Boston Chapter Meeting
         IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

              Tuesday, 13 February, 2001
    Informal Discussion: 6:00 PM; Program: 6:30 PM


 Beyond Physics: Implications of the Failed Vision of
  Artificial Intelligence for the Robotics Community

                Norman R. Guivens, Jr.
                     SPARTA, Inc.


                   ABSTRACT OF TALK

   The artificial intelligence community has developed
several important technologies that touch many aspects
of our lives. Expert systems help our physicians and
our mechanics to diagnose our illnesses and our
automobiles, help our travel agents to plan our
vacations and our business trips, and help our airlines
to schedule their aircraft and personnel. Machine
vision systems guide our industrial machinery and
inspect our workmanship. Computers call us on the
telephone and respond to our spoken word. Important
techniques developed by the artificial intelligence
community now appear in mainstream computer programming
languages and environments. Some machines even adapt
autonomously to changing conditions, environments, or
patterns of usage, thanks to their machine learning
capabilities.

   In spite of extensive funding over many years and
the development of many useful technologies, the
ultimate vision of building machines that reason and
respond like rational beings continues to elude the
artificial intelligence community. Perceiving a poor
track record, few agencies now solicit or fund research
in artificial intelligence. Companies selling expert
systems, machine vision technology, voice synthesis, or
speech recognition seldom mention artificial
intelligence in their advertisements. Researchers have
repackaged many concepts originally developed within
the bounds of artificial intelligence with new wrappers
of nomenclature and terminology that conveniently
disguise their origin.

   A widespread lack of awareness of fundamental
limitations known to Plato and Aristotle in modern
times may have contributed to unattainable expectations
for the artificial intelligence community. These
ancient philosophers knew that physical systems and
processes occur within ontological bounds of the
natural universe that thoughts, ideas, and emotions
transcend. Any physical system that reasons and
responds like a rational being would violate these
natural constraints of the physical universe. These
constraints thus guarantee that artificial intelligence
will never fulfill its ultimate vision.

   We are often reminded that those among us who do not
learn from the mistakes of history are destined to
repeat them. As autonomous robots grow in popularity
for security and other applications, popular depictions
of robots as artificial humans are also becoming more
prevalent. Once largely confined to science fiction,
robots exhibited an inanimate stiffness and an
unemotional obedience to their masters. Today, robots
in popular movies and comic strips exhibit the full
realm of human thoughts, emotions, and behavior. If
these depictions form the vision for research and
development of autonomous robots, they ultimately may
lead the robotics community to a similar fate.

   The presentation will begin with a review of the
many technological advances of artificial intelligence
and the failure to achieve its ultimate vision. The
presentation will continue with an overview of some
basic metaphysical concepts, applying these concepts to
understand the inability to fulfill the ultimate vision
of artificial intelligence. The presentation will
conclude with an open discussion of the implications of
this failure for the robotics community in the context
of current trends.

                 BIOGRAPHY OF SPEAKER

   Norman R. Guivens, Jr. is a senior engineer in the
Advanced Sensors Directorate of SPARTA, Inc., located
in Billerica, MA. His research interests include
simulation and development of radar and optical
sensors, signal and image processors, machine vision
applications, and robotic systems. He graduated from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with
simultaneous degrees of S. B. in Mathematics and S. M.
in Meteorology in 1979. His subsequent studies in
philosophy and theology led to an M. T. S. in Pastoral
ministry from St. Meinrad School of Theology in 1992.
He is a former chairman of the Robotics and Automation
Chapter and a long-standing member of the chapter's
steering committee.

                  MEETING INFORMATION

   The Robotics and Automation Chapter will meet at
6:30 P.M. on Tuesday, 13 February 2001, at Wellesley
High School, Wellesley, Massachusetts. The meeting is
free and open to the public. Reservations are not
required. Those who attend the meeting also may have
dinner with the speaker, at their own expense, at a
nearby restaurant (Bertucci's) following the meeting.
For more information about this meeting or about the
Robotics and Automation Chapter, contact Bruce Levens
at 508-271-1233 or (preferably) BCL0@alum.mit.edu.

   Directions: From Route 128, take either Route 9 or
Route 16 West. From the junction of Routes 9 and 16,
follow Route 16 (Washington Street) West past the
Wellesley Hills commuter rail station (within walking
distance of the school), then turn left onto Rice
Street. Wellesley High School is on the left. Parking
is available in a lot just beyond the school.

   For a web map showing the location of Wellesley High
School, go to the MapBlast site at

    http://www.mapblast.com/

and enter the following information in the indicated
locations:

   Street Address:	50 Rice St
   City, State ZIP	Wellesley, MA

and then click on the MapBlast icon. The resulting map
can be zoomed in or out by clicking in the balloon area
on the right. You will also find maps, along with other
information about our section, at our website at

    http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/cleary/ieee/