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[ba-ohs-talk] Story of Cyc


http://www.techreview.com/articles/hiltzik0302.asp    (01)

"
It was the spring of 2000. The scene was a demonstration of an advanced 
artificial-intelligence project for the U.S. Department of Defense; the 
participants were a programmer, a screen displaying an elaborate windowed 
interface and an automated “intelligence”—a software application animating 
the display. The subject, as the programmer typed on his keyboard, was 
anthrax.
Instantly the machine responded: “Do you mean Anthrax (the heavy-metal 
band), anthrax (the bacterium) or anthrax (the disease)?”
“The bacterium,” was the typed answer, followed by the instruction, 
“Comment on its toxicity to people.”
“I assume you mean people (homo sapiens),” the system responded, reasoning, 
as it informed its programmer, that asking about People magazine “would not 
make sense.”
"    (02)