?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Generality+in+Artificial+Intelligence&rft.creator=McCarthy%2C+John&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.description=My+1971+Turing+Award+Lecture+was+entitled+%60%60Generality+in+Artificial+Intelligence''.+The+topic+turned+out+to+have+been+overambitious+in+that+I+discovered+that+I+was+unable+to+put+my+thoughts+on+the+subject+in+a+satisfactory+written+form+at+that+time.+It+would+have+been+better+to+have+reviewed+previous+work+rather+than+attempt+something+new%2C+but+such+wasn't+my+custom+at+that+time.++I+am+grateful+to+the+ACM+for+the+opportunity+to+try+again.+Unfortunately+for+our+science%2C+although+perhaps+fortunately+for+this+project%2C+the+problem+of+generality+in+AI+is+almost+as+unsolved+as+ever%2C+although+we+now+have+many+ideas+not+available+in+1971.+This+paper+relies+heavily+on+such+ideas%2C+but+it+is+far+from+a+full+1986+survey+of+approaches+for+achieving+generality.+Ideas+are+discussed+at+a+length+proportional+to+my+familiarity+with+them+rather+than+according+to+some+objective+criterion.++It+was+obvious+in+1971+and+even+in+1958+that+AI+programs+suffered+from+a+lack+of+generality.+It+is+still+obvious%2C+and+now+there+are+many+more+details.+The+first+gross+symptom+is+that+a+small+addition+to+the+idea+of+a+program+often+involves+a+complete+rewrite+beginning+with+the+data+structures.+Some+progress+has+been+made+in+modularizing+data+structures%2C+but+small+modifications+of+the+search+strategies+are+even+less+likely+to+be+accomplished+without+rewriting.++Another+symptom+is+that+no-one+knows+how+to+make+a+general+database+of+common+sense+knowledge+that+could+be+used+by+any+program+that+needed+the+knowledge.+Along+with+other+information%2C+such+a+database+would+contain+what+a+robot+would+need+to+know+about+the+effects+of+moving+objects+around%2C+what+a+person+can+be+expected+to+know+about+his+family%2C+and+the+facts+about+buying+and+selling.+This+doesn't+depend+on+whether+the+knowledge+is+to+be+expressed+in+a+logical+language+or+in+some+other+formalism.+When+we+take+the+logic+approach+to+AI%2C+lack+of+generality+shows+up+in+that+the+axioms+we+devise+to+express+common+sense+knowledge+are+too+restricted+in+their+applicability+for+a+general+common+sense+database.+In+my+opinion%2C+getting+a+language+for+expressing+general+common+sense+knowledge+for+inclusion+in+a+general+database+is+the+key+problem+of+generality+in+AI.++Here+are+some+ideas+for+achieving+generality+proposed+both+before+and+after+1971.+I+repeat+my+disclaimer+of+comprehensiveness.&rft.date=1987&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F425%2F2%2Fgenerality.ps&rft.identifier=++McCarthy%2C+John++(1987)+Generality+in+Artificial+Intelligence.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F425%2F