Ask HN: What would you ask Peter Norvig?
Peter Norvig is coming to guest lecture one of my classes. I want to be able to ask him an interesting question. If you had the chance, what would you want to ask him?
What fascinates me about these essays is that in one, he is able to get good results from using a simple algorithm over a large corpus of data (books from Project Gutenberg). In the other, he is able to get good results through the application of a clever algorithm (constraint propagation). Both of these approaches (lots of data, clever algorithms) are used in AI. My question would relate to their relative merit, and would be something like the following:
"Have advances in Artificial Intelligence been driven more by the discovery and application of novel algorithms and techniques, or by an increased ability to collect, store, curate and analyze increasing bodies of data?"
However, I would also really like to know how he feels about John Searle's Chinese Room[3] argument.
[1] http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html
Kind of a cliche question, and perhaps not one worth asking, but I've heard it asked of some pretty impressive people and the answer has always been really fascinating. Probably not worth it though, if you only have one question, especially if you're looking for something more technical.
-Driverless cars are fun, but will we ever see them on the road?
-Udacity has the potential to educate, but will employers care?
Tim Daly daly@axiom-developer.org