Representation
If intelligence is the ability of an agent (human or machine) to thrive in
a changing environment, it seems that intelligence requires the state of
the agent to track changes in its environment, and so to "represent" its
environment. Classical AI and classical cognitive science often assume that
this representation could (or must) be accomplished by means of
something like formal sentences in something like a logical calculus, and
that intelligence amounts to something like theorem proving. Over the past
decade or more, a number of researchers, including those working with
connectionism and dynamical systems, have challenged this assumption, some
going so far as to question whether intelligent behavior requires
representation at all. The third horizon day brings together three highly
distinguished computer scientists who look beyond traditional symbols
systems in exploring how intelligent behavior is related to representation.
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Representation Day Page