In today's ZOOM meeting, I objected to the term 'neuro-symbolic hybrid' of
artificial neural networks (ANNs) with symbols. Hybrid's imply two (sometimes more)
distinctly different things. But all the processes in the mind and brain are integrated,
and they all operate continuously in different parts of the brain, which are all monitored
and controlled by a central executive. For AI, integration is the goal, and a hybrid
stage is something that needs to be replaced with a tighter integration. I believe that
the final document should emphasize the dangers that Gary Marcus and I discussed in
March.
And for that matter, artificial neural networks are not new. William James suggested the
telephone network as a model, and more detailed mathematical models were developed in the
1940s. In fact, Marvin Minsky, one of the founders of AI, wrote his PhD thesis at
Princeton on a mathematical model of neural networks in the early 1950s.
Research in the cognitive sciences involves a collaboration of all the sciences that study
any and every aspect of cognition: philosophy, psychology, logic, artificial
intelligence, neuroscience, and anthropology. As an overview of the methods of
integration, I attach a copy (Section 7) of an article that is in press: Phaneroscopy:
The Science of Diagrams.
In that section, I show how the theories of C. S. Peirce and recent developments in the
cognitive sciences support, illustrate, and explain the issues. In particular, they go
far beyond just a hybrid of two approaches. They treat the brain and the mind it supports
as an integrated system. The key to integration is a central executive, located in the
frontal lobes that relates and controls every component in the cerebral cortex, the
cerebellum, and the brain stem.
Note the loop with a photo of Peirce standing in the center. It shows how the four steps
of abduction, deduction, observation, and induction work together. Every iteration --
from milliseconds to hours to days -- involves guessing, reasoning, observing, and
learning. These processes are not separated. They operate continuously.
For details, see Section 7, which also contains several references to articles and slides
with more detail. I also recommend The Central Executive Network (CEN):
https://www.o8t.com/blog/central-executive-network#:~:text=Since%20its%20in…
John