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\F0\CSTANFORD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LABORATORY
\CDEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
\CSTANFORD UNIVERSITY
\CSTANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305
\F2



						December 10, 1973



Mr. Michael Poe
793 Widget Drive
San Jose, California 95117

Dear Mr. Poe:

\J  	If you still want to meet, please telephone me after the second
of January at 321-2300 X4430 in the afternoon.

	The fact is that there is about zero interest in nerve nets at
the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.  This is because, as
for the following reasons:

	1. Nerve nets like transistor circuits are universal computing
elements, i.e. any computation that can be done by any machine can be
done by a machine made out of either.  General purpose computers made
of transistors are also universal.  Therefore, simply constructing a
machine out of nerve nets does not put you any closer or farther away
from artificial intelligence than constructing one out of transistors.

	2. Neurophysiology and psychology have not made enough progress
to give substantial hints as to how structures made of nerve nets
behave intelligently---at least nothing specific to nerve nets.

	3. Given this, technical convenience dominates our considerations,
so we do our AI work with computers.

	Perhaps you have a new idea that will rehabilitate nerve nets
which used to have more partisans than they do today.  Or perhaps you
will find it worthwhile to redirect your interests in artificial intelligence
in the directions that are currently active.

	Professor Karl Pribram in the psychology and psychiatry
might be more sympathetic with work on nerve nets than I am.

	There is plenty of time to apply for graduate school.  At
Stanford, you apply to the department that interests you, and in
your case, the Computer Science Department and the Psychology
Department are possibilities.  Enclosed is literature concerning
the Computer Science Department, but you should probably get
fresh information next fall when it will be time to apply.\.

						Sincerely yours,



						John McCarthy
						Professor of Computer Science
						Director, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory



P.S. You are welcome in any case to visit the AI Laboratory.