Progress of AI: 50 Years and Counting

In summary, according to the speