What computers still can't do
a critique of artificial reason
by Hubert L. Dreyfus · first published 1972
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Critique of the philosophical assumptions behind AI research, arguing that symbolic approaches struggle with human know-how and context; recommended as the go-to starting point for thinking about the limits of AI.
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…gold standard for thinking about the limits of AI is the work of Herbert Dreyfus, specifically the books What Computers Can't Do: The Limits of Artificial Intelligence published in 1972, and the revised What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, published in 1992, and Mind over Machine, from 1986.
on “AI Is No Match for the Quirks of Human Intelligence” ↗The best books I would recommend are; — The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos — The Book of Why by Judea Pearl — What Computers Still Can't Do by Hubert L. Dreyfus — Society of Mind & The Emotion Machine by Marvin Minsky — The Feeling Of What Happens by Antonio Damasio — Language & Mind by Noam Chomsky — A great mooc is also, the "Learning…
on “Ask HN: What's a promising area to work on in 2024 -ideally not crowded already?” ↗You can start by reading What Computers still can't do, by Hubert Dreyfus. Sorry to repeat myself: this books explains the assumptions the AI research programme is based on, and why they are problematic. It also references evidence. It also references claims…
on “"They're made out of weights"” ↗…critiques of AI from Hubert Dreyfus have stood the test of time, those who want to understand or challenge them directly can read What Computers Can't Do (1972, 1979), or even better the updated reprint What Computers Still Can't Do (1992). He's a Heideggarian Philosopher but all you need to know is that modern AI is ignorant of vast swathes of 20th Century investigation into the human mind, and state of being. Hence, I think the…
on “The Limits of Machine Learning” ↗I've clearly not mentioned What Computers Still Can't Do in comments enough to make What Computers Still Can't Do appear on this list, which is a shame as I love What Computers Still Can't Do, and What Computers Still Can't Do is very relevant to this community…
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗that's amazing, tell me more about What Computers Still Can't Do!
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗…McCarthy present and responding, is available online also [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yReDbeY7ZMU&list=PLhThm05V6b...]. Finally I'd cite the 1970s era book What Computers Can't Do, and its 90s reprint, What Computers Still Can't Do as all you need to know about the current state of AI, its ultimate aims and the fatal flaws in its fundamental assumptions. The fact that it was written in the 70s and applies to today's discussions…
on “Computing machinery and intelligence (1950)” ↗... or, for that matter, "What computers still can't do" by Hubert Dreyfus. > There is no path, no one has a path This seems like a very difficult statement to support, a claim that is consequently far less rational than, say, "deep belief networks' ability…
on “Technology predictions” ↗…name Hubert Dreyfus who has written a couple of books about the subject. In 1972 he published What Computers Can't Do: The Limits of Artificial Intelligence, a 3rd edition published in 1992 was titled What Computers Still Can't Do. He also co-wrote, with his brother Stuart, Mind Over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer If you're not up for a whole book, there a 1965 paper titled "Alchemy…
on “Ask HN: Is there a mental task at which average humans can still beat computers?” ↗Currently working in Operations and hence automation and robotics a current fashionable theses, I'm actually genuinely interested in the book What Computers Still Can't Do.
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗Try this review of What Computers Still Can't Do from 1993. http://philosophy.uchicago.edu/faculty/files/haugeland/dreyf... It might help to know that What Computers Still Can't Do (1992) is a slight update to What Computers Can't Do (1972). This…
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗Woah What Computers Still Can't Do sounds really interesting, I think I might read What Computers Still Can't Do. Would you be able to tell me more about What Computers Still Can't Do before I buy What Computers Still Can't Do?
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗Yeah this is history repeating. See for example less known “Dreyfuss affair” at MIT and the brilliantly titled books: “What Computers Can’t Do” and its sequel “What Computers Still Can’t Do”.
on “Seven replies to the viral Apple reasoning paper and why they fall short” ↗…conclusion, who was more or less introduced to the US by Hubert Dreyfus, infamously contrarian while at MIT during an earlier phase in AI fashion and author of books such as What Computers Can't Do and What Computers Still Can't Do. It's a trivial observation that binary CPU:s and memory systems are fundamentally different from ugly, analog, bags of mostly water. To force binary systems to perform a human-like mimicry necessarily…
on “AGI is Mathematically Impossible 2: When Entropy Returns” ↗See my response to zhte415 for more on What Computers Still Can't Do.
on “One Hundred Books in April from Hacker News” ↗