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54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A response to Jeffrey Shallit., November 24, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason (Paperback)
Mr. Shallit compares the critique of cognitive science by Professor Dreyfus to 'creation science'. He remarks that Dreyfus is not a computer scientist. This is true. But many 'cognitive scientists' aren't either, cognitive science being an interdisciplinary pursuit engaging philosophers, psychologists, linguists, neuroscientists, anthropologists and sociologists. It is unfortunate that Dreyfus allowed himself to polemicize by using the word 'alchemy' to characterize his opponents, but he has, by far, been the victim of unargued diatribes against his work. The fact is: most of the salient issues in cognitive science are logical and conceptual, NOT technological. Here, Dreyfus broke new ground (although I would have preferred his treatment to have been more Wittgensteinian than Heideggerian). Phil Agre's brilliant book on computation and human experience (Agre IS a computer scientist) shows that SOME AI-workers have found aspects of Dreyfus's work very telling. But, of course, the issues are, again, not empirical but logical in this field. See, for example, Graham Button et al., "Computers, Minds and Conduct" (Polity/Blackwell, 1995) which picks up where Dreyfus left off. Shallit remarks that Dreyfus has been 'refuted': where? by whom? The fact is that cognitivism is hotly contested by serious thinkers in many disciplines, but Shallit's name-calling (and the comparison of cognitivism's serious critics to creation scientists) smacks of an abdication from serious engagement and argument. Dreyfus's revised edition is a fine piece of work, worthy of serious intellectual discussion and confrontation. His many aarguments against Fodor, Chomsky, Simon and others have great merit. It is unfortunate that some folks simply close their eyes and argue from authority. But appeals to (even 'scientific') authority wear thin when left to stand alone!!
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute 'must read' for people interested in the role of computing in society, April 7, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason (Paperback)
This is an absolute classic that everyone interested in or working in AI should have read. It is one of the very view books on a computer related subject that is over 25 years old and still useful today. That alone might tell you something. I find it interesting that many AI-workers seem to be actually afraid of this book. They should not. It may give the reader a far better sense on limits, use and future of AI work. I would also recommend this book to people outside the AI world and who are interested in what role the digital computer may play in our lives. But the book is not about bits, so if you don't like technical mumbo-jumbo, this is still a book for you. The book is very well written. Some readers may find it a difficult book, as it also contains some philosophical issues. But some readers may find themselves in a bookstore asking for the work of Wittgenstein or Heidegger and actually understanding what they read (and like what they read) after having read this book. I have only one complaint. The introduction to the 1992 MIT Press edition is in fact an afterword. It assumes that you already are familiar with the history of the subject. So, if you read this book, you should start with the Introduction to the 1979 edition instead and keep the Introduction to the MIT Press edition definitely for last
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The message is still potent, but the text is well shuffled, August 24, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason (Paperback)
It goes without saying that this book remains a landmark in the history of AI research: a sobering antidote to all the research hype. But what a patchwork it has become. Every ten years, the book has a new section and a new introduction bolted on to it. But not just bolted on to the end, or on to the beginning. No reader is given an easy path through the text: neither the reader who is new to the material (and who wants to read through the text in chronological order), nor the reader who has read the previous incarnation of the book (and who wants to pick up just the new parts). The message of the book, too, is unfortunately weakened by its subjective stance, and its invocation of the personalities from the debate. However, the book still remains a refreshingly different contribution to the world of AI research, an important warning, and a greatly worthwhile read.
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