Which connectionism vs which AI?

[om Lev Goldfarb]

It appears that, when discussing the relationship between NN and AI,
an undue legitimacy is often granted to these two quite tentative
and inadequate *formal paradigms*. The NN lacks adequate
"self-programmability", while the propositional model cannot
practically facilitate learning from the environment, i.e. it
cannot facilitate the discovery of new useful features (new symbols)
or even the recognition of "primitive" patterns.

After "a great deal of ink and hot air has been expanded" (Beth Preston,
Connectionism vs AI), it should be quite clear that the two formal models
*in their present form* cannot naturally, or directly (in mathematical
sense), be integrated into one model, in spite of the attempts by some to
conveniently ignore this fact.

On the other hand, if, when talking about the two "paradigms", one is not
referring to the underlying *mathematical* models, then the necessity of
integrating the two paradigms should be apparent and the above "great
deal of ink and hot air" can easily be understood.

--Lev Goldfarb