Feature request: Path append operators for strings

[Walter Bright]

On 7/7/2013 2:11 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> On 7/7/13 1:35 PM, Walter Bright wrote:
>> A mailman can (will) also do things like pretend to know, make up a
>> plausible answer, ask clarifying questions, figure it out, etc.
>
> Siri can also reply by doing a google search and reading the result.

Right, that's what it does when it doesn't match the pattern. There's no 
understanding at all.


>> Computers don't, for example, figure it out. They do not reason. Regex
>> is not a thought process.
>
> This started with you claiming that Siri is just Eliza with more memory. That's
> inaccurate to say the least.

I argue it is dead on. I don't see a fundamental difference. Siri matches your 
statement against a set of canned patterns (just like Eliza) and gives a canned 
answer. Failing that, it feeds it to a search engine (Eliza, of course, had no 
search engine, so it just gave a canned default response).

Back in college, I wrote a Zork-style game, and spent some time programming 
recognition of various patterns, enough to see what's happening behind the 
curtain with Siri. If you're not familiar with how these things work, it can 
superficially appear to be magical at "understanding" you, but nothing of the 
sort is happening.

I'm sure Apple collects statements sent to Siri, looks at them, and regularly 
adds more patterns. But it's just that - more patterns. (Ask Siri to open the 
pod bay doors, for example.)

I think Siri does a mahvelous job of voice recognition - but that's not what 
we're talking about.