Download K-Lines: A theory of memory – Marvin Minsky

K-Lines: A theory of memory – Marvin Minsky
Marr’s view of the paper…
What Minsky does in this paper, is define a scenario via which the brain takes a Type 2
problem approach to solving it. Without requiring an underlying principle to the solution
or such, the basic idea is to look for similar problems that have been encountered in the
past. Even in this idea, the actual way of solving the problem is not focused on, but there
are enough elaboration on how similarity may be checked for between problem
encountered at different points of time. What happens after a similarity pattern has been
created is not known or explained. The theory addresses a relatively localized area in
artificial intelligence, that of memory and recall. Problem solving, search, etc. are not
touched on in this paper. Looking through the theoretical description given, every
problem is given a type 2 value as that would not have a detectable (or detected)
underlying principle and will solved by actual interaction of different states.
This might seem like a decent paper when considering just the memorization and recall
portion on very simple terms, wherein, memory is built upon pre-stored ideas and
experiences, which in turns can be traced to certain primitives. That is pretty much the
domain of the paper.
Shift in Minsky’s thinking…
In his earlier paper Minsky looked at a complete problem solving procedure. He took a
route through checking problem type, searching through solution methods, searching for
solution, etc. There is a definite step-by-step approach to problem solving. In this paper
though, the focus hasn’t really been problem solving itself, but how experiences are
committed to memory, and how they are used to compare or evaluate similar experiences
in the future. This theory may even fit in as a small subset of the complete ideology
expressed in the previous paper of Marvin Minsky. If we do that, it is understandable that
no other area of problem solving has been touched upon very clearly. Finding a solution
hasn’t been the focus, but finding similar problems and experiences is.
Comparing K-lines and Stream & Counter-Stream…
In essence the ideas of K-lines and Stream and Counter-stream are quite similar. Both
work through stored models or memories, both work on recall, both rely on similarity of
experiences. Both ideas have state changes involved in them and also the concept of
parallelism. Ullman’s idea though works via a bi-directional search, whereas Minsky’s
theory works as uni-directional. A bi-directional search may be seen as more efficient in
concept, but actual efficiency depends on the methods of transformation and matching
and how they are applied to present/perceived models.
Why K-Lines have not been implemented widely…
K-Lines have not been implemented widely as by themselves they seem to define a broad
concept for a smaller problem domain – that of memory. Even though the target seems to
be ‘problem solving’, it doesn’t really seem to do that as steps other than recognition of
similar memory patterns or states are left out. It is taken for granted that once a similar
state is reached, the problem may be solved. There is no hard distinction between letting
previous experiences totally overwhelm present perception and the present perception
completely changing the memory. Primarily, what is needed is for automation to come up
with problem solving methods and recognize them, thereafter the problem of matching
comes into the picture, where methods may be mapped to problems.