“What is artifacial inteligence?” you ask Google. To which it replies, “Did you mean artificial intelligence?” Of course you did.
Meanwhile, in the 0.15 seconds it took you to realize your own stupidity, an intelligent machine has assembled 17,900,000 results for your consideration – including video, audio, historical records and the latest headlines – ordered by relevance and reliability. 20 years ago, this type of artificial intelligence would have been the stuff of science fiction, but now we simply call it ‘technology’.
Artificial intelligence began over 60 years ago as a philosophical question posed by the brilliant English mathematician Alan Turing: “Can machines think?” In 1955, the words ‘artificial intelligence’ first appeared in print in a proposal for a summer academic conference to study the hypothesis that “every aspect of learning or other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it”.
At its core, the science of AI is the quest to understand the very mechanisms of intelligence. Intelligence in humans or machines can be defined as the ability to solve problems and achieve goals. Computers, it turns out, are the ideal machines for the study of AI, because they are highly ‘teachable’. For half a century, researchers have studied cognitive psychology – how humans think – and attempted to write distinct mathematical formulas, or algorithms, that mimic the logical mechanisms of human intelligence.
Alternatively, consider the everyday examples of astonishing AI, like the GPS navigation systems that come standard in many new cars. Speak the address of your destination and the on-board computer will interpret your voice, locate your precise location on the globe and give you detailed directions from Moscow to Madrid. Or even something as ‘simple’ as the spell check on your word processor, casually fixing your typos as you go.
The Honda ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) robot grabbed the world’s attention with its human-like walk, a feat of intelligent engineering. ASIMO uses infrared and ultrasonic sensors to gauge distances from floors, walls and moving objects, and constantly adjusts its balance and motion with 34 high-precision servo motors. ASIMO’s processors are so lightning-fast, you can shove the robot sideways in mid-stride and it will “instinctively’ throw its weight onto an outside foot to right itself.
As processing power continues to multiply, we are coming closer to answering Turing’s original question: “Can machines think?” We are teaching machines to rely less on pure logic and more on probabilities and experience, what we might call “intuition’. And they are fast learners…
AI and robotics
The lifelike androids designed by Hiroshi Ishiguro at the Intelligent Robots Laboratory use real-time facial recognition software to mimic the facial movements of the ‘controller’.
Walking robots like ASIMO are equipped with an internal gyroscope and speed sensor to help it maintain balance, even when shoved. Infrared and ultrasonic sensors are used to gauge the distance of the floor and the speed and path of approaching objects. Sensors in hands and feet help it ‘feel’ the six axes of force – up/down, left/right, forwards/ backwards – and the degree of force applied.