Well, you can see TW himself answered that question (down on the page) by saying what SHRDLU does is so far removed from what our brain does that it's kinda pointless. On the other hand, at the beginning of the heyday of strong AI it was super exciting and in that sense inspirational and important. It was still iconic when I first set foot in the AI lab in late '79.
Plus look at the list of people discussed on that page, Henry Baker, Dave McDonald Vaughn Pratt, Tom Moran, Stu Card and many more...not bad for what turned out to be a false step.
I think it's still important to know about the Michelson-Morley experiment even though nobody believes in luminiferous aether any more. OK, SHRDLU isn't as earthshaking (so to speak) as the M-M experiment, but then again, AI was (is) still in the alchemy phase in the late 60s.
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[ 1.6 ms ] story [ 17.6 ms ] threadPlus look at the list of people discussed on that page, Henry Baker, Dave McDonald Vaughn Pratt, Tom Moran, Stu Card and many more...not bad for what turned out to be a false step.
I think it's still important to know about the Michelson-Morley experiment even though nobody believes in luminiferous aether any more. OK, SHRDLU isn't as earthshaking (so to speak) as the M-M experiment, but then again, AI was (is) still in the alchemy phase in the late 60s.