[Los Gigantes]About this image. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE IDEAS FOR COMPUTERS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Vereerstraeten Update: December 6, 1996 Electronic life forms are taking shape: viruses, worms, virtual robots. Assistants or agents are appearing in new programs, they are now wandering around the web to get you informed of what is going on in the world. Internet is growing very fast and will be present everywhere. I think that the time is appropriate, right now, to look ahead and to anticipate. What are the next steps in the field of computer intelligence ? My opinion is that the best guide to show us the way ahead is something very familiar: the human mind. Early computer programs were passives. They don't take the initiative, they are acting only after a key stroke or a mouse click. Advanced programs will act autonomously, with fewer user's inputs. In this way, these programs will face the same kind of problems as humans: * Room for initiative or liberty. * Freedom of movement, ability to walk on the networks, access of information. * Ability to see, to listen, to feel: the perceptions. * Ability to communicate, to talk to humans or to other programs. * Ability to survive in a complex world. * Ability to withstand viruses attacks or even more sophisticated dangers. * Ability to keep an objective. * Values problems or the ability to keep its identity. Webster definition of intelligence . Table of Contents * Dedication * About the author (Update: December 3, 1996) * About the image on top of this page * Language * Memory * Frame * Rules * Time Management * Responsibility * Body and Mind - Mind and Body (Update: December 3, 1996) * Bibliography * Links (Update: December 6, 1996) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dedication --------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Humanity, to all of us, because we are all made of flesh, blood and mind. To Non-Violence, because there is no other way to live together. To Democracy, because in the long run, it's the only viable form of society. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Vereerstraeten: Who am I ? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Image] Born in Brussels, Capital of Europe. My career started in 1985 when I became pilot for a major European airline. I served 3 years as Boeing 737 Copilot on European domestic flights. I spent 4 years as DC10 Copilot on long haul flights ( America - Africa - Asia ) where I came in touch with different cultures. Some places I visited are still present in my memory: Japan, Singapore, India, Africa as a whole, United-States ( in particular Alaska, Chicago, Los-Angeles, Boston ) and last but not least, Canada. In 1992, I've been promoted Boeing 737 Captain, back on European flights. I was born in Belgium, I'm a European citizen, but my home is this small planet we are all living on. During my spare time, I play with computers. I bought my first one in 1984, a ZX-Spectrum. I found the source code in Basic of a small flight simulator. Since then, I've improved this program on and on, first in Basic then in C. I was fascinated by it ! A flight simulation software is very complex, touching a wide variety of programming fields: [ADI instrument] * world database * geographical coordinates * weather modeling * flight formulas * autopilot modes * instruments displays * maps, plotting * 3D views * time modeling With this background, I shifted my interests, in the first months of 1995, towards Artificial Intelligence. During 8 months, I've studied AI from a global point of view: What is intelligence? How can we model it ? The pages of this site are the result of this personal research. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information, contact me at ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Los Gigantes] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- About this image. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- On September 1492, Christopher Columbus was probably watching these cliffs situated north west of the Tenerife Island, along the west coast of Africa. He was about to make his giant step across the ocean for the first time. These cliffs are named "Los Gigantes". What better symbol for the Old World that he was to leave behind. On the other side of this wild ocean, still unknown to him, lay what was later called America. Today, like Christopher Columbus, we are facing a wild ocean. Behind us, the only solid things we see are the dead giants of the past: old ways of thinking, old ways of structuring one’s mind, old ways of organizing a company or a human society. The Internet and to an even greater extent the emergence of intelligent agents will break these to pieces. What we are facing here is a really big thing. Columbus hopefully had navigator tools. My purpose here is to give you some navigator tools for this other ocean to cross. Each time we navigate or we explore the Web, let’s remember this great precursor. Eric Vereerstraeten October 9, 1996 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some links about Christopher Columbus * Columbus Day * The myth * A controversial view * What the Indians think about him: http://www.indians.org Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: February 15, 1996 