Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!ucsd!nosc!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!elroy!aero!venera.isi.edu!smoliar
From: smoliar@vaxa.isi.edu (Stephen Smoliar)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Grand Challenges
Message-ID: <6358@venera.isi.edu>
Date: 23 Sep 88 13:19:35 GMT
References: <123@feedme.UUCP>
Sender: news@venera.isi.edu
Reply-To: smoliar@vaxa.isi.edu.UUCP (Stephen Smoliar)
Organization: USC-Information Sciences Institute
Lines: 23

In article <123@feedme.UUCP> doug@feedme.UUCP (Doug Salot) writes:
>In the 16 Sept. issue of Science, there's a blurb about the
>recently released report of the National Academy of Sciences'
>Computer Science and Technology Board ("The National Challenge
>in Computer Science and Technology," National Academy Press,
>Washington, DC, 1988).  Just when you thought you had the
>blocks world figured out, something like this comes along.
>
>Their idea is to start a U.S. Big Science (computer science,
>that is) effort ala Japan.  In addition to the usual clamoring
>for software IC's, fault tolerance, parallel processing and
>a million mips (ya, 10^12 ips), here's YOUR assignment:
>
>2) Build a machine which can read a chapter of a physics text and
>then answer the questions at the end.  At least this one can be
>done by some humans!
>
I just heard a McNeill-Lerher report to the effect the student science
scores are at an all time low.  Is this the government's proposed solution
to that problem . . . send robots to school instead of kids?  If we want
to take on a REALLY hard problem, why not put our minds to repairing an
educational system which has been all but decimated by current government
policy?