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Semantics Beyond Language

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Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2019 (BICA 2019)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 948))

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Abstract

Critics often view linguistics as the cognitive science that lags behind all the others (Prinz 2012). Consider a paradoxical claim; perhaps the main problem with linguistics comes from its strong attachment to language. Maybe the problem lies even deeper, in the structure of propositional logic based on the language and its grammar (Chihara 1979, Barker 2013), which permeates even logical deep structure (if such exists). Standard linguistics has its role to play; yet, it does not cover enough ground. Processes developed in AI, such as deep computing algorithms, and by neuroscience, such as mind-maps, place much of informational processing (thinking) beyond the language. The main stream of communication may happen at the level of Gestalts and images, while language statements may be seen as only simplified reports of what happens, not the engine of thinking (Boltuc 2018). Till recently, linguistics did not pay much attention to the Freudian revolution (the role of unconscious thought-processes, Floridi (2014)), or to Libet’s experiment (indicating that we decide before we become conscious of the issue at hand). This affects semantic AI. In this paper we do not propose a conceptual revolution; AI pioneers, like Goertzel, Sowa, Thaler, Wang, have been in this revolution for decades. The point is to mainstream its philosophical, theoretical and strategic implications. The language of deep learning algorithms, used in semantic AI, should recreate gestalts developed at the mind-maps level not just grammatical structure.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland

    Piotr Boltuc

  2. University of Illinois, Springfield, USA

    Piotr Boltuc

  3. University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland

    Marta Izabela Boltuc

Authors
  1. Piotr Boltuc
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  2. Marta Izabela Boltuc
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Correspondence to Piotr Boltuc .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), Department of Cybernetics, National Research Nuclear University (NRNU), Moscow, Russia

    Alexei V. Samsonovich

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Boltuc, P., Boltuc, M.I. (2020). Semantics Beyond Language. In: Samsonovich, A. (eds) Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures 2019. BICA 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 948. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25719-4_6

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