Objective: Communication Current English Communication protocols are convenient for machines to talk together although they suffer from a lot of disadvantages. Do you talk TCP/IP with your beloved one, with your friends or do you negotiate with your commercial partners in this language ? The response is NO ! What about versions of any computer language, V1.0, V1.1, V2.0, V2.2, V3, V95, V96, V96.1.2 ? The force of a natural language versus a computer language is that it is understood even by non-literate people, by people of various origins and it doesn't change so much in the course of a lifetime. So my opinion is clear: computers should speak current English ( or any other natural language depending on the purpose of the software ). This is absolutely vital if they want to communicate. Verbal versus Non-Verbal On one side you have text and logic. On the other side you have images, sounds, feelings, gesture. They are linked respectively to the left and the right side of the brain. Both are important. Surely have you encountered those persons, very clever at their work, but acting poorly in their private life, or simply mismanaging their human relations. They lack the Emotional Intelligence. We shouldn't make that mistake while building electronic intelligence. Format More basically, what is already non-verbal but still very close to text is the format of a document. In which form is the message delivered ? Think about a paper document. What about spaces, page dimensions, type of characters, color of text or background. They are already giving an indication as to the type of document. Is it a letter, a subscription form, an invoice, an advertisement ? Is this document part of a book or a magazine ? Think about the place of a date, a title, a signature. Simply think about the icons of your operating system, those related to documents. What information do they give you without reading the text underneath ? Can this information be understood by an intelligent agent ? I think there is no doubt about that. Parties The User: a human being The Intelligent Agent: The I-Agent is a combination of hardware and software. Like we are made of bones, muscles, sensory elements, speech capability, energy elements, all driven by a mind. The Medium: The document: sheet of paper, book, video tape, sound track, CD, diskette, web page, TV picture. It could be also the physical world when we are face to face or it could be a virtual 3D world, some kind of virtual village. The Content: The knowledge. Elements: Words Simulation What is a word but simulation of reality. In fact language is the first of all virtual worlds. A word is a virtual element, a virtual object and ideas, thinking are virtual actions, simulated actions, anticipated actions. Richness A word can carry a lot of information in a very compact size. A spreadsheet, for example, is cute to see but difficult to communicate while a word summarizes everything.: a "booming" economy, or a "stagnating" economy. Feedback Before the action, we talk about planning. After the action, we talk about evaluation or feedback. Feedback is essential to any action: "Are we getting closer to the objective or not ?". In other words: "What I'm doing, is it good or bad ?". While "good" may be understood by any person even knowing nothing about computers or by any machine regardless of its operating system, programming language or database format. In machine style language: if fdbk = "good" then continue else if fdbk = "bad" then analyze Thinking What characterizes a human being versus other life forms is its function called thinking. Let us stop for a minute our busy mind, let us consider with respect our most precious wealth, the basis of all civilization: thinking. Let us consider now that without words you cannot think, you cannot talk, you cannot listen to anybody. Application Principles The Document Human cognitive process is so huge that we might be discouraged to even approach it. I believe that a good starting point, an object that an I-Agent could handle easily, is a document. In other words: a computer file filled up with words or, for you and me, a white page filled up with pieces of thinking, pieces of information. Internet Of course, we may imagine a type of science-fiction hardware robot talking with you, listening to the radio, reading your conventional newspaper, attending company meetings, making presentations,... More realistically, more subtly, the I-Agent of the near future will be Internet based. It's already the case with search engines and other search robots. What are they doing ? They are analyzing documents, in fact HTML pages, which may be viewed as the basic medium for electronic intelligence. Examples of text related intelligence * Recognition of the subject, the verb, the complement. * Is it a question or an affirmation ? * The first word of a question is in 90 percent of the case: who, what, where, when, how, how much, why, relating respectively to a person, an object, a place, a time, a manner, a number, a goal ( see Memory chapter ). * Search directions given by a positive or negative autofeedback. * Intelligent data storage: if it's an affirmation, then it should be stored, depending on the value of the information source. