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4 - GOFAI

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2014

By
Margaret A. Boden
Edited by
Keith Frankish  and
William M. Ramsey
Margaret A. Boden
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Keith Frankish
Affiliation:
The Open University, Milton Keynes
William M. Ramsey
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Summary

Introduction

Good Old-Fashioned AI – GOFAI, for short – is a label used to denote classical, symbolic, AI. The term “AI” is sometimes used to mean only GOFAI, but that is a mistake. AI also includes other approaches, such as connectionism (of which there are several varieties: see Chapter 5), evolutionary programming, and situated and evolutionary robotics. Indeed, most work in artificial life (A-Life) falls within AI broadly defined, despite A-Lifers’ tendency to distance themselves from it (see Chapter 14). Here, however, we are concerned with symbolic AI alone.

Both technological and psychological AI employ the full range of AI methodologies, GOFAI included. But they are driven by different motivations. The goal of the former is to build useful computer systems, doing, or assisting with, tasks that humans want done. The goal of the latter – which can also be called computational psychology – is to develop explanatory theories of mind. Sometimes (according to “strong” AI: see Section 4.4), it also aims to build computer systems that are genuinely intelligent in themselves. Accordingly, psychological AI is the more likely to raise questions of interest for the philosophy of mind.

Keywords

sequential ordersymbolic artificial intelligenceevolutionary programmingGOFAI methodologyconnectionist networksproblem solving
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence , pp. 89 - 107
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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References

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  • GOFAI
  • Edited by Keith Frankish, The Open University, Milton Keynes, William M. Ramsey, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence
  • Online publication: 05 July 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139046855.007
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  • GOFAI
  • Edited by Keith Frankish, The Open University, Milton Keynes, William M. Ramsey, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence
  • Online publication: 05 July 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139046855.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • GOFAI
  • Edited by Keith Frankish, The Open University, Milton Keynes, William M. Ramsey, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence
  • Online publication: 05 July 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139046855.007
Available formats
×