Artificial Intelligence

AuthorMark Snyder, Lisa Gueldenzoph
Pages33-35

Page 33

In simplest terms, artificial intelligence (AI) is manufactured thinking. It is a machine's ability to think. This process is deemed "artificial" because once it is programmed it occurs without human intervention. AI is generally applied to the theory and practical application of a computer's ability to think like humans do. AI capability is designated as either strong AI or weak AI. Strong AI is a computer system that actively employs consciousness, a machine that can truly reason and solve problems independently. Critics of AI systems argue that such a machine is unrealistic, and even if it were possible, a true artificially intelligent machine is unwanted.

Popular perceptions of AI have been dramatized in movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), in which a starship computer named HAL 9000 is capable of speech and facial recognition, natural language processing, interpreting emotions, and expressing reason. Another famous make-believe computer was the star of WarGames (1983). In this movie, the line, "Do you want to play a game?" allows the teenage hero to persuade the computer to play a game rather than start World War III. In both examples, the computers undertook independent actions that were potentially harmful to their human creators. This is the reason most often given for not creating strong AI machines.

Modern working applications of AI are examples of weak AI. Current AI research focuses on developing computers that use intelligent programming to automate routine human tasks. For example, many customer service telephone banks are automated by AI. When a recorded voice asks for a "yes" or "no" response or for the caller to choose a menu item by saying specific words, the computer on the other end of the telephone is using weak AI to make a decision and select the appropriate response based on caller input. These computers are trained to recognize speech patterns, dialects, accents, and replacement words such as "oh"—rather than "zero"—for the number 0.

Long before the development of computers, the notion that thinking was a form of computation motivated the formalization of logic as a type of rational thought. These efforts continue today. Graph theory provided the architecture for searching a solution space for a problem. Operations research, with its focus on optimization algorithms, uses graph theory to solve complex decision-making problems.

PIONEERS OF AI

AI uses syllogistic logic, which was first postulated by Aristotle. This logic is based on deductive reasoning. For example, if A equals B, and B equals C, then A must also equal C. Throughout history, the nature of syllogistic logic and deductive...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT