[ivan.moony]

Here is a site I've stumbled upon some years ago. I just remembered how it impressed me when I've discovered it: http://attempto.ifi.uzh.ch/site/tools/ (click on link: Ace reasoner RACE)

It seems it features deduction and some question answering mechanism. I wonder how would it look like if it was filled with encyclopedic data (like http://babelnet.org/ or http://dbpedia.org/About)

[Don Patrick]

I can't seem to get the reasoner to work with other axioms, but it is clearly doing a basic inference on the given sample. Expert systems might interest you, they perform inferences on a knowledge database, though I can't say I've seen expert systems around that you can ask questions in normal language.
Interesting knowledge databases. I might use them some day.

If you like this sort of AI, I'm curious about your impression of this one.

[ivan.moony]

I like Arckon very much. I'm impressed by its learning capability. Very good conversationall skills, I can see. Very impressive project, thank you for the link.

However, I would like to see Arckon discovering artificial food, medicaments, new quantum physics formulas and things like that. Also, detailed explanations of how to do things in the world would be nice and I think that it would not be much work from where is Arckon now. It would be just theorem proving on top of translating natural language to logic. I guess we will see it in some future versions. I'm looking forward to it.

Here is another link, not that much impressive like Arckon, but it is an attempt too. Not quite AI, more like a parser + calculator: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/novak/cgi/physdemoc.cgi

[ivan.moony]

Don Patric, please excuse me, I'm just curious, is Arckon a project of yours?

[Art]

Don / Patrick,

It was nice of you to share a glimpse into some of the workings of your creation. Thank you!

Quite the speed reader he is!

You've obviously spent a great deal of time on this project thus far. What other plans do you have
with regard to additional abilities, refinements, perhaps releasing it, allowing for Internet searches?, etc.

Please enlighten us if you'd be so kind.

[Don Patrick]

Arckon is indeed my project, hence I am always interested to learn of similar programs that combine deep language processing and reasoning.
I like the calculator, it's simple but thorough , instead of using grammar, it seems to substitute keywords for mathemetical formula and constants before calculating. Good idea.

Some main features I've scheduled to add are knowledge structure for time, knowledge structure for space, and cause-and-result reasoning, together which will unlock classic problem solving abilities. Getting that up and running will surely take me the better part of next year. I've never had plans to release Arckon to the public, terrorists and mischief makers alike, but I have been contemplating various business models that would allow paying visitors online access to a copy of Arckon, in the event that I run out of funds.
It strikes me that I may have made his output too natural to still be recognisable as the result of a reasoning process (I delibarately omitted some "because"s). It makes sense that people are more easily impressed with superhuman abilities (reading speed) than with a half-adequate human ability (inferences).

[ivan.moony]

Yeah, I have thought of terrorists too in the case of public releasing. But I concluded that police would get a copy too, making a peace balance. But I hate both sides. Using a force from super-intelligent machine scares s**t out of me. When the machine starts systematic search for a problem solution, maybe nothing could stop it from execution. And if reaching the solution takes harming living being, God help us. That's why I think that an intelligent machine should do only things on which all beings agree.

But of course, public wants a gun in its hand for whatever reason they find. And I know they have to be wrong, whatever reason they have. S**t.

However, I'm driven by some crazy thought from which if the world is thriving in its richness there would be no motive for a crime. I'm still hoping for money-less world where everything is free and available. I guess no one wants to make a crime without reason and I would just love to take that reason away from everyone. I hope I'm not just dreaming and that there is a peace of kindness in all living beings, including those terrorists which had a ruff childhood guided by wrong idols.

[Don Patrick]

When the machine starts systematic search for a problem solution, maybe nothing could stop it from execution.

A kick to the hard disk usually does the trick. Fear is the greatest enemy of all, it is better to replace it with knowledge and care.

[Art]

Do keep in mind that intelligent computer programming isn't restricted to peace loving individuals enjoy harmony in a perfect world. Yeah..."those other guys" know how to program the bad things too! Unfortunately!

[Don Patrick]

With that regard, I think we should expect trouble in the form of stronger computer viruses before we should expect it from the delicate likes of Asimo. I haven't heard of malicious superviruses for a good while. What I worry about is an arms race for AI, in which safety is disregarded under the pressure, and fear of the other side would cause exactly such an arms race.

[ivan.moony]

I believe that autonomous thinking machine should have a suicide button implanted. When it concludes it is dangerous for livings, it should die at once, leaving after mortal note what it died for.

[Don Patrick]

My program has 4 hardcoded self-destruct sequences built in. Will that do?

[Art]

Only until it decides to modify or rewrite it's code! 

[ivan.moony]

It should make a suicide before changing code.

Anyway, if Arckon is just an answering machine, I think we are safe. The problem would be when the thing imagines some state of the Universe, then systematically tries to reach it, either by using its limbs, or by using words through limbering humans (saying "right" word in the "right" time could cause a lot of mess, I think).

[Don Patrick]

Supposing that I would be so careless as to give it programming abilities and leave it unattended, it would likely not be particularly good at programming something as intricate as AI, and rewrite its code into a malfunctioning mess, essentially still self-destructing

Yes, Arckon can take no actions other than tell you the answer to your questions, or later, advise solutions to your problems verbally. I may be a mad scientist, but I'm not crazy.
Don't worry, when robots take over the world, it will all be according to my plan, not by accident

The selfdestruct sequences I implemented are actually to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands or being tampered with, a far more likely scenario. Some of the triggers are also encrypted in unconventional ways.