[AlbertCory]

It's somewhat appalling that they don't mention that there's a book with this title:

https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Generation-Artificial-Intellige...

As for "The important thing is that they tried" : would you give them credit for "trying" to invent real-time, neuron-by-neuron brain imaging, in 1982? And giving billions of taxpayer Yen to the effort? How about quantum computers?

Or would you have been justified in saying that there are projects with a better prospect of success right now, and we shouldn't waste the taxpayers' money on things guaranteed to fail?

So what ARE your limits? Or are there any?

[mindcrime]

As for "The important thing is that they tried" : would you give them credit for "trying" to invent real-time, neuron-by-neuron brain imaging, in 1982? And giving billions of taxpayer Yen to the effort? How about quantum computers?

For me, I'd say:

1. Yes

2. Taxation is theft

3. Yes

Or would you have been justified in saying that there are projects with a better prospect of success right now, and we shouldn't waste the taxpayers' money on things guaranteed to fail?

See again: taxation is theft. But regardless of how you fund research, it remains the case that "you don't know what you don't know" and "hindsight is 20/20". I'm certainly not going to slag the Japanese for the effort they put into the 5th gen project just because things didn't work out as favorably as they might have.

And also, while the project might not have met their immediate goals and is deemed a "failure" that doesn't necessarily mean that the research they did is value-less. Speaking for myself, I actually recently went on a bit of a buying binge, buying a bunch of books on the 5th gen project (read that Feigenbaum & McCorduck book ages ago) and related ideas (eg, concurrent prolog). Because I have a hunch there's a kernel of something useful there still waiting to emerge. Now my research may lead me nowhere, but that's OK. And at least in my case I'm spending only my own money.

[AlbertCory]

Let me just repeat: So what ARE your limits? Or are there any?

So I guess you're saying there are no limits? Every project should be funded to the max?

and since you're against taxation, does that mean ordinary people are to be compelled to "voluntarily" fund them? Or where is the money supposed to come from?