Simple logic

The father of a theory that is now the life of many consumer goods, Lothi Zadeh shows no signs of slowing down at 85. Over to Mathures Paul
Lotfi Zadeh was born before his time. Whenever he’d come up with a theory, the world wouldn’t readily accept it. But the scientist’s Fuzzy Logic theory has stood the test of time and is now the life of many electronic consumer goods. He isn’t your comic book image of the driven scientist with the unkept hair and manic eyes. But he is 85 and shows no signs of slowing down.
Born in 1921 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Zadeh is a mathematician, computer scientist and professor at the University of California at Berkeley. He grew up in Iran, studied at Alborz High School and Tehran University and moved to the USA in the mid-1940s. Since the 1950s he’s been with Berkeley.
“Russia has gone down. In America people now speak of China and India. I get my share of news from Radio Liberty. It broadcasts serious news and no propaganda. I wish there was a channel like this in the USA,” he quips. Talking of the technical advancements India is making, he moves to the subject he’s called the father of — Fuzzy Logic. “Much more can be done with it. In the coming years the Internet will see the use of Fuzzy Logic. Now it’s more attached with consumer products. In the realm of search engines, the theory will be helpful. When I wrote the paper, I thought Fuzzy Logic would be more in use in fields of psychology, social and human sciences. But it’s been used in the field of engineering, for, I guess, the matter requries certain mathematical understanding.
“In recent years we have been developing fuzzy games that have a greater proximation to the real world. The pay-off is not one or zero. After all, everything cannot be divided into right or wrong. In 10-15 years’ time, classical game theory will be forgotten. Professor Raiffa (a known name in the arena of game theory) once told students his intention of buying a house. He asked whether he should buy a particular house or not. Now one or zero cannot be used to solve the dilemma.”
When the concept of Fuzzy Logic was born, there were few takers in the West. “The theory was taken more seriously in Japan since 1968. In the USA, the concept was looked down upon with skepticism, partly because the name had negative connotations and partly because Americans grew up on a Cartesian attitude (either right or wrong). For example, President Bush says, ‘Either you are with us or against us.’ It took years for the theory to gain a toehold in the American scientific community. Since the 1980s, the Japanese have been using Fuzzy Logic in elevators, particularly in tall buildings with many shafts. Soon the USA understood, but it could not compete with the Japanese and in 1989 a congress was held on Fuzzy Logic. Elevators using the theory move smoothly. With Fuzzy Logic the system can decide which among the 18 (for example) elevators can be used by you. The concept is being used in automobile transmission (Volkswagen and Ford) and camcorders. Previously, when using a camcorder, jerks were recorded in sync with hand movements. But Fuzzy Logic helps in image stablisation. But remember, Sony doesn’t use the technique, for its rival holds most patents using the technology.”
When Zadeh wrote his paper it was known as Fuzzy Sets. In 1974, the term “Fuzzy Logic” was used. But the logic is not at all fuzzy and is concerned more with reasoning. “By training I am an electrical engineer. But I love mathematics. In the 1960s I realised that maths was too precise and the real world imprecise. For example, physics is more than economics. It occurred to me that in classical mathematics everything was too sharply divided — right or wrong. Now when a hotel tells its guest the check out time is 1 pm, the information imparted is imprecise. For most, it’s impossible to leave the hotel exactly at the appointed hour. I wanted to deal with the imprecise world.”
From his experience of living in America, Zadeh feels youngsters lack an interest in science. “In the Soviet Union science was glorified. When I became a professor, my role model was not someone who worked for money. I looked up to Russian scientists who were simple. When I wrote my paper in 1965, I was not a young man. And a man in his mid-40s thinks more of money. But since my role models were different, my approach towards science has been different. Even at 85, I am interested in science and learning new techniques. The problem with youngsters in the USA is their love for stars of the entertainment world. In the USA money is God. Indian television is still clean but slowly it's changing.”
Returning to Fuzzy Logic, he feels soft computing will become an important area. Soft computing is, he says, an alliance of neuro network, Fuzzy Logic and other aspects. “The future of computing lies in MIQ (Machine IQ). This means that if a question is placed before a search engine, the latter will answer. Google at present cannot answer any questions. But we are working towards it. Google is doing extremely well as a search engine and is closely followed by MSN and Yahoo!. Let’s see how the three fare.”
Besides science, Zadeh loves to collect hi-fi systems and is also a shutterbug. He loves clicking portraits and listens to music in his spare time. He is the winner of the Honda Prize (1989), Kampe de Feriet Prize (1992), Grigore Moisil Prize for Fundamental Researches, Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems (1993) Award, Richard E Bellman Control Heritage Award (1998) and the IEEE Millennium Medal (2000), among others.
(The article was published in The Statesman when Lotfi Zadeh visited Kolkata)