Two AIML Camps

One sure sign of a successful revolution is when the original revolutionaries break into factions and start squabbling among themselves. Such debate is a luxury before the status quo is overthrown, but an almost necessary feature for stability afterward. The Alicebot and AIML free software movement has that kind of revolutionary success in spades, judging from the amount of squabbling that has gone on.

Broadly, the AIML community has divided into two camps, which I call the "Reductionist" and the "Experimentalist" factions. The Reductionists belong to the long tradition of mathematical logic that began with Aristotle. They would keep the language as simple as possible (if not simpler :-)), so that it could withstand the rigor of mathemathical analysis, theory, and proof. Reductionists are strongly attracted to the minimalist design philosophy of AIML.