Shades of consciousness

It has been argued that consciousness might be what differentiates human from machine mentality. What then is consciousness? We discuss consciousness, particularly perception accounts of consciousness. It is argued that perception and consciousness are distinct. Armstrong's (1980) account of consciousness is rejected. It is proposed that perception is a necessary but not sufficient condition for consciousness, and that there is a distinction to be drawn between consciousness and self-consciousness. Consciousness is tightly linked to attention and to certain sorts of knowledge. Implications for machine consciousness and machine attention are discussed.     

Why the mind may not be modular

Fodor argued that in contrast to input systems which are informationally encapsulated, general intelligence is unencapsulated and hence non-modular; for this reason, he suggested, prospects for understanding it are not bright. It is argued that an additional property, primitive functionality, is required for non-modularity. A functionally primitive computational model for quantifier scoping, limited to some scoping influences, is then motivated, and an implementation described. It is argued that only such a model can be faithful to intuitive scope preferences. But it is also argued that an extended model which includes all scoping influences is a hopeless prospect from a developmental perspective. Fodor's views are concluded to have some independent support: quantifier scoping is a mental ability parasitic on general intelligence that is non-modular though in a revised sense, warranting pessimism about our ability of model it.     

Gödel, Lucas, and mechanical models of the mind

In Minds, Machines, and Gödel, Lucas offers an argument, based upon Godel's incompleteness theorems, that his mind cannot be modelled by a machine. This argument has generated a variety of alleged refutations, some of which are incompatible with others. It is argued here that the incompatibility of these refutations points to a puzzle or paradox which has not yet been resolved. A solution to this puzzle is presented in which it is argued that the existence of an algorithm, capable of generating a godel sentence for an axiomatic model of that same algorithm, is not incompatible with Godels well-known results. It is further argued that, contrary to received opinion, Gödel's results do not provide grounds for believing that cognitive agents are incapable of proving the consistency of correct formal models of their own cognitive mechanisms. This is shown to be so, even on the assumption that these formal models are known by those agents (on empirical grounds) to be formal models of themselves. Finally, the implications of the above issues for theoretical questions in AI are explored.     

E-business: boom or gloom?

This essay offers some propositions and predictions about the future conduct and effectiveness of e-business. It is argued that successful e-business activity will require the effective management of certain core 'building blocks'. These are concerned with new technology, supply chain relationships, business processes and empowered employees. It is argued that the UK's track record is poor in these areas, in large part due to many organizations lacking a systemic understanding of these issues and the relationships between them. It is predicted that such systemic understanding will get harder for organizations (as systems get more complex and tightly coupled) and that the majority of e-business ventures, in the short to medium term, will fail to meet their objectives.     

Control Computations and the Design of Loop Control Structures

The control computation for a loop in a program is that part of the program concerned with the initialization, incrementation, and testing of the variables that determine the flow of control into, through, and out of the loop. The elements of loop control computations are idenified and their role in structuring our understanding of loops is analyzed. It is argued, through examples drawn from a Pascal compiler, that the intelligibility of a loop is closely tied to the accessibility and intelligibility of the loop control computation. It is further argued, from an analysis of all the loops in this compiler, that most loop control computations fail in a few standard patterns, mostly concerned with the sequential processing of elements of data structures. In light of these results, common loop control statements are critiqued. It appears that better loop control structures than the while, repeat-until, and similar statement structures are possible and desirable, and some proposals for better structures are given.     

Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Project as Philosophy of Information

It is argued that the Tractatus Project of Logical Atomism, in which the world is conceived of as the totality of independent atomic facts, can usefully be understood by conceiving of each fact as a bit in ‘logical space’. Wittgenstein himself thinks in terms of logical space. His ‘elementary propositions’, which express atomic facts, are interpreted as tuples of co-ordinates which specify the location of a bit in logical space. He says that signs for elementary propositions are arrangements of names. Here, the names are understood as numerical symbols specifying coordinates. It is argued that, using this approach, the so-called ‘colour-exclusion’ problem, which was Wittgenstein’s reason for abandoning the Tractatus, is in fact soluble. However, if logical space is a continuum then some coordinates will need to be expressed by numerical symbols that are infinite in size. How is this to be understood in Tractatus terms? It is shown that, in the Tractatus, Wittgenstein did recognise the possibility of infinite propositions and sentences expressing them. At first sight his approach to infinite sentences, and the approach of the present paper, seem to differ, but it is argued that the difference is superficial. Finally, we address the question of whether Logical Atomism is viable and this raises issues concerning its relationship to natural science.     

Efficient unification over infinite terms

We address the unification problem for expressions over infinite first-order terms. An algorithm which is practically linear in time and space is presented. It is argued that this algorithm is better than some recent algorithms with respect to performance in practice and simplicity in nature. It is further argued that this superiority also holds in comparison with some of the best known algorithms for the more conventional unification problem over finite terms.     

Impact of national culture on information technology usage behaviour: An exploratory study of decision making in Korea and the USA

This essay offers some propositions and predictions about the future conduct and effectiveness of e-business. It is argued that successful e-business activity will require the effective management of certain core 'building blocks'. These are concerned with new technology, supply chain relationships, business processes and empowered employees. It is argued that the UK's track record is poor in these areas, in large part due to many organizations lacking a systemic understanding of these issues and the relationships between them. It is predicted that such systemic understanding will get harder for organizations (as systems get more complex and tightly coupled) and that the majority of e-business ventures, in the short to medium term, will fail to meet their objectives.     

