Representation Hypothesis

A central tenet of A.I. is the representation hypothesis that intelligent behavior is based on:

• representation of input and output data as symbols in a physical symbol system[Newell, A., Physical Symbol Systems, Cognitive Science, 1980, 4, 135-183.]

• reasoning by processing symbol structures, resulting in other symbol structures.

A central problem of A.I. is to understand the symbolic representations and reasoning processes.[Diagram by John Sowa, from ``The Challenge of Knowledge Soup,'' 2005.]