Understanding Intelligence (Bradford Books)

Pfeifer, Rolf

ISBN 10: 0262161818 / ISBN 13: 9780262161817

Published by MIT Press, 1999

About this Item

This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. Dust jacket in fair condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,1800grams, ISBN:9780262161817.

Seller Inventory # 9543103

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Understanding Intelligence (Bradford Books)
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262161818
• ISBN 13: 9780262161817
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fair
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Weight: 1800 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Psychology & Psychiatry

About this title

Synopsis

By the mid-1980s researchers from artificial intelligence, computer science, brain and cognitive science, and psychology realized that the idea of computers as intelligent machines was inappropriate. The brain does not run "programs"; it does something entirely different. But what? Evolutionary theory says that the brain has evolved not to do mathematical proofs but to control our behavior, to ensure our survival. Researchers now agree that intelligence always manifests itself in behavior—thus it is behavior that we must understand. An exciting new field has grown around the study of behavior-based intelligence, also known as embodied cognitive science, "new AI," and "behavior-based AI."

This book provides a systematic introduction to this new way of thinking. After discussing concepts and approaches such as subsumption architecture, Braitenberg vehicles, evolutionary robotics, artificial life, self-organization, and learning, the authors derive a set of principles and a coherent framework for the study of naturally and artificially intelligent systems, or autonomous agents. This framework is based on a synthetic methodology whose goal is understanding by designing and building.

The book includes all the background material required to understand the principles underlying intelligence, as well as enough detailed information on intelligent robotics and simulated agents so readers can begin experiments and projects on their own. The reader is guided through a series of case studies that illustrate the design principles of embodied cognitive science.

About the Author

Rolf Pfeifer is Professor of Computer Science and Head of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich. Christian Scheier is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Computer Science Departments at the University of Zurich and the California Institute of Technology.