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memory --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: March 12, 1996 What is memory? Memory is the support of intelligence. Intelligence is memory that organizes itself. Ideas and thinking are pieces of memory too. We live with the illusion that there is one physical world out there. In fact, we all live in separate worlds re-created in our memory. We all have different perceptions of reality which are the source of uncomprehension, disputes, leading to violence, wars, ... Each of us lives in his or her virtual world. I don't see why it would be different with I-Agents. So, I suggest that future I-Agents should be programmed with universal values recognized by most people on this planet. This is to maintain the basis for a dialog and to avoid virtual conflicts, damages, losses, inefficiency. The Outer World Here you will find the elements and sub-elements that are commonly named the outside world. They are not exhaustively listed but are presented here as a quick reference index for the I-Agent designer. WHO? A person or an I-Agent. * name * function, rank * type of person: family, friend, colleague, client * interests, hobbies * place * history of actions * date of birth, age, (date of death) * health, physical shape * mission or objective WHAT? An Object. * name. * type, subtype (eg. man made or natural object) * place * date of creation, average lifetime * age: new, old * price WHERE? A place. * name. * geographical coordinates * continent or ocean * country * region * province or state * city * particular address + telephone number * man made spot: hotel, shop, school, museum, church * natural spot: beach, river, forest, mountain, hill, valley WHEN? A time. * date, hour * deadline * period of history * anniversary * elapsed time, duration * age: number of years * age category: baby, child, young, adult, old, very old HOW? A manner. * with enthusiasm or not * well done or poorly managed * warm or cold ambience * nervousness or calm * with or without style * above or below average * weather: sunny or stormy HOW MUCH? A number. * quantity * price * weight, height, length, width, thickness * duration * distance, speed * temperature pressure WHY? A goal. * mission of life, spiritual goal * job objective * community acceptation * psychological need * basic need: to breathe, to eat, to enjoy minimal comfort, sexuality The Inner World The Inner World is what we feel from the inside. For a human, it is the perceptions of his or her own body, of his or her states of mind, of his or her own feelings. Thinking comes from the inside if you are intelligent. Otherwise, someone outside is doing the job for you. For a man made system, the Inner World is the perception of its subsystems, of its mechanical parts or software functions. In an airplane, you have a general warning system advising the crew, with an alert light or sound, that there is a problem inside, for example: an engine fire or a hydraulic failure. In a computer program, you can have flags, status codes, modes of operation indicating how well the system itself is doing. The most advanced perception for a human or an I-Agent might be to think that he his thinking, to observe the process of his own thinking. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frame --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: May 18, 1996 As I've said before: "Intelligence is memory that organizes itself". What is important about memory is not only which are the items that could be memorized but also the items that are in fact memorized. What does remain after the passage of time? I've imagined to put a weight factor on words. A piece of text would also have a weight given by the sum of the weights of all the words. The text with the biggest sum would have the greatest priority to be memorized. The weight of each word would depend on the interests of the I-Agent. For example: when I see the word "Intelligence" in a text, I try to read the rest and to memorize it. If I see "Football", I usually don't read the rest (I don't like football). There the word "Football" has a negative weight for me. According to Paul-Clément Jagot, a French self made researcher in psychology, a well-structured mind has better memorization ability. Here come we to the title of this chapter: Frame or Memory Organization. Alan Kay, in his essay Observations About Children And Computers, points out that children learn better if they have a frame. A non situated frame is even better. He suggests mathematics. A situated frame could be linked to a particular culture, country or time. Once you lose this particular situation, you are lost. A non situated frame is not linked to any culture, place or time. It gives you the ability to change without losing your identity. Whatever happens, you're never lost. What frame? Serial Frame [serial system] If you have a problem in a particular mode of operation, you go to the higher level, the more concentric one. When the problem is resolved, you go back to the lower mode. Parallel Frame [parallel system] A, B, C, D are different types of logic or cultures if you prefer. You use the most appropriate for the kind of problem at hand. Of course, we need a central unit, choosing which logic to follow. To be able to manage this central point, you need universal values: the link between cultures. This is the strength of the system. If one logic fails, the others are still there to support you. Some Considerations Art is an infinite source of imagined frames. It gives the mind the ability to change its structure by discovering new forms, new arrangements, a new way of looking at things. I believe that a mind which is bound to a rigid structure is unable to adapt itself to a changing world. This mind is condemned to disappear. From a strict physical point of view, dictatorships and other authoritarian societies are the best examples of a rigid structure. By their inability to change, they contain their own failure. To design the I-Agent of the future, we need a dynamic structure. