Course Seminar - CS 344

Physical Symbol System

Hypothesis

Gagan Deep Kaur

Roll No. 07408802
Physical Symbol System

A PSS consists of

- Symbols - set of entities that are physical patterns

- Symbol Structures - number of instances/tokens related in
some physical way
- Processes – operate on these expressions to produce other
expressions
S1 Symbol

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Symbol
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 Structures -
“Expressions”
 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6

S7 S8 S9 S10 S12
S11
Collection of
S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 “Expressions”

S19 S20 S21 S22 S23 S24

S25 S26 S27 S28 S29 S30

At any given time, a PSS contains

- collection of expressions
- processes to operate on these expressions
creation, modification, reproduction, destruction
Physical Symbol System

Key Concepts

Designation – the symbol/expressions can refer to something

else.

Interpretation – the expressions can refer to its own

computational processes which the system can evoke and
execute
Examples of Symbol Systems

System Symbol Expressions Processes

Logic And, Or, Not, Propositions (T/F) Rules of Inference

Algebra +, -, *, /, Equations Rules of Algebra

y, z, 1, 2, 3…. (2+3=5)

Digital Computer 0, 1 00000111000….. Program

-----Chess Chess Pieces Position of pieces Legal Chess

on the board Moves
Physical Symbol System Hypothesis

- By Allen Newell and Herbert Simon

“A physical symbol system has the necessary

and sufficient means for general intelligent action”
Claims

- Human thinking is a kind of symbol manipulation

- Symbol manipulation necessary for intelligence

- Machines can be intelligent, because

- Symbol manipulation is sufficient for intelligence

Core assumption of Strong AI

Grounds of PSS

Brain similar with a physical symbol system

Psychological Experiments – decision making, learning processes

Running AI programs –chess, checkers, theorem proving,

Clark – Productivity of Human Thoughts

Examples of PSS

System Symbol Expressions Processes

Digital Computer 0, 1 00000111000….. Program

-----Chess Chess Pieces Position of pieces Legal Chess

on the board Moves

Brain Encoded in brain Thoughts Mental Operations

like thinking

AI Program Data Data Data

Merits

Computationally possible to encode symbolic human

knowledge

Opened avenue for machine intelligence!

Implications

Appropriately programmed computer is capable of conscious

thought

Machines can be made to think and have genuine

understanding

Can Physical Symbol Systems Think?

symbol manipulation = intelligence?
Critiques

Serial manipulation of ≠ parallel and distributed

discrete symbols processing
(PSS) (Human Brain)

Dreyfus – Role of unconscious instincts than conscious symbol

manipulation
Searle’s Chinese Room
Searle’s Chinese Room
Searle’s Chinese Room

Intelligence requires Understanding.

Does the program understands the symbols that it uses?

Does “symbols” have any meaning for the machine?

Conclusion

The question thus boiled down to this:

Could a system think or understand just by having right sort

of program?

Is syntax enough to ensure “semantics” which is necessary

for understanding.
Can Physical Symbol System be
Intelligent?
References

Clark, Andy, “Philosophical Implications”, Artificial Intelligence, Ed. Margaret

Boden, Academic Press, California, 1996

Dreyfus, Hubert, What Computers Can’t Do: The Limits of AI, Harper & Row,
New York, 1979

Newell, Allen and Simon, Herbert, “Computer Science and Empirical Inquiry:
Search and Symbols”, Mind Design II, Ed. John Hagueland, MIT Press, 1997,

Searle, John, “Minds, Brains and Programs”, Minds I, Ed. Douglas Hofstadter,
and Daniel Dennett, Basic Books, 2001, P. 282-306

Wikipedia, Stanford Encyclopedia

Various Internet Sources For The Pictures!