Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 beta 3/9/83; site nbs-amrf.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!umcp-cs!nbs-amrf!libes From: libes@nbs-amrf.UUCP (Don Libes) Newsgroups: net.ai,net.jokes Subject: AI joke that anyone can understand Message-ID: <459@nbs-amrf.UUCP> Date: Sun, 10-Mar-85 17:33:29 EST Article-I.D.: nbs-amrf.459 Posted: Sun Mar 10 17:33:29 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 12-Mar-85 20:41:45 EST Organization: National Bureau of Standards Lines: 35 Xref: linus net.ai:2359 net.jokes:9015 I've been waiting for some good AI jokes but haven't seen a one. If I had saved the announcement for the AI joke contest, I would enter this one. However, I must admit I read it in Ted Nelson's Computer Lib (published in 1974). A very large artificial-intelligence system had been built for the military to help in long-range policy planning; financed by Arpa, with people from MIT, Stanford, CMU and so on. "The system is now ready to answer questions" said the spokesman for the project. A four-star general bit off the end of a cigar, looked whimsically at his comrades and said-- "Ask the machine this: Will it be Peace or War?" The clerk-typist (GS3) translated this into the query language and typed it in. The machine replied: Yes. "Yes what?!?!" bellowed the general. The operator typed in the query. Came the answer: Yes, SIR! Don Libes {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!libes