Editor: William K. W. Cheung 27

On Intelligence

BY , HENRY HOLT & CO, NY, 2004. ISBN 0-8050-7456-2

researchers nearly had to stop using the replies. Although Searle’s experiment is 1 REVIEWED BY MIKE HOWARD term “AI”. controversial, it suggests that Turing's test is faulty and misleading. It naturally makes researchers bristle when a new guy comes along and makes Hawkins believes that our best bet for grand pronouncements that everyone to build truly intelligent else has missed the big idea. Stephan machines is to learn how the Wolfram encountered some of that with actually operates. In particular, it is the his 1192 page tome, “A New Kind of neocortex, the center of higher thought, Science” where he argued that cellular which is the focus of his attention. But automata do much better at simulating he also implies that neuroscientists are complex phenomena than more lost in the complexity of mapping out sophisticated models. It helps things neural pathways, and are not coming up not a bit when the new guy struck it rich with compelling overarching theories by inventing a cool tech gizmo and now that begin to explain how we think and wants to do “real science.” Jeff learn. Hawkins is such a man, asserting that he Hawkins believes there is enough has studied the esoteric findings of brain evidence now to posit a common researchers, and has new insight about cortical algorithm, as first proposed by how it all fits together. Vernon Mountcastle, a neuroscientist at Hawkins’ credentials as a creative Johns Hopkins, in 1978. The algorithm person with plenty of his own natural is hierarchical, with lower layers intelligence are stunning. Every review Progress continued to be made in the encoding data from a sensory organ, but of Jeff Hawkins’ new book begins with foundations of AI of course, and it was higher layers dealing with abstract a note that he is the brilliant good for the field when the hype died signals that bear little resemblance to the entrepreneur and computer expert who down. Fuzzy logic chips appeared in sensory signals. Hawkins asserts that founded Palm Computing and washing machines, automated planning brain researchers got sidetracked partly . He invented the PalmPilot, systems controlled NASA space probes due to the experimental difficulty of the Treo smart phone and other gadgets. including the Mars Rover, and expert taking measurements. The standard One of his gifts is being able to make systems are used by banks to decide approach is to present a static sensory technology simple and accessible, and who to loan money to. Neural networks stimulus and take readings of resulting that goes for his writing as well. have had success in pattern recognition. cortex activity. It is too difficult to work But although great strides have been with dynamically changing stimuli, so In "," Jeff Hawkins made in machine learning, and Moore’s researchers have missed a point that presents a new theory about how the Law has made many AI algorithms Hawkins believes is crucial: the brain brain works and how we can finally practical, it is clear that AI alone will not can only perceive dynamic stimuli. build "intelligent" machines. Of course, result in a robot that can do your errands machine intelligence has been a goal of Since the author believes that brain for you or babysit your children. computer science for decades. He research is mired in complexity, a higher discusses the success of Artificial Hawkins points out that the Turing Test level theory is needed to provide a Intelligence in the 60’s and 70’s that led is not, after all, a good indicator of top-down pressure to guide the field. By to an when the intelligence. John Searle, a philosopher the way, he makes no mention of popular press started hyping the and cognitive scientist who created a Minsky’s “Society of Mind,” a possibility of creating artificial . thought experiment called the “Chinese metaphorical / philosophical thought In the 90’s the bubble burst when the Room,” indicated that while a experiment less constrained by brain fickle press discovered those wild computing device could indeed reply to research than what Hawkins had in expectations were unrealistic, and questions in such a way that made it mind. indistinguishable from a human being, it Hawkins’ theory, called “Memory did not understand the conversation and Prediction Framework,” defines there was no meaning attached to its Intelligence as “the capacity of the brain 1 [email protected], HRL Laboratories, LLC

