A computer is like a violin. You can imagine a novice trying ๏ฌrst a phonograph and then a violin. The latter, he says, sounds terrible. That is the argument we have heard from our humanists and most of our computer scientists. Computer programs are good, they say, for particular purposes, but they arenโt ๏ฌexible. Neither is a violin, or a typewriter, until you learn how to use it.
Marvin MinskyIt makes no sense to seek a single best way to represent knowledge-because each particular form of expression also brings its particular limitations. For example, logic-based systems are very precise, but they make it hard to do reasoning with analogies. Similarly, statistical systems are useful for making predictions, but do not serve well to represent the reasons why those predictions are sometimes correct.
Marvin Minsky