<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This article systematically analyzes the problem of defining “artificial intelligence.” It starts by pointing out that a definition influences the path of the research, then establishes four criteria of a good working definition of a notion: being similar to its common usage, drawing a sharp boundary, leading to fruitful research, and as simple as possible. According to these criteria, the representative definitions in the field are analyzed. A new definition is proposed, according to it intelligence means “adaptation with insufficient knowledge and resources.” The implications of this definition are discussed, and it is compared with the other definitions. It is claimed that this definition sheds light on the solution of many existing problems and sets a sound foundation for the field.</p></abstract>

This article systematically analyzes the problem of defining “artificial intelligence.” It starts by pointing out that a definition influences the path of the research, then establishes four criteria of a good working definition of a notion: being similar to its common usage, drawing a sharp boundary, leading to fruitful research, and as simple as possible. According to these criteria, the representative definitions in the field are analyzed. A new definition is proposed, according to it intelligence means “adaptation with insufficient knowledge and resources.” The implications of this definition are discussed, and it is compared with the other definitions. It is claimed that this definition sheds light on the solution of many existing problems and sets a sound foundation for the field.

On Defining Artificial Intelligence

Department of Computer and Information Sciences

Journal of Artificial General Intelligence

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"On Defining Artificial Intelligence"}

This article systematically analyzes the problem of defining “artificial intelligence.” It starts by pointing out that a definition influences the path of the...

On Defining Artificial Intelligence

Published Online: Aug 19, 2019

Page range: 1 - 37

Received: Mar 29, 2019

Accepted: Aug 12, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jagi-2019-0002

© 2019 Pei Wang, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.