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Goals of AI: The Trinity of Science

The long-term goals of AI include finding out what the world is like, understanding it, and changing it, or, in other words,

a.

empirical study and modelling of existing intelligent systems (mainly human beings);

b.

theoretical analysis and exploration of possible intelligent systems and possible mechanisms and representations usable by such systems; and

c.

solving practical problems in the light of (a) and (b), namely:

c.1.

attempting to deal with problems of existing intelligent systems (e.g., problems of human learning or emotional difficulties) and

c.2.

designing useful new intelligent or semi intelligent machines.

Some people restrict the term `artificial intelligence' to a subset of this wide-ranging discipline. For example, those who think of it as essentially a branch of engineering restrict it to (c.2). This does not do justice to the full range of work done in the name of AI.

In any case, it is folly to try to produce engineering solutions without either studying general underlying principles or investigating the existing intelligent systems on which the new machines are to be modelled or with which they will have to interact. Trying to build intelligent systems without trying to understand general principles would be like trying to build an aeroplane without understanding principles of mechanics or aerodynamics. Trying to build them without studying how people or other animals work would be like trying to build machines without ever studying the properties of any naturally occurring object.

The need to study general principles of thought, and the ways in which human beings perceive, think, understand language, etc., means that AI work has to be done in close collaboration with work in psychology, linguistics, and even philosophy, the discipline that examines some of the most general presuppositions of our thought and language. The term `cognitive science' can also be used to cover the full range of goals specified above, though it too is ambiguous, and some of its more narrow-minded practitioners tend to restrict it to (a) and (c.1).

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