From: Hal Finney (hal@finney.org)
Date: Wed Feb 12 2003 - 22:31:06 MST
We have often discussed Doug Lenat's AI project, Cyc, an attempt to
incorporate "common sense" into computers by building an immense database
of general purpose knowledge. I was surprised to read in this CNN
article, http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/12/total.information.ap/index.html,
that Cycorp is getting involved in the infamous TIA program:
"Meanwhile, contractors and researchers told The Associated Press that
they have already been developing pieces of TIA. For example, Doug Lenat,
president of Texas-based Cycorp, said his researchers had already built
a system to identify phone-calling patterns as they might exist among
potential terrorists overseas."
TIA is the Total Information Awareness program, which has been
widely discussed and criticized on the web. The CNN article is
kind of strange especially after reading in the NY Times today,
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/politics/12PRIV.html, that Congress
has agreed to new restrictions on the project: TIA cannot be used
against Americans and that no more research can be done without extensive
consultation with Congress. (Note - you can buy your TIA logo gear here,
http://www.cafeshops.com/totalawareness)
Personally I have always been skeptical of Cyc, so I don't know whether
to be alarmed or relieved at the prospect of this technology being used
for the TIA project. On the one hand, if it doesn't work, that might
help keep TIA from going forward. On the other hand, they might proceed
anyway with a malfunctioning AI that spews out all kinds of false alarms
and random data. It could lead to situations like in Terry Gilliam's
satirical movie Brazil where innocents are dragged away by storm troopers
after a computer malfunction.
Hal
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