Lighthill report
Artificial Intelligence: A General Survey, commonly known as the Lighthill report, is a scholarly article by James Lighthill, published in Artificial Intelligence: a paper symposium in 1973.[1] It was compiled by Lighthill for the British Science Research Council as an evaluation of academic research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The report gave a very pessimistic prognosis for many core aspects of research in this field, stating that "In no part of the field have the discoveries made so far produced the major impact that was then promised". It "formed the basis for the decision by the British government to end support for AI research in most British universities",[2] contributing to an AI winter in Britain.
Publication history
[edit]It was commissioned by the SRC in 1972 for Lighthill to "make a personal review of the subject [of AI]". Lighthill completed the report in July. The SRC discussed the report in September, and decided to publish it, together with some alternative points of view by Stuart Sutherland, Roger Needham, Christopher Longuet-Higgins, and Donald Michie.[1]: preface The SRC's decision to invite the report was partly a reaction to high levels of discord within the University of Edinburgh's Department of Artificial Intelligence, one of the earliest and biggest centres for AI research in the UK.[3]
On May 9, 1973, Lighthill debated several leading AI researchers (Donald Michie, John McCarthy, Richard Gregory) at the Royal Institution in London concerning the report.[4]
Content
[edit]While the report was supportive of research into the simulation of neurophysiological and psychological processes, it was "highly critical of basic research in foundational areas such as robotics and language processing".[1] The report stated that AI researchers had failed to address the issue of combinatorial explosion when solving problems within real-world domains. That is, the report states that AI techniques may work within the scope of small problem domains, but the techniques would not scale up well to solve more realistic problems. The report represents a pessimistic view of AI that began after early excitement in the field.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Lighthill, James (1973). "Artificial Intelligence: A General Survey". Artificial Intelligence: A paper symposium. UK: Science Research Council.
- ^ Russell, S. J.; Norvig, P. (2010). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- ^ Howe, Jim (June 2007). "Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh University: a Perspective". UK: University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
- ^ Emanuel, Jeff (2024-10-01), Dicklesworthstone/the_lighthill_debate_on_ai, retrieved 2024-11-20
External links
[edit]- "Artificial Intelligence: A General Survey" James Lighthill: in Artificial Intelligence: a paper symposium, Science Research Council
- Other Freddy II Robot Resources Includes a link to the 90-minute 1973 "Controversy" debate from the Royal Academy of Lighthill vs. Michie, McCarthy and Gregory in response to Lighthill's report to the British government.
- The Lighthill Debate (1973) at YouTube: Part 1·2·3·4·5·6