Artificial Intelligence (AI)
What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
History
The field
of AI research was born at a workshop at Dartmouth College in 1956, where the term
"Artificial Intelligence" was coined by John
McCarthy to distinguish the field from
cybernetics and escape the influence of the cyberneticist Norbert
Wiener. Attendees Allen
Newell (CMU), Herbert Simon (CMU), John McCarthy (MIT), Marvin Minsky (MIT) and Arthur Samuel (IBM)
became the founders and leaders of AI research. They and their
students produced programs that the press described as "astonishing": computers
were learning checkers strategies
(c. 1954) (and by 1959 were reportedly playing better than the
average human), solving word problems in algebra, proving logical
theorems (Logic Theorist, first run c. 1956) and speaking English. By the
middle of the 1960s, research in the U.S. was heavily funded by the Department
of Defense and laboratories had been
established around the world. AI's founders were optimistic about the future: Herbert
Simon predicted, "Machines will be capable,
within twenty years, of doing any work a man can do". Marvin
Minsky agreed, writing, "Within a
generation ... the problem of creating 'artificial intelligence' will
substantially be solved".
In the
late 1990s and early 21st century, AI began to be used for logistics, data
mining, medical diagnosis and other areas. The success was due to
increasing computational power (see Moore's law), greater emphasis on solving specific problems, new
ties between AI and other fields (such as statistics, economics and mathematics), and a commitment by researchers to mathematical
methods and scientific standards. Deep Blue became the first computer chess-playing system to
beat a reigning world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, on 11 May 1997.
Understanding Artificial Intelligence
When most people hear the
term artificial intelligence, the first thing they usually think of is robots.
That's because big-budget films and novels weave stories about human-like
machines that wreak havoc on Earth. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Artificial intelligence is based on the principle that human intelligence can
be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and execute tasks, from
the most simple to those that are even more complex. The goals of artificial
intelligence include learning, reasoning, and perception.
As technology advances,
previous benchmarks that defined artificial intelligence become outdated. For
example, machines that calculate basic functions or recognize text through
optimal character recognition are no longer considered to embody artificial
intelligence, since this function is now taken for granted as an inherent
computer function.
AI is continuously
evolving to benefit many different industries. Machines are wired using a
cross-disciplinary approach based in mathematics, computer science,
linguistics, psychology, and more.
Applications of Artificial Intelligence
The applications for
artificial intelligence are endless. The technology can be applied to many
different sectors and industries. AI is being tested and used in the healthcare
industry for dosing drugs and different treatment in patients, and for surgical
procedures in the operating room.
Other examples of
machines with artificial intelligence include computers that play chess and self-driving
cars. Each of these machines must weigh the consequences of any action they
take, as each action will impact the end result. In chess, the end result is
winning the game. For self-driving cars, the computer system must account for
all external data and compute it to act in a way that prevents a collision.
Artificial intelligence also has applications in the financial industry, where
it is used to detect and flag activity in banking and finance such as unusual
debit card usage and large account deposits—all of which help a bank's fraud
department. Applications for AI are also being used to help streamline and make
trading easier. This is done by making supply, demand, and pricing of
securities easier to estimate.
Categorization of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
can be divided into two different categories: weak and strong. Weak
artificial intelligence embodies a system designed to carry out one
particular job. Weak AI systems include video games such as the chess example
from above and personal assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. You
ask the assistant a question, it answers it for you.
Strong artificial
intelligence systems are systems that carry on the tasks considered to be
human-like. These tend to be more complex and complicated systems. They are
programmed to handle situations in which they may be required to problem solve
without having a person intervene. These kinds of systems can be found in
applications like self-driving cars or in hospital operating rooms.
Special Considerations
Since its beginning,
artificial intelligence has come under scrutiny from scientists and the public
alike. One common theme is the idea that machines will become so highly
developed that humans will not be able to keep up and they will take off on their
own, redesigning themselves at an exponential rate.
Another is that machines
can hack into people's privacy and even be weaponized. Other arguments
debate the ethics of artificial intelligence and whether intelligent systems
such as robots should be treated with the same rights as humans.
Self-driving cars have
been fairly controversial as their machines tend to be designed for the lowest
possible risk and the least casualties. If presented with a scenario of
colliding with one person or another at the same time, these cars would
calculate the option that would cause the least amount of damage.
Another contentious issue
many people have with artificial intelligence is how it may affect human
employment. With many industries looking to automate certain jobs through the
use of intelligent machinery, there is a concern that people would be pushed
out of the workforce. Self-driving cars may remove the need for taxis and
car-share programs, while manufacturers may easily replace human labor with
machines, making people's skills more obsolete.
What Is Strong AI
Strong Artificial
Intelligence (AI) is a theoretical form of machine intelligence that is equal
to human intelligence. Key characteristics of Strong AI include the ability to
reason, solve puzzles, make judgments, plan, learn, and communicate. It
should also have consciousness, objective thoughts, self-awareness, sentience,
and sapience.
What is Weak AI
Weak AI, or Narrow AI, is
a machine intelligence that is limited to a specific or narrow area. Weak Artificial
Intelligence (AI) simulates human cognition and benefits mankind by
automating time-consuming tasks and by analyzing data in ways that humans
sometimes can’t.
No comments:
Post a Comment