Artificial Intelligence / Unit 5 AI 0246 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Letters Are Local Names
Captions available
The idea
A letter in a formula is a name for something, hired by a nearby sentence and holding its meaning only within the discussion that introduced it.
In practice
One unit's b names a branching factor; another discussion's b may name something else entirely — no connection implied.
Where people slip
A formula with an unhired letter is not deep; it is incomplete — hunt backward for the hiring sentence.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Artificial Intelligence