bboyer@orion.oac.uci.edu (Bruce Boyer) (04/19/91)
I am interested in hearing from:
- Philosophers who are working in AI
- Managers of AI projects
- Anyone else interested in the employment of
philosophers on AI projects
Comments are frequently made in AI literature tipping the
hat to the relevance of philsophy to AI. I would like to hear
some suggestions on how a philosopher (e.g., myself) could be
profitably involved in a non-academic ("real life") AI project.
I would not expect a philosopher could fill the same position
as one would seek to fill with a computer scientist. For example,
one would not expect a philosopher to have extensive
programming experience, though some, including familiarity with
LISP (?), might be expected.
On the other hand, the type of problem analysis that philosophers
are trained to do might be of great help. Computer scientists,
even those trained in AI, tend to have a certain "engineering
perspective," which leads to applying know techniques (tricks of
the trade) to a problem to achieve as quick a solution as
possible. A philosopher may be able to provide a different angle
on the problem analysis, and hence on how to achieve a better
solution.
Perhaps the best involvement is not directly in research at all,
but in support types of positions: marketing, project management,
training, and so on.
I look forward to your comments. You may post them to this news
service, email them to me (orion.oac.uci.edu!bboyer), or write via
conventional mail (see address below).
Thank you.
Bruce L. Boyer
18011 Theodora
Tustin, CA 92680