1. Given the Web, What is Intelligence, Really?
Selmer Bringsjord & Naveen Sundar G.
Department of Computer Science
Department of Cognitive Science
Lally School of Management & Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Troy NY 12180 USA
selmer@rpi.edu • govinn@rpi.edu
October 5 2011
Philosophy & the Web 2011
Thessaloniki Greece
Monday, October 31, 2011 1

2. “Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

3. “Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

4. “You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

5. “You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

6. “You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

7. “You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

8. Labyrinth (on the Web)
“You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

9. Labyrinth (on the Web)
“You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

10. Labyrinth (on the Web)
“You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

11. Labyrinth (on the Web)
“You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
“Standing at Guard A’s door, this:
‘Guard A, if I were to ask Guard
B whether this door leads to
paradise, what would he say?’ ”
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

12. Labyrinth (on the Web)
“You face two doors, and must pass
through one. One door leads to certain
death; the other to paradise. Each door
has a guard. One guard always lies; the
other always tell the truth. You can ask
one question. What should you ask?”
“Genius”
W3
“Standing at Guard A’s door, this:
‘Guard A, if I were to ask Guard
B whether this door leads to
paradise, what would he say?’ ”
Descartes: “You’re no genius! You
merely found that reply on the Web!”
Monday, October 31, 2011 2

13. But: The W3 offers more than simple answers!
Eg, it offers methods, algorithms, and so on.
Monday, October 31, 2011 3

14. “Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

15. “Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

16. “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

17. “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

18. “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

19. “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

20. Recipe for Gourmet Lasagna “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

21. Recipe for Gourmet Lasagna “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

22. Recipe for Gourmet Lasagna “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

23. Recipe for Gourmet Lasagna “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
“Here you are.”
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

24. Recipe for Gourmet Lasagna “Please bake lasagna for me.”
“Genius”
W3
“Here you are.”
Descartes: “You’re no gourmet chef! You
merely found that recipe on the Web!”
Monday, October 31, 2011 4

25. But: The fact remains that
data is unusually effective!
Monday, October 31, 2011 5

26. Descartes: “Agreed. But no amount of
merely syntactic processing of the data
suffices for intelligence. The intelligent
person is capable of resourcefulness in
problem-solving—but if one goes outside
oneself to a crutch like the Web, all bets
are off.”
Monday, October 31, 2011 6