‘<Emphasis Type="Italic">if p then q</Emphasis>’ . . . and all that: Logical Elements in Reasoning and Discourse

In this paper we explore differences in use of the so-called ‘logical’ elements of language such as quantifiers and conditionals, and use this to explain differences in performance in reasoning tasks across subject groups with different educational backgrounds. It is argued that quantified sentences are difficult natural bases for reasoning, and hence more prone to elicit variation in reasoning behaviour, because they are chiefly used with a pre-determined domain in everyday speech. By contrast, it is argued that conditional sentences form natural premises because of the function they serve in everyday speech. Implications of this for the role of logic in modelling human reasoning behaviour are briefly considered.     

Hot topics-trends in advanced packaging technology

Advanced packaging is shifting to greater use of multichip modules (MCMs) for applications, not just those running on mainframes. It is argued that the reasons are threefold: higher performance, smaller size, and lower cost     

Thinking Machines: Some Fundamental Confusions

This paper explores Church's Thesis and related claims madeby Turing. Church's Thesis concerns computable numerical functions, whileTuring's claims concern both procedures for manipulating uninterpreted marksand machines that generate the results that these procedures would yield. Itis argued that Turing's claims are true, and that they support (the truth of)Church's Thesis. It is further argued that the truth of Turing's and Church'sTheses has no interesting consequences for human cognition or cognitiveabilities. The Theses don't even mean that computers can do as much as peoplecan when it comes to carrying out effective procedures. For carrying out aprocedure is a purposive, intentional activity. No actual machine does, orcan do, as much.     

Who's Who on the Editorial Board

It is argued in the paper that social systems are self-referential. As such, they can be best viewed as autopoietic systems. Various implications of this view are discussed in the paper.     

Types and tokens in road accident causation

Accidents are preceded by long histories containing multitudes of events that constitute promising targets for preventive action. These antecedent events can be classified into at least four groups that occur in this order: failure types; psychological precursors; unsafe acts; and breakdown of defences. It is argued that events directly preceding an accident, such as breakdown of defences and unsafe acts, are only haphazard tokens of the more permanent weaknesses within a system, called failure types. Elimination of a type will therefore have much more impact than the elimination of one or a few tokens. It is also argued that there exist only a limited number of failure types, which are responsible for all accidents. However, in the specific area of road accidents, it is not known which types cause most of the problems. Therefore, their relative importance can only be guessed. We guessed that hardware problems and maintenance are unimportant types; that education and regulations are of moderate importance; and that incompatible goals, conditions promoting unsafe behaviour, and organizational inadequacy are the types that cause most of the accidents. The latter therefore constitute the most promising targets for accident prevention.     

Quality time-What's so bad about rule-based programming?

The frustration expressed by some leading researchers in the field with the limited number of large systems deployed based on expert-systems technology is addressed. It is argued that the problem is related to the inherent nature of rule-based programming. It is maintained that systems developed with the rule-based paradigm are unmaintainable, untestable, and unreliable. It is concluded that unless knowledge engineering has a set of mechanisms to address reliability and maintainability, it is headed for a crisis     

Process structure for interactive software

The domestic personal microcomputer invites its owner to create applications for it. Prominent among these are games, some of which call for real-time responses from the user to a complex rapidly moving display. It is argued that BASIC and other conventional high level languages are unsuitable for such tasks. A program structure based on the concept of processes is described and advocated.     

Microcomputer maintenance in schools-a survey of current practice

Abstract  This paper is an outline report of larger study dealing with the topic of computer maintenance in schools. It examines the responses to surveys of schools, a maintenance firm and English LEAs. The results of these surveys are given showing, in the main, that maintenance is a neglected aspect of the introduction of IT in schools. It is argued that this has implications for both teaching and resource use.     

Delaying commitment [programming strategy]

A programming strategy of delaying design commitment is advocated. It is argued that such an approach retains flexibility and provides an opportunity for new insights and creative design further on in the process. In the context of programming, delaying commitment corresponds to lazy evaluation. Tactics for delaying commitment are discussed     

Fostering superficial learning

Abstract Different views of learning and what it means to follow rules are discussed. The activities, the language and context of expertise and knowledge have traditionally often been neglected and underestimated as something ancillary to the real knowledge which lies ‘beyond’ such surface manifestations. The primacy of ‘superficial’ aspects are argued for. It is further argued that these should be more emphasis and fully appreciated. The goal of fostering ‘superficial’ learning is suggested, i.e. an emphasis on practical activities, the use of the language of the domain to be learned and getting familiar with the new culture. A case study is presented and discussed in terms of this theoretical viewpoint.     

Capturing Local Variability for Speaker Normalization in Speech Recognition

The new model reduces the impact of local spectral and temporal variability by estimating a finite set of spectral and temporal warping factors which are applied to speech at the frame level. Optimum warping factors are obtained while decoding in a locally constrained search. The model involves augmenting the states of a standard hidden Markov model (HMM), providing an additional degree of freedom. It is argued in this paper that this represents an efficient and effective method for compensating local variability in speech which may have potential application to a broader array of speech transformations. The technique is presented in the context of existing methods for frequency warping-based speaker normalization for ASR. The new model is evaluated in clean and noisy task domains using subsets of the Aurora 2, the Spanish Speech-Dat-Car, and the TIDIGITS corpora. In addition, some experiments are performed on a Spanish language corpus collected from a population of speakers with a range of speech disorders. It has been found that, under clean or not severely degraded conditions, the new model provides improvements over the standard HMM baseline. It is argued that the framework of local warping is an effective general approach to providing more flexible models of speaker variability.