is okay, there being a number of perfectly good, self-respecting fields of study out there that are not sciences. Still, its likely that there have been sensitivities offended and a defense is to be anticipated. In lieu of a more respectable and formal argument in defense of AI being a science, I am prepared to steal from William James and proffer a pragmatic test. The rationale is as follows: 1. Grant moneys are issued by various public and private agencies for the support of research in both sciences and non-sciences 2. Issuing agencies are generally authorized to finance projects falling within their scope of study only. 3. These agencies have some criteria for determining what appropriate projects are. THEREFORE: 4. Any projects funded by an agency as a science (e.g. NSF) are science projects reflecting scientific work (except for method or instrumentation projects). The challenge, then, is to find any researcher working on an AI project funded by a science-supportive agency. If only it were all this easy... Tony Wilkie <TLW.MDC@Office-1.ARPA>