Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 16:00:30 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199710242100.QAA07010@locke.ccil.org> Reply-To: Logical Language Group Sender: Lojban list From: Logical Language Group Subject: Re: Linguistics journals To: lojban@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 1938 Lines: 36 And: >Well: If I was asked to review a grant application for >research of this type, and if I wasn't the Lojban-supporter >I am, then I would want to see a well-made prima facie case >for expecting the research to be fruitful. E.g. what advantage >does Lojban have in this respect over ordinary predicate >logic notation. But someone could probably make such a case. Well, I think the prima facie case for this is fairly simple. People do not fluently speak or use predicate logic notation, and it seems unlikely that anyone ever will. On the other hand, any machine AI will require a lot of real world knowledge base inputs in order to be able to function. A fluent Lojban speaker/writer CAN exist, and at least a large subset of the language can be easily processed into predicate logic compatible f orm (The research work and language skill of Nick Nicholas is eviodence of both of these). This would lead one to believe that the a much better human/ computer interface for inputting the knowledge base data would result by having Lojban speakers (who need not be expert in computer AI nor necessarily is predicate logic, but rather might be expert in an application field) input the knowledge base directly in Lojban. Whether internal storage is in Lojban text (which could be more easily read out and interpreted by a non-computer person) or in predicate logic notation, is a tradeoff more in storage than in AI technology, it seems to me. lojbab ---- lojbab lojbab@access.digex.net Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc. 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA 703-385-0273 Artificial language Loglan/Lojban: ftp.access.digex.net /pub/access/lojbab or see Lojban WWW Server: href="http://xiron.pc.helsinki.fi/lojban/" Order _The Complete Lojban Language_ - see our Web pages or ask me.