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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Survey of Mechanisms for Minds, 1 Dec 1998
By A Customer
As a former student of Dr. Franklin, I am probably somewhat biased. I feel, however, that I can still provide an objective overview of this well written book.The goal of Dr. Franklin's book is to put forth his concept of a general mechanism of mind. As an early proponent of autonomous agents, his writing leans heavily in this direction. His new paradigm of mind, described in the final chapter, can be seen to view the mind as a multitude of disparate mechanisms operating on sensations to create information and re-creating prior information with the primary purpose of selecting the next action, within its limits, for an agent to take. In building toward his new paradigm, Dr. Franklin makes stops on an admittedly biased tour to briefly explain other concepts for mechanisms of mind. Patti Maes, Marvin Minsky, Rodney Brooks, Douglas Hofstadter, and Robert Ornstein are just a few of the pioneers in this field whose works are touched on. The bibliography serves as a must-read list for anyone interested in expanding their horizons on this new frontier. Along the way, Dr. Franklin also sheds light on three debates central to Artificial Intelligence. They are 1) Can machines truly have minds, 2) Which approach, symbolism or connectionism, will yield a workable mechanism of mind, and 3) What role should representations play in intelligence? While presenting both sides of each argument, it is fairly clear which camp Dr. Franklin is in. While written for the lay reader, Dr. Franklin's highly accessible writing should provide much food for thought for those practicing in AI as well. I highly recommend this book.
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by J Haugeland
by J. Storrs Hall