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rules --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: May 18, 1996 Some believe that intelligence comes when you have a large amount of axioms linked together. The problem, with this kind of approach, is that you are on a railway track with no escape possible. You have only one choice, one logic, one result. Moreover, you will fall into logical traps. Remember Alexander the Great facing the Gordian knot. He overcame the logical trap of the situation by switching to another level of logic. Overcoming the trap of trying to untie the knot, he took his sword and cut it. Why some are clever and others are stupid? Because the first escaped the logic that the second blindly followed. Escaping the track is the key factor, the path of evolution, the sign of novelty, of added value. I'm not familiar with neural nets but I have the feeling that the big difference between the von Neumann's logic and neural networks is here: escaping the track. Now, let's be more practical: A basic rule would be: if var1 = A then action If you bug me, I will kick you. This is very primitive of course ;-) A more subtle rule would be: if var1 = A then var2 = B if var2 = B then action I believe that var2 in this example is the starting point, the essence, the birth of intelligence. There is a buffer zone between the stimulus and the action. The action has been delayed. Var2 is a modelling of the world. Let's replace var2 with a word, a natural language word. Let's link several rules to one word. Let's link words with other words. Let's put all these relations into one image: [a word is a hub] Let's use one very popular word at this time by saying that words are hubs for the mind. I've talked about escaping the track. You would ask me where do you put that into your model? The answer is the image. With the image, you can see from above, you can bypass some hubs, you can look at the most interesting ones. This is the domain of the right side of the brain. [networks] Put the axioms into images then analyze the images. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time Management --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: July 19, 1996 All the main chapters of this essay could be the basis for the subroutines forming an intelligent agent program. This present chapter is the heart of the system. Another name for it could be main(), command(), command post, flight deck, operations center, processor. If consciousness there is, it's here that you'll find it. We are here with a system, a collection of different functions, elements of memory, rules, with a definite global architecture. We have to bring life to the system. What is life but a coherent behavior, the idea of all the parts belonging to the same identity and acting towards a definite goal. Every person has consciously or unconsciously several goals, some higher than others: life goals, professional goals, community goals, basic needs goals. To achieve a goal, you have to divide it into steps or tasks to be done on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis. That is Time Management. By the way, you realize immediately how important it is for an I-Agent to have a notion of time. Are we in the morning or in the afternoon? At what time do the shops open? Are we Monday or Friday? In how many weeks is the 4th of July? What time remains before the elections date? How many days are left before the deadline? One danger for the human person or for the I-Agent is of being trapped into one particular task and to forget the initial goal. That's why I suggest that the system should have at any moment an awareness of the actual task being done, the time already spent on it, the average time such a task should require and that it would be able to decide whether to continue or to discontinue this particular task. We are facing here an important issue: strength or weakness of mind. The strong system behaves according to its own goal while the weak system is submerged by the necessities, the constraints of the task at hand forgetting what were its goals. Let's come now to the practical aspects: [flower] The design that I'm suggesting here is that of a flower. The central processing function is in the middle. The tasks to be done are on the petal edges. There should be a constant flux between the center and the edges. The processing path should always come back to the center to avoid being trapped. In a usual software function, the processing path starts at the top and ends at the bottom with the keyword RETURN. If there's a bug in the function or an inadvertent closed loop, then all the program is stuck. To avoid this danger, I suggest that a task itself should be divided into the smallest possible sub-tasks and that between each of these sub-tasks, a return is made to the I-Agent main routine. Graphically it looks like this: [circuit] I've evoked the possibility of sophisticated dangers. One of these is the ability for an outside entity to influence, manipulate or deviate the initial goals of an I-Agent or to bring it into a logical trap. By always referring back to the main routine and checking the actual status of operations, you minimize these risks. