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<p class="MsoNormal">Turing machines can perform an algorithm like an auto-encoding deep neural net, where a picture of a tree could be categorized as a tree in some internal node. Likewise activating that internal node might generate an image of a tree (when
the Turing machine dreams). <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">From: </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> on behalf of Frank Wimberly <wimberly3@gmail.com><br>
<b>Reply-To: </b>The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com><br>
<b>Date: </b>Friday, April 26, 2019 at 8:19 PM<br>
<b>To: </b>"Russ.Abbott@gmail.com" <Russ.Abbott@gmail.com>, The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com><br>
<b>Subject: </b>Re: [FRIAM] A question for tomorrow<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On the way to Friam I said to Nick. Turing Machines don't know anything. They may store representations of knowledge. I further said that a photograph also represents knowledge. For example, the number of floors of a given building.
Most people would be puzzled by the question, "What does a photo know?" <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">There were multiple parallel conversations after we arrived. I don't recall additional discussions about what Turing Machines know.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-----------------------------------<br>
Frank Wimberly<br>
<br>
My memoir:<br>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly">https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly</a><br>
<br>
My scientific publications:<br>
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2</a><br>
<br>
Phone (505) 670-9918<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Apr 26, 2019, 8:06 PM Russ Abbott <<a href="mailto:russ.abbott@gmail.com">russ.abbott@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Nick, I can't believe you are asking such a question -- unless by "know" you mean something very different from the common understanding. No computer
<i>knows</i> anything, although it may have lots of stored information. (<i>Information
</i>is meant in the Shannon sense.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">For example, Oxford
<a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/knowledge" target="_blank">
defines</a> knowledge as "</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:#2A2A2A">Facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject." This is distinct from, for
example, having access to an encyclopedia--or even having memorized the contents of one. Turing machines, and computers in general, do not have an
<i>understanding </i>of anything--even though they may have lots of Shannon-style information (which
<i>we </i>understand as) related to some subject.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">(Like Glen, though, I am interested in the results, if any, of this morning's meeting.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- Russ Abbott <br>
Professor, Computer Science<br>
California State University, Los Angeles<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Apr 26, 2019 at 2:38 PM uǝlƃ <span style="font-family:"Apple Color Emoji"">
☣</span> <<a href="mailto:gepropella@gmail.com" target="_blank">gepropella@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">What was the result of this morning's conversation?<br>
<br>
On 4/25/19 10:50 PM, Nick Thompson wrote:<br>
> What does a Turing Machine know?<br>
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
<span style="font-family:"Apple Color Emoji"">☣</span> uǝlƃ<br>
<br>
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