In the Beginning was Information

we might realise. There are countless sentences of which the meaningcannot be derived from the meanings of the component words.– Languages are multivocal: In all languages some words have morethan one meaning (e. g. board as a noun can mean a wooden slab, ordaily meals, and it also has more than one meaning as a verb), but thisphenomenon is not restricted to words only. At all higher informationlevels (structural, semantic, pragmatic, and apobetic) there are uniquelypersonal components which cannot be accessed mechanically.As we have seen, “artificial intelligence” is a misnomer, and, in additionto gradational differences, there are fundamental differences betweenhuman intelligence and AI:– We should distinguish between data and knowledge, between algorithmicallyconditioned branching of a program and a deliberate decision,between sorting by comparison and associations, between an averagingof values and comprehension of meaning, between a formal decisiontree and individual choice, between a sequence of computer operationsand creative thought processes, and between the accumulationof data and a learning process. A computer can only do the former;herein lie its strengths, its areas of application, but also its limitations.– AI could be regarded as a higher level of data processing, but definitelynot as the beginning of independent thought on the part of computers.We err greatly when we believe that it would be possible to developa system which will purportedly be something other than just acomputing system. A chess-playing computer cannot think independently;it is no better or no worse than the strategy programmed into itby human intelligence.– A machine cannot think independently; it can only algorithmicallyprocess information formulated and entered beforehand by one ormore persons.The AI question is discussed more fully in [G8]. Systems developed by“AI programmers” will become more meaningful in many areas. But, inthe light of our knowledge of the information concept, we should alwayskeep in mind that no machine, however well programmed, will ever beable to generate creative information (see Chapter 8), because this is fundamentallyan intellectual process. We can now define [G8, p 41]:222Definition D7: The distinctive characteristic of creative information isits novelty, i. e. “to think what nobody else has thought”. This aspectcan be described with concepts like inventiveness, creativity, originality,unconventionality, innovativeness, advancement, and abundance ofideas. Every piece of creative information represents an intellectualeffort and is directly linked to an originator who is a person endowedwith a free will and with cognitive abilities.