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Responsibility --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: September 18, 1996 Now, let's face what differentiates the truly intelligent human person from the machine: responsibility. A machine, today, acts without the judgement of its previous actions. A machine is not able to look back and consider if what it has done was good or bad, nor is it able to consider if its planned actions entail some possible harmful consequences. Responsibility has something to do with feedback but at a higher level. Feedback is just mechanical while responsibility is touching the whole person. Responsibility has to do with the core circle of the mind, it's one of its highest function. A shortage of it can be disastrous for a complex system. What is the word which has the most meaning in your life? It is your own surname. How do you feel when you pronounce it: happy, unhappy, indifferent, troubled? You know it, it's your own problem, it's your responsibility, it's not mine. It's a mirror of yourself. This is to explain that a name or a surname would be for an I-Agent the starting point of a feeling of responsibility. We can imagine a lot of functions which could be able to modify the status of this variable called surname. They could modify it's weight, giving it a positive or negative feedback. If this feedback is positive: "OK, go ahead". If it's negative: "Oh oh, there's a problem. Something must be done". This could trigger some actions. Now, responsibility on the individual level is not always sufficient. When it becomes uncontrollable, society has to react. That's what we call Justice. Although, today, it's probably too early to think about justice applied to I-Agents, we can imagine another type of feedback or safeguard given by society: some independent organisms could give a rating to individual I-Agents depending on their behavior observed in cyberspace. Each I-Agent should be able to indicate to any person or any other I-Agent its name and identity. The person or the I-Agent receiving a request from an I-Agent could then verify its rating and then react accordingly. We do the same, when we are meeting a person and that we are considering his or her reputation. Of course, I-Agents could then be tempted to hide their bad actions like some humans would do. But that's another story. I've never pretended that I-Agents would be better or worse than we are. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Body and Mind - Mind and Body --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: December 3, 1996 Let's make things clear from the beginning. I haven't had any imposed religious education in my childhood. So, I haven't any pre-judgment concerning this very sensitive topic of body and mind. For me, there's no superior part of the self, there's no inferior part. Body and mind are both essential to the system called life. Let me explain why: As we try to model the basic principles of life we arrive at the root of any human cognitive process which forms the human archetypes. That is: above us is there's the sky, below us there's earth and in between are the humans living. We find these archetypes in many religions and in the words of many poets. In other words: there's an upside, there's a downside and there's a middle. Objects are being created, we can define them. Without dimensions, there's no world, just a white screen with no one to look at it. With one dimension, we have a point situated somewhere on a line but nothing is moving. With two dimensions, we have a sheet of paper with text or pictures but still no movement. Digitally thinking, it's only black and white, as colors are bits layers. With three dimensions, we have a static 3D view. With four dimensions, life is emerging at last. The fourth being time. Movement is possible, history is starting. But it's still a silent world with no colors. With five dimensions, we have color. With six dimensions, sound is appearing. We can hear voices, music, sounds of life. Still it's a cold world. With seven and more dimensions we can enjoy warmth, touching, smelling, feelings, taste. At the last day of the creation (choose the number yourself), we're facing the ultimate dimension: intelligence. I've have the feeling that this will require a very large bandwidth :) Here we come to the understanding that for object to exist, it must be located somewhere on the map. It must have a position, a location. What is existence with no place to exist? Can an object exist at two places at the same time? I find it hard to imagine. I've tried the chat on the Internet. I have tried to be in several virtual rooms at the same time talking with different persons. It's nearly impossible to