Steve Jenson's blog

John McCarthy has a good sense of humor

John McCarthy has a good sense of humor

From an informal talk he gave at Stanford recently that was written up in Hacker News:
    Q. Can computers know?

    A. This is largely a question of definition. If a camera looked at a table, we could
    say it "knows" that there are four containers of liquid on the table (which was true).

    Q. Is there any definition of "know" in which computers cannot succeed?

    A. Well, I suppose the biblical sense.

    Q. Ha, well, what makes you think that?

    A. They don't satisfy the necessary axioms (laughter)
    

# — 11 May, 2008