[1-11] What's the difference between "classical" AI and

"statistical" AI?

Statistical AI, arising from machine learning, tends to be more
concerned with "inductive" thought: given a set of patterns, induce
the trend.  Classical AI, on the other hand, is more concerned with
"deductive" thought: given a set of constraints, deduce a conclusion.
Another difference, as mentioned in the previous question, is that C++
tends to be a favourite language for statistical AI while LISP
dominates in classical AI.

A system can't be truly intelligent without displaying properties of
both inductive and deductive thought.  This lends many to beleive that
in the end, there will be some kind of synthesis of statistical and
classical AI.

Top Document: Artificial Intelligence FAQ:1/6 General Questions & Answers [Monthly posting]
Previous Document: [1-10] What are good programming languages for AI?
Next Document: [1-12] I have the idea for an AI Project that will solve all

Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Part6 - Single Page

[ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ]

Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer:
crabbe@usna.edu, adubey@coli.uni-sb.de

Last Update October 22 2009 @ 05:22 AM