The SP theory of intelligence: distinctive features and advantages
  This paper highlights distinctive features of the "SP theory of intelligence"
and its apparent advantages compared with some AI-related alternatives.
Distinctive features and advantages are: simplification and integration of
observations and concepts; simplification and integration of structures and
processes in computing systems; the theory is itself a theory of computing; it
can be the basis for new architectures for computers; information compression
via the matching and unification of patterns and, more specifically, via
multiple alignment, is fundamental; transparency in the representation and
processing of knowledge; the discovery of 'natural' structures via information
compression (DONSVIC); interpretations of mathematics; interpretations in human
perception and cognition; and realisation of abstract concepts in terms of
neurons and their inter-connections ("SP-neural"). These things relate to
AI-related alternatives: minimum length encoding and related concepts; deep
learning in neural networks; unified theories of cognition and related
research; universal search; Bayesian networks and more; pattern recognition and
vision; the analysis, production, and translation of natural language;
Unsupervised learning of natural language; exact and inexact forms of
reasoning; representation and processing of diverse forms of knowledge; IBM's
Watson; software engineering; solving problems associated with big data, and in
the development of intelligence in autonomous robots. In conclusion, the SP
system can provide a firm foundation for the long-term development of AI, with
many potential benefits and applications. It may also deliver useful results on
relatively short timescales. A high-parallel, open-source version of the SP
machine, derived from the SP computer model, would be a means for researchers
everywhere to explore what can be done with the system, and to create new
versions of it.
