Ben Goertzel wrote:
Alas, that was not quite the question at issue...
In the proof of AIXI's ability to solve the IQ test, is AIXI *allowed*
to go so far as to simulate most of the functionality of a human brain
in order to acquire its ability?
I am not asking you to make a judgment call on whether or not it would
do so in practice, I am asking whether the structure of the proof
allows that possibility to occur, should the contingencies of the
world oblige it to do so. (I would also be tempted to question your
judgment call, here, but I don't want to go that route :-)).
If the proof allows even the possibility that AIXI will do this, then
AIXI has an homunculus stashed away deep inside it (or at least, it
has one on call and ready to go when needed).
I only need the possibility that it will do this, and my conclusion
holds.
So: clear question. Does the proof implicitly allow it?
Yeah, if AIXI is given initial knowledge or experiential feedback that
is in principle adequate for internal reconstruction of simulated humans
... then its learning algorithm may potentially construct simulated humans.
However, it is not at all clear that, in order to do well on an IQ test,
AIXI would need to be given enough background data or experiential
feedback to **enable** accurate simulation of humans....
It's not right to way "AIXI has a homunculus on call and ready to go
when needed."
Rather, it's right to say "AIXI has the capability to synthesize an
homunculus if it is given adequate data to infer the properties of one,
and judges this the best way to approach the problem at hand."
My overall argument is completely vindicated by what you say here.
(My wording was sometimes ambiguous in that last email, I confess, but
what I have been targeting is AIXI as proof, not AIXI as actual working
system).
I only care about where AIXI gets the power of its proof, so it does not
matter to me whether a practical implementation [sic] of AIXI would
actually need to build a cognitive system.
It is not important whether it would do so in practice, because if the
proof says that AIXI is allowed to build a complete cognitive system in
the course of solving the IQ test problem, then what is the meaning of
"AIXI would equal any other intelligence starting with the same initial
knowledge set" .... well, yeah, of course it would, if it was allowed to
build something as sophisticated as that other intelligence!
It is like me saying "I can prove that I can make a jet airliner with my
bare hands" ..... and then when you delve into the proof you find that
my definition of "make" includes the act of putting in a phone call to
Boeing and asking them to deliver one. Such a proof is completely
valueless.
AIXI is valueless.
QED.
Richard Loosemore.
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