NHAAS@IBM.COM.UUCP (05/07/87)
Two speech recognition trickies from Eng. Lit.: Our Glass Lake (Hourglass Lake) -- Nabokov Make-Believe Express (Maple Leaf Express) -- Thurber
mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (05/13/87)
It is usually claimed that sentential or speech ambiguities can be resolved by knowing the context. I heard one on TV the other night that cannot be so resolved. It could be disambiguated only by asking the talker. Here is the situation: A nature program was describing the return of salmon from the sea to their native river. During the salt-to-fresh water transition, they congregate in teh shallow water at the mouth of the river. One after another, they are picked off by swooping sea-birds. The commentator said " ... they are picked off by {terns|turns}." Knowing completely the context, it is impossible to know which he meant, although the two meanings are very different. -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt mmt@zorac.arpa Magic is just advanced technology ... so is intelligence. Before computers, the ability to do arithmetic was proof of intelligence. What proves intelligence now?