have a decent dialogue with two different persons in two different virtual rooms. Therefore, I believe that an object must have an instance, a materialization, a form, a shape, a body... As soon as we have objects in this world we come to the concept which forms the basis of the information revolution: interaction. Two elements are creating interaction: input and output. They are the basis of the cognitive process. Without them, no learning, no progress, just stagnation. Sri Aurobindo said something like "Things which do not evolve are condemned to disappear". From this, I conclude that a mind, be it the mind of a user or the mind of an I-Agent, must interact to survive, to grow, to evolve. I believe that the body is an essential interface between the mind and the rest of the world. Switch off this interface and you have a mind unable to communicate or to have any perceptions. Moreover, words come from the physical world. All abstract images have their origin in the world of matter, the world of space and time. The highlighted words in the following sentences are basically physical. * Where is the project going? * He's on top of the situation. * The competition is far behind. * Her determination is solid like rock. * Footsie is going up. * Prices are falling down. * The prime minister faced strong opposition from the parliament. * This idea is brilliant. * When are you going to change? Dynamic, a word very often used today has absolutely no meaning without space and time. The essence of movement and change is intimately linked to the concept of where and when. In the book 1984 by George Orwell, the regime in place was removing words from the vocabulary to impose its domination, to avoid even the idea of rebellion. Suppress the body, you'll make the same thing as removing words from the language. Hopefully, this is not the direction taken by the present web development. On the contrary, users want more images, more sound, more virtual reality, more sensations. They want to feel not just think. Now, let me add some philosophical perspective to this. The Buddhists say that the body, the mind and the world are just an illusion, that in fact there's only one thing. Strangely, this is what the Computational Hypothesis is saying. Bruno Marchal of the University of Brussels IRIDIA (ULB) is doing some fundamental research in this area. Although this site is meant to be primarily practical, function oriented, not philosophical. Conclusion An I-Agent would have richer perceptions with a virtual body. It would be able to communicate better with other agents and humans by interacting in a 3D, 4D, 5D, xD-world. Finally, and this is a long term vision, with a body an I-Agent could be capable of feelings, as feelings have their origin in spatial interaction, atmospheres, places, situations, happenings, motion, light and shadows. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliography --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: August 15, 1996 De Bono, E. (1988). Atlas of Management Thinking. London: Pelican Books. De Bono, E. (1989). Tactics. U.K: Fontana. De Brabandere, L., & Mikolajczak, A. (1989). Le Latéroscope. La Renaissance du Livre. Decker, Bert. (1988). The Art of Communicating. Los Altos, California: Crisp Publications. Haynes, M. (1987). Personal Time Management. Los Altos, California: Crisp Publications. Mulligan, J. (1988). The Personal Management Handbook. London: Marshall Editions Ltd. J. Russo, J. E., & Schoemaker, P. (1989). Decision Traps: the ten barriers to brilliant decision-making and how to overcome them. New York: Fireside. Servan-Schreiber, J-L. (1983). L’art du temps. Marabout. Wareham, J. (1991). The Anatomy of a Great Executive. New York: Harper Business. Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Links --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update: December 6, 1996 Computers The new Microsoft Agent. The agent mailing list: UMBC Agent News. The old agent mailing list: Software Agents Mailing List. Thesis: Intelligent Software Agents on the Internet by Bjorn Hermans, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. CYC Project. The Reference Global Intelligence Project. Unofficial CYC Report. See by yourself. ThoughtTreasure Project. Another Global Intelligence Project on a lower scale. Infoseek Personal. A prefiguration of what might be a personal I-Agent. Alan Kay in his essay Observations About Children And Computers stresses the importance of structuring one's knowledge and being able to use this framework in new contexts. The key issue in the learning process is how things are put together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press The Financial Times. I often read the Technology section of the Online FT. Time. Try to search with keyword "AI". You will find an article named "The Race to Build Intelligent Machines" in the issue of April 1, 1996. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homepages The homepage of a pilot and flight simulator addict. Guido's Page. All you want to know about aviation! Return to Main Page --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Global Intelligence Ideas for Computers" URL: http://www.wp.com/globint Copyright © 1996 Eric Vereerstraeten Email: ericv@winning.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------