IEEE Intelligent Informatics Bulletin December 2006 Vol.7 No.1 28 Book Review: On Intelligence to predict the future by analogy to the develop the Hierarchical Temporal The last chapter in the book contains past.” According to him, there are four Memory concept based on the theory. another vision, of how intelligent key attributes of neocortical memory machines might be built in the future. Chapter six also hints at how that differ from computer memory: This is back into the Popular Science daydreaming or imagining occurs, when mode. Unlike many current roboticists • All memories are inherently predictions from layer 6 of a cortical who believe humanoid robots will be sequential. column are fed back to layer 4 of the needed to interact with humans, same column. Cortical modeller • Memory is auto-associative; a Hawkins believes humanoid form is Stephan Grossberg calls this “folded partial memory can be used to pointless and impractical. He advocates feedback”. In chapter seven the book retrieve the full memory. working from inside out, by building expands on philosophical speculation • Memories are stored in invariant sensing mechanisms and attaching them about the origin of consciousness and representations. to a hierarchical memory system that creativity that arise from the Memory • Patterns are stored in a hierarchy. works on cortex principles. Then by Prediction Framework theory. training the system he believes it will Support for the theory is most Creativity is defined here as “making develop its own representations of the concretely expressed in chapter six, the predictions by analogy”. As the author world. This system can be built into any meatiest part of the book. This is where says, there is a continuum of creativity, sort of machine, and the sensors can be the author describes in some detail his from mundane extrapolations from distributed if desirable. vision of how the neural circuitry in the learned sequences in sensory cortex to layers of cortex works. The description rare acts of genius. But they have a The technical challenges of building an is compelling, but takes more work to common origin. This is how a piano intelligent machine include capacity, follow than the other chapters. player can quickly figure out how to which by analogy to the brain, at 2 bits Chapter six ends with several play simple melodies on a vibraphone, per , would require 8 trillion fascinating observations that are built on or a customer in a strange restaurant can bytes of memory or about 80 hard top of the neural circuitry described figure out that there is probably a drives. Connectivity is a larger problem, earlier. It emphasizes that perception restroom in the back. Creativity is so since it would be impossible to provide and behaviour are highly interdependent pervasive that we hardly label it as such, dedicated connections. Hawkins because they both originate in a unless it violates our predictions like an believes the answer would be some sort detail-invariant representation that is unusual work of art. There are practical of shared connections, like in today’s then transmitted through both motor and suggestions in this section for how to phone network, but this is still a sensory cortex. Also, although many train oneself to be more creative, and an challenge. interesting story of how Hawkins researchers have discounted it, Hawkins As an aside, there is no mention of the conceived the handwriting recognition argues that feedback and the importance Cyc project, which has been working system, Graffiti. of distant in cortex is essential since 1984 to build a mammoth to explain the Memory Prediction Chapter seven ends in speculation about semantic knowledge base. But unlike Framework theory, and should be the nature of consciousness, imagination the automatically learned reconsidered. The theory includes the and reality in response to the inevitable representations in Hawkins’ proposed broad principles of how hierarchical questions to which this type of work artificial brain, the ones in Cyc are learning of sequences explains how gives rise. A review on the hand-input in a preconceived structure children first learn letters, then words, website by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty takes as a vast quantity of terms related by phrases and finally sentences, and as issue with what he describes as “plain assertions. adults we can speed-read without old-fashioned metaphysical materialism The last chapter ends with a very needing to study every letter. The and, probably, old-school psychological positive view of the potential of author believes that the memory of behaviourism,” which are largely intelligent machines to solve problems sequences re-forms lower and lower in discounted theories today. Dolhenty is humans cannot, because they can be cortex, allowing higher layers to learn a philosopher who thinks human equipped with custom senses, immense more complex patterns. Finally, the intellect at the higher abstract and memory, and even be networked to form is briefly described as conceptual levels cannot be described hierarchies of intelligent machines. logically residing at the top of the by such a simple extrapolation of the Hawkins believes that intelligent cortical hierarchy: the short-term Memory Prediction Framework. But machines will be a hot topic in the next repository of new memories. this reviewer found the connections ten years. It is easy to get caught up in made between brain theory and “mind” An impressive result of the speculations his excitement. in chapter six is a list in the appendix of reassuring. Leave it to others to build on 11 specific, testable predictions made by this foundation. In fact, Hawkins does Related Websites: the theory, which is an invitation to hint at a broader source of the mind in http://www.onintelligence.org/ brain researchers. And Hawkins chapter seven, where he says that it is http://redwood.berkeley.edu/ founded a company, , to influenced by the emotional systems of http://www.numenta.com/ the old brain and by the complexity of the human body.

December 2006 Vol.7 No.1 IEEE Intelligent Informatics Bulletin