Beyond the original AI4U textbook and the quasi-chapter updates
of the AI mind-module documentation webpages, Wikipedia is where
thousands of volunteers constantly update and improve the free AI
textbook by editing AI background articles for each AI4U chapter.
These Wikipedia articles expand on the Article mind-module.
// Article() is a module that selects "a" or "the".
function Article() { // atm 23aug2008
for (i = t; i>midway; i--) { // Look backwards for 7="the".
enLexicon[i].enExam(); // Inspect the English nodes.
if (en0 == 7) { // If the #7 concept "the" is found...
motjuste = 7; // "nen" concept #7 for "the";
aud = en5; // Auditory recall-vector for "the".
break; // Finding one engram is enough.
} // End of search for #7 "the".
} // End of loop finding the word "the".
lastword = true; // 23aug2008 Prevent a "seq" association.
Speech(); // Speak or display the word "the".
lastword = false; // 23aug2008 Reset "lastword" flag.
} // End of function Article() called from nounPhrase().
: Article ( select "a" or "the" before a noun ) \ 25aug2008
midway @ t @ DO \ Look backwards for 7=the.
I 0 en{ @ 7 = IF \ If #7 "the" is found,
\ 7 motjuste ! \ "nen" concept #7 for "the".
I 5 en{ @ aud ! \ Recall-vector for "the".
LEAVE \ Use the most recent engram of "the".
THEN \ End of search for #7 "the".
-1 +LOOP \ End of loop finding the word "the".
SPEECH \ Speak or display the word "the".
; \ 25aug2008 End of Article; return to nounPhrase.
The Article module is the first architectural add-on to the
primitive, proof-of-concept AI Mind as described in the
AI4U
textbook of artificial intelligence. Prior to 2008, when the
Article module was introduced, there were only enough modules
in the AI Mind to demonstrate thinking, and the AI software
did not function properly until the last major bugs were
eliminated from
Mind.Forth in January of 2008.
The proof-of-concept AI Mind could think only in terms of
plural nouns without the articles "a" or "the". It is
difficult for a human user to talk only about plural nouns
with the AI. The user feels a natural desire to discuss
a single instance of an otherwise plural topic. Therefore
the first step in expanding a primitive
AI Mind is to add
a group of features that include the use of singular forms
for nouns and verbs, and the use of intransitive verbs of
being and becoming for the discussion of both singular
and plural topics.
Take the ancient Roman philosopher who said in Latin,
Homo sum.
Nil humani mihi alienum puto.
Put into English, he was saying, "I am a human being.
I consider nothing human to be alien to me." Consider
also the
syllogism:
All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man.
Therefore Socrates is mortal.
Both of these examples illustrate the idea that, before
we can introduce singular nouns and verbs into the AI Mind,
we must first introduce an Article module that will be able
to put "a" or "the" before a singular noun.
As in the human mind, the
AI Mind must have a reason
to select "a" or "the" or even to use any article at all.
In AI software we must
computationalize the mental
phenomena that a biological brain-mind seems to achieve
so effortlessly, but which are so difficult to achieve in
a computer emulating the human brain. In the AI,
we will use software flag
variables to perform the
function of associative tag neurons connecting one concept
or brain-module to another in the human brain-mind.
The expansion of the first
AI Mind is not without some
growing pains -- like a human baby suffering in teething.
Adding each new module to the pre-existing AI architecture
causes some temporary disruption of the ability to think.
We then debug the AI back to normal and release it on the Web.
As the AI grows more sophisticated and more obviously
engaged in genuine thinking, the likelihood increases
that Netizens far and wide will join in the process of
developing True AI even further, in new programming
languages and in novel forms of robotic embodiment.
As the movement picks up speed -- swoosh! -- the AI
may trigger and launch a
Technological Singularity.
6. Troubleshooting and Debugging
It is easier to debug the Article module in
Forth than in JavaScript,
because the MindForth source code is not so high level as the JSAI
(JavaScript Artificial Intelligence). MindForth also has more
diagnostic routines that show the AI programmer what is happening
deep inside the AI software when anything goes wrong. Forth is
also more forgiving of mistakes than JavaScript is. MindForth
will usually run and display problem behavior if a programmer
makes a mistake, whereas a JavaScript program oftentimes will
not run at all with a mistake in its code.
Whether in Forth or in JavaScript, the Article module leaves
traces of its behavior visible in the Diagnostic display mode.
A programmer can examine the psi concept flags to make sure
that the proper associations are forming among concepts, and
to see what residual activations are left on concepts after
the Article module has performed its work. The rest is agony.
7. Links and Resources
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Special Interest Group on Programming Languages (SIGPLAN)
Frenger, Paul -- ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1998 and 2004)
Mind.Forth: Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence and Forth
Ask your local science museum if they have an AI Mind exhibit.
If they do not, volunteer to install
MindForth as an AI exhibit.
See which museum has the oldest living artificial intelligence.
