Philip W. Jackson Books

How can human-level artificial intelligence be achieved? What are the potential consequences? This book describes a research approach toward achieving human-level AI, combining a doctoral thesis and research papers by the author. The research approach, called TalaMind, involves developing an AI system that uses a 'natural language of thought' based on the unconstrained syntax of a language such as English; designing the system as a collection of concepts that can create and modify concepts to behave intelligently in an environment; and using methods from cognitive linguistics for multiple levels of mental representation. Proposing a design-inspection alternative to the Turing Test, these pages discuss 'higher-level mentalities' of human intelligence, which include natural language understanding, higher-level forms of learning and reasoning, imagination, and consciousness. Dr. Jackson gives a comprehensive review of other research, addresses theoretical objections to the proposed approach and to achieving human-level AI in principle, and describes a prototype system that illustrates the potential of the approach. This book discusses economic risks and benefits of AI, considers how to ensure that human-level AI and superintelligence will be beneficial for humanity, and gives reasons why human-level AI may be necessary for humanity's survival and prosperity.

The stimulating result of a lifetime of thinking about educating, this book is a profound philosophical exploration of how we transmit knowledge in human society and how we think about accomplishing that vital task

Since its first appearance, Life in Classrooms has established itself as a classic study of the educational process at its most fundamental level. The book's aim is to encourage researchers to examine more deeply the dynamics of classroom learning - the cornerstone of educational change.

Can computers think? Can they use reason to develop their own concepts, solve complex problems, understand our languages? This updated edition of a comprehensive survey includes extensive new text on "Artificial Intelligence in the 21st Century," introducing deep neural networks, conceptual graphs, languages of thought, mental models, metacognition, economic prospects, and research toward human-level AI. Ideal for both lay readers and students of computer science, the original text features abundant illustrations, diagrams, and photographs as well as challenging exercises. Lucid, easy-to-read discussions examine problem-solving methods and representations, game playing, automated understanding of natural languages, heuristic search theory, robot systems, heuristic scene analysis, predicate-calculus theorem proving, automatic programming, and many other topics