Re: Is artificial intelligence, rightly considered, an empirical science? If not, what is it?
Not exactly science: more technology and engineering.
The current state of AI seems to fit comfortably within Eric Drexler’s “Theoretical Applied Science”, see Appendix A of “Nanosystems” for a description and a “contrast and comparison” with engineering and theoretical physics.
Re: Is artificial intelligence, rightly considered, an empirical science? If not, what is it?
Not exactly science: more technology and engineering.
The current state of AI seems to fit comfortably within Eric Drexler’s “Theoretical Applied Science”, see Appendix A of “Nanosystems” for a description and a “contrast and comparison” with engineering and theoretical physics.