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Dear Editors:

	Inspired by Fred Hopgood's recent article (Atlantic, July 1974) about
computers, Artificial Intelligence and how computers will never bee able
to pray or to love. <PRAYER>. I dashed off to my local Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory (at Stanford) and wrote a program that recited
one million "Our Fathers" and one million "Hail Marys" to itself.
If hopgood is a materialist then he should admit that prayer is likely to be some
form of mental activity similair to talking to yourself, meditation, etc.
If Hopgood is a spiritualist, does he dare to say that my machine simple
imbicile praying was not heard by God ?

	<LOVE>. My love robot, named Pygmalion,
still has numerous bugs but the basic system design is based on
transactionalist phychology where love is design as an exchange between
intellectual entities of something between status, respect and service.
(Robot sexual love is adequately portrayed in a lovely painting on page 38
of the February 1974 issue of Oui followed by an article on Artificial Intelligence
which is too optimistic balancing Hopgoods views which are too pessemistic).

	The statement that computers can never do X; where X is make love,
enjoy strawberry shortcake or trisect an angle with ruler and straight edge
requires careful examination, considerible supporting
details on economics, system design and mathematics.
It is my belief that in principle, anything a computer can't do 
is probably a limitation on intellect and counsciouness that is
shared by men.

<PUBLICATION>. Hopgood says that Artificial Intelligence Research is not getting 
published, I think we are over published - what with our new round of
text editors and Xerox Graphics Printers
Over the past two year A.I. articiles have appeared in Fortune, New York Times,
San Francisco Chroncile, Rolling Stone,
<FREE WILL>.
<CHESS>.
<CIA>. The argument that A.I. research is a waste of money because the CIA
spent $20 million on automatic language translation is a non-squitor
wrapped in a guilt by juxitaposition.
<TIME SCALE>. The present research is 
<FRESHNESS>. I am acutely aware of the fact that by the time an article gets
into print it can be about a year or more behind the authors actual experiences
on which the article is passed, however Hopgood seems to be about ten years
behind - the vision, robotics and even chess have all crept forward alittle.
<CHESS>.