The Rise of Artificial Intelligence.
AI artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. These processes include learning the acquisition of information and rules for using the information, reasoning using rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions and self-correction. Particular applications of AI include expert systems, speech recognition and machine vision.
Types of artificial intelligence AI can be categorised in any number of ways, but here are two examples.
The first classifies AI systems as either weak AI or strong AI.
Weak AI, also known as narrow AI, is an AI system that is designed and trained for a particular task. Virtual personal assistants, such as Apple’s Siri, are a form of weak AI.
Strong AI, also known as artificial general intelligence, is an AI system with generalised human cognitive abilities so that when presented with an unfamiliar task, it has enough intelligence to find a solution. The Turing Test, developed by mathematician Alan Turing in 1950, is a method used to determine if a computer can actually think like a human, although the method is controversial. The second example comes from Arend Hintze, an assistant professor of integrative biology and computer science and engineering at Michigan State University. He categorises AI into four types, from the kind of AI systems that exist today to sentient systems, which do not yet exist.
His categories are as follows:
Type 1: Reactive machines. An example is Deep Blue, the IBM chess program that beat Garry Kasparov in the 1990s. Deep Blue can identify pieces on the chess board and make predictions, but it has no memory and cannot use past experiences to inform future ones. It analyzes possible moves — its own and its opponent — and chooses the most strategic move. Deep Blue and Google’s AlphaGO were designed for narrow purposes and cannot easily be applied to another situation.
Type 2: Limited memory. These AI systems can use past experiences to inform future decisions. Some of the decision-making functions in self-driving cars are designed this way. Observations inform actions happening in the not-so-distant future, such as a car changing lanes. These observations are not stored permanently.
Type 3: Theory of mind. This psychology term refers to the understanding that others have their own beliefs, desires and intentions that impact the decisions they make. This kind of AI does not yet exist.
Type 4: Self-awareness. In this category, AI systems have a sense of self, have consciousness. Machines with self-awareness understand their current state and can use the information to infer what others are feeling. This type of AI does not yet exist.