Simple feedback loops can provide a surprising level of 'intelligence.' If a machine can test itself or its environment and compare its knowledge of where it is to where it is supposed to be, it can control processes with a surprising degree of accuracy. A thermostat is a simple and familiar feedback device, constantly comparing its internal thermometer to the temperature it has been set to maintain. Computers can use feedback as well, performing more sophisticated comparisons at high speed.
This file created with Hypertype 2.2 by Simon St.Laurent