I became aware of Fr. Aloysius Hacker and his unique approach to AI through a research report in an old AISB Quarterly, the newsletter of the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour. A page long, the report described a robot billiards player. It dismissed object recognition and tracking in one paragraph. The rest of the page, it devoted in great and reassuring detail to the workings of an integer-equality predicate used in counting balls. Which makes sense, because why say much about what you're not confident of? Readers want stuff they can trust. Then yesterday, I came across Fr. Hacker again, in The Researcher's Bible (1): thirteen pages of excellent advice to research students, in which Fr. Hacker demonstrates how to define the argument to be advanced by a research paper. So I decided to search out AISB's online articles by Fr. Hacker, and here they are. As he asks in one article, why specify, modularise, or test? To someone of your ability, suggesting you need such help is an insult.
The links below are all to PDF copies of AISB Quarterly. Fr. Hacker always publishes on page 12.
Fr.
Hacker's Diary
20th August 2001. With high-tech
companies crashing all around us, it is a
major coup for Hacker Enterprises to have
developed an ICT business model that really
works.
(Issue 106)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 1: Creating Time for the Pursuit of
Research
Inspired by the
new look AISB Quarterly, I have remodelled
my column as a guide for the young AI
researcher. In each issue I will tackle a
different skill that the ambitious AI researcher
must perfect. I will identify techniques and
pass on tips that will turn the aspiring novice
into a successful master. For this inaugural
entry in the guide, there is no more important
skill than that of creating time for the pursuit of
research.
(Issue 107)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 2: How to Become a Media Tart
We continue the series of articles, begun in
the last AISB Quarterly, in which we provide
invaluable advice to the young AI researcher.
In this second article we address the vital
art of becoming a media tart.
(Issue 108)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 3: How to Get Your Research Published
We continue our widely acclaimed guide
series, advising young researchers how to
succeed in the modern world of AI research,
by tackling a vital topic.
(Issue 109)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 4: How to Optimise Your
Citation Count
At last, the edition of the Guide that you
have all been waiting for.
(Issue 110)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 5: How to Get Research
Funding
The Guide turns to a vital
topic for the young AI researcher.
(Issue 111)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 6: How to Gain an
International Reputation
All researchers
seek the recognition and respect of their peers. In their wake come promotion,
status and financial reward. So how to get them?
(Issue 112)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 7: How to Write Computing Programs
AI
research is founded on computer programs. Your research reputation ultimately depends
on the quality of your software.
(Issue 113)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 8: How to give a
presentation
Congratulations!
You have succeeded in getting a research paper accepted for
a conference or being invited to give a seminar. Now, it is vital that your
presentation makes the best possible impression and further enhances your
international reputation.
(Issue 114)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 9: How to be a
Research Leader
AI research
is labour intensive. To make an impact, you need a devoted work force to
implement your groundbreaking ideas. To orchestrate raw postgraduate students
and postdoctoral researchers into the harmonious, world-class team that you need, it
is essential to know how to be a
Research Leader.
(Issue 115)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 10: How to write papers
The key to a successful
research career is to publish the maximum number of papers with the
minimum amount of effort.
(Issue 116)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 11: How to be a Consultant
You will know you have
arrived when you are first asked to be a consultant. Not only is this a
tribute to your growing reputation, but it will also help to supplement your otherwise meagre
income as an AI researcher.
(Issue 117)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 12: How to Organise a
Conference
Organising a major
international conference both demonstrates the esteem in which your peers
hold you and illustrates your selfless dedication to serving your field. You must seek out this
double opportunity.
(Issue 118)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 13: How to Argue
Your whole
research career consists of argument: presenting the central argument of your
research work, understanding and criticising the arguments in other people's work, teaching
these arguments to your students.
(Issue 119)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 14: How to be creative
Prowess in AI
research requires constant imagination, ingenuity and innovation.
(Issue 120)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 15: How to edit a journal
An appointment
as the editor of a major journal is one of the highest accolades
that your peers can bestow. Thoughtlessly handled, however, it can also be a major
burden.
(Issue 121)
The
Life of A.
Hacker Episode 1: The Early Years
I was born to humble parents in a Mayfair slum in
London in 1938. Neighbours would remark on how
much I took after my father, but I saw little of
him during my childhood, since he was a frequent
guest at a high-security Government establishment
at Wormwood Scrubs, …
(Issue 122)
The
Life of A. Hacker
Episode 2: Formative Years
Disowned by my absent parents, in 1950, as a twelve
year old functional orphan, I entered the Academy
for Belief in and the Upholding of Spiritual Education
(ABUSETM) based in Manchester.
(Issue 123)
The
Life of A. Hacker
Episode 3: Accelerating intellect
Funded by lucrative income from my company
BOOTLEGTM (Black-boxes, Other Outfits and
Thingamajigs, Likewise Electronic Gizmos), in 1956
I set out for Dartmouth, USA for the first ever AI
conference.
(Issue 124)
The
Life of A. Hacker
Episode 4:
Computational Theology
The UK I returned to, at the start of the Swinging Sixties,
was very different from the one I had left.
It was alive to new thinking, especially
to the combination of "white hot" technological
innovation with new forms of spirituality and the spending of large sums of money.
(Issue 125)
The
Life of A. Hacker
Episode 5:
Four Seasons of AI
UK weather is famous for its variability — so is AI weather. From the mid-60s to the mid-80s, AI
went through four seasons, but not in the usual order.
The AI Spring started in the mid-60s, as the diaspora from the demise of CATHOLICTM (Church of
Aloysius Theobald Hacker for Ordinations, Liturgy, Inquisitions and Christenings) founded
new research groups in Edinburgh, Sussex, Essex and elsewhere. Unfortunately, relations with
Mickey MacDonald's group …
(Issue 126)
Fr.
Hacker's Guide for the
Young AI Researcher 16: How to maximise
your citation count
We interrupt the "Life of A. Hacker" to bring you this special and important
supplement to Hacker's Guide. The main determinant of your score in the new
Research Excellence Framework will be citation counts. Maximising
citations to your work will be your passport to appointments, promotions,
and research fame. This can be a blessing,
not a curse, if you learn how to be cited.
(Issue 127)
(1) By Alan Bundy, Ben du Boulay, Jim Howe, and Gordon Plotkin, with contributions from Graeme Ritchie and Peter Ross. There are other guides — such as Writing a good grant proposal and Questions to Ask of AI Research — at Alan Bundy's page of How-To Guides.