Measuring Intelligence

Physical Symbol System (PSS)

 Physical Symbol System was suggested by Newell and Simon in
1976:

A physical symbol system consists of a set of entities, called symbols, which

are physical patterns that can occur as components of another type of
entity called an expression (or symbol structure). Thus, a symbol structure
is composed of a number of instances of symbols related in some physical
way. At any instant of time, the system will contain a collection of these
symbol structures. Besides these structures, the system also contains a
collection of processes that operate on expressions to produce other
expressions: processes of creation, modification, reproduction and
destruction. A physical symbol system is a machine that produces through
time an evolving collection of symbol structures. Such a system exists in a
world of objects wider than just these symbolic expressions themselves.
 PSS
 Easier version:

A physical symbol system (also called a formal system) takes

symbols, combining them into structures (expressions) and
manipulating them (using processes) to produce new expressions.
 PSSH
 Hypothesis:
A Physical Symbol System has the necessary and sufficient means
for general intelligent action.

 Examples:
o Digital computer system-
• Symbol – bits, expressions – sequences of bits, process –
operators (bits are copied, modified, and deleted.)
o Human brain
• Symbols – neurons, expressions- collection of neurons,
process – neurons die and born.
 PSSH
 It is a hypothesis only.
 No way to prove or disprove.

 Criticism:
o Intelligence is not same as computation.
 Importance of PSSH
 Learning human mind/intelligence:
o It is good to have tangible measure of intelligence.

 Building intelligent machines:

o gives the basis of building programs that can perform intelligent
tasks.
 AI technique
 Techniques to solve AI problems are called AI techniques.

 Most AI problems are hard and unrelated. Techniques which can

solve a variety of these problems fall under the category of AI
technique.

 AI techniques have following properties:

o require knowledge.
o have generalization abilities.
o can be extended to solve other problems as well.
o used where direct methods are impractical.
 Criteria for success
 “How we would know that the machine is really intelligent”.

 Turing test/Imitation game:

o 1 interrogator, 1 human, 1 machine
o Interrogator asks questions with both of them but does not know
in which room human sits and in which a computer.
o At the end of interrogation if interrogator can not distinguish
between human and computer. It means computer is as
intelligent as a human.