(you may click the subfile number to be viewed, or scroll down)

This file contains the following subfiles:
 

1 - other tasks
2 - status of this project
3 - series of experiments


(subfile 1: targeted non-linguistic tasks)


The attempt at representation is being manifested in a computer program that is intended 1) to learn to converse in a way comprehensible to native speakers of whichever language is used, and 2) to use a programming structure functionally identical to one already shown to be appropriate for biological and economic simulations, experiments with cellular automata, musical composition, locomotion/navigation, character recognition, and playing some games.



(subfile 2: status of the project)

I have tried to use tenses very carefully in this text: present indicative means “code exists and runs”; simple future means “I am certain that I know exactly how to write the code, but haven’t done so yet”; and any type of conditional or subjunctive means “I haven't decided how this can be coded” or “I have, as yet, no code for this module
in mind.” However, as I said, the status is changing daily as code is written. I estimate the code completed to be about 15% of that required.





(subfile 3: earlier experiments)

In retrospect, the earlier programs are understood to have been preparatory exercises for the current project; they are described in part two of this paper. They provided experience with a number of areas crucial to the current algorithm, including learning by observation, content-addressable memory, large feature spaces, natural selection as learning, and originality vs. plagiarism.