A tale of AI dichotomies

In the 1970s, MIT scientist Terry Winograd was programming computers to understand language. His program SHRDLU was considered a successful demonstration of artificial intelligence by translating words into short programs to guide virtual objects within a virtual space.

The success and challenges of SHRDLU eventually led Winograd to shift his work from pushing the limits of what machines can do to better understanding what technology means to people.

While many scientists continued to chase the dream of recreating the human brain, Winograd’s new mindset was one of the driving force behind many successful tech companies and applications.

In his latest essay for TechTalks, Rich Heimann, Chief AI Officer at Cybraics, unpacks Winograd’s journey, Minskey’s “frame” theory, and the manifestations of their mindsets in today’s “AI-first” companies.

Read the full essay on TechTalks.

For more from Rich:

• All roads lead to AGI, or do they?

• The AI in a jar

• Is AI intrinsically hyped?

• AI, the brain, and cognitive plausibility