[FRIAM] AI and argument

[Nick Thompson]

Glen ‘n all, 

 

The article relates to a project I dreamed of ... helping people who disagree have a fair argument.  In my notion, a team of philosophy students, masquerading as a program, directed discussants toward fair argument with a view, perhaps, ultimately, in my dreams, teaching a program to step in for the students.  

 

But keeping people talking is not the problem. Therapy programs have been good at it for years.  And three-year-olds.   The three year old has mastered the fact that conversation has both a procedural and a content dimension and the procedural dimension is sufficient to maintain a conversation with a sufficiently naïve adult.  As soon as the adult masters the same fact, the conversation ends immediately. 

 

Why?

 

Because!

 

Why?

 

Because! 

 

No child I have ever known is dumb enough to carry on such a conversation.  

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf Of g??? ?
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2017 11:04 AM
To: FriAM <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: [FRIAM] AI and argument

 

The computers being trained to beat you in an argument

 <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41010848> http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41010848

 

> At the University of Dundee we have recently even been using 2,000-year-old theories of rhetoric as a way of spotting the structures of real-life arguments.

 

 

--

☣ gⅼеɳ

 

============================================================

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv

Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe  <http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

FRIAM-COMIC  <http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/> http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20171003/4a375664/attachment.html>