Re: poly: Software for superintelligence

 Hal Finney <hal@rain.org> wrote:

> > One way for it to be unexpectedly difficult to achieve
> > human-level AI through the neural network approach would be if it
> > turned out that the human brain relies on a colossal amount of genetic
> > hardwiring, so that each cognitive function depends on a unique and
> > hopelessly complicated inborn architecture, generated over the aeons
> > in the evolutionary learning process of our species.
>
> I think this is a strawman. The problem could be extremely difficult
> without their being a "colossal" amount of genetic structure. It only
> takes a few bits of information before trial-and-error becomes hopelessly
> inadequate as a strategy for finding the right structure.

Good point. In general, I tend to agree with your remarks. Many of
them concerned differences of empathsis, which are partly explicable
from the purpose for which the paper was written that included the
section. I wanted to "outline the case" for believing that
superintelligence will arrive within the first third of the next
century; so I focused on the positive side and de-empathized the
difficulties.

________________________________________________
Nick Bostrom
http://www.hedweb.com/nickb
Received on Thu Jan 8 21:44:07 1998