From: ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de   
      
   egs  writes:   
   >>Tell me, and I will give you a toy problem.   
   >AI programming is, to me, code with unbounded functionalities.   
      
     Any operation is bound by physical limitations. If I translate   
     "unbounded functionalities" to "bound only by the limitations   
     of the hardware", then any machine language monitor offers   
     this capability.   
      
     Tell him what you want (in machine language or assembler)   
     and it will be done as long as it is possibly with the   
     hardware at all.   
      
     Higher level languages often have more limitations, for   
     example one can not write into specific hardware registers.   
     So one can not use certain devices unless a driver was written   
     before (in machine language). In machine language one does not   
     even need a driver.   
      
     Specific software without an inbuilt programming language   
     interpreter even has more limitations, because the user can   
     only select from a limited set of prefabricated options.   
     (This even applies to most "AI software", for example,   
     a chess program can only play chess.)   
      
     So, a machine language monitor has the smallest amount   
     of limitations of functionalities. On the other hand,   
     it is usually not considered to be an "AI tool".   
      
     The toy problem, then would be to write a small machine   
     language monitor. It would need to offer at least two   
     functions: "store an octet value into an address" and   
     "start execution at an address".   
      
     The more limited a piece of software is, the easier it is to   
     use. Thus, using a chess playing program is easy, using a   
     high-level language is difficult and using machine language is   
     even more difficult. This is so because of: There more   
     limitations already are inbuilt, the less I have to tell the   
     computer.   
      
     If I want to play chess, a chess playing program is fine,   
     if I would want to do accounting, the chess playing program   
     is too limited. In a world without any other off-the-shelf   
     software, you now need to use a programming language to   
     explain accounting to the computer.   
      
     If I would want to access a new hardware device via the PCI   
     bus and no driver for it already exists, I can't even use the   
     higher level programming language anymore. I need to use   
     machine language.  This has the least limitations, so I need   
     to tell more to the computer in more detail, therefore it is   
     also the most difficult "user interface". But your explanation   
     of "AI programming" only mentioned "unbounded functionalities"   
     - not "easy to use". A machine language monitor has the   
     smallest amount of limitations of functionalities.   
      
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