It's best to just let Cyc people continue to think they matter and let them stay busy expanding their knowledge base in the church of first order logic. It'll never go anywhere, but it's better to keep them all contained in one place rather than polluting other fields of study.
A merciful end to Cyc funding might be better. Monies saved could be spent elsewhere and termination would free all involved without the expectation that they produce something of value. Although it might cause some grudges ("If we'd only been allowed to add the last 2000 rules, I am certain it would have achieved consciousness!") everybody needs a new start now and then.
Had Lenat published working versions or even complete explanations of his previous software (AM, EURISKO) I might be a little more sympathetic. Cyc, the project that never ends, appears to be in a state of perpetual partial implementation, it's most notable product being a constant stream of money into the project.
But look on the bright side: perhaps I'm completely wrong, Cyc has actually achieved AI, and the NSA is using it right now!
Absolutely. 4.4 is a full endorsement of Cyc (and don't get me started on "Cyc" vs "OpenCyc"). Second 4.4 looks a little like "graphplan reborn" or "generic AI approaches from the 80s."
Discrete codified knowledge is not the stuff the universe is made of. The problem Cyc will never solve is the "a picture is worth a thousand words" problem. Describing everything in a relational, hierarchal, predicate calculus arrogantly ignores the unrelated multidimensionality of, well, everything.
I think we can infer, from Levesque's failure to even mention it, that the answer has to be no. I admit I am curious exactly what Cyc can and can't do, and why. I haven't looked at it closely, though.
What I've heard is that their system has gotten progressively better over time while their publishing had gotten worse.
People in academia can get ResearchCyc and see just what its capabilities are these days; it's basically the same as full Cyc. OpenCyc is a shadow of the real thing, supposedly.
