Obituary | Rules in the millions

Douglas Lenat trained computers to think the old-fashioned way

The mathematician who insisted that AI needed a basis of pure common sense died on August 31st, aged 72

Portrait of Douglas Lenat in his office
Image: Brent Humphreys

The two of them, Douglas Lenat and his wife Mary, were driving innocently along last year when the trash truck in front of them started to shed its load. Great! Bags of garbage bounced all over the road. What were they to do? With cars all round them, they couldn’t swerve, change lanes, or jam on the brakes. They would have to drive over the bags. Which to drive over? Instant decision: not the household ones, because families threw away broken glass and sharp opened cans. But that restaurant one would be fine, because there would be nothing much in it but waste food and styrofoam plates. He was right. The car lived.

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This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Rules in the millions”

From the September 16th 2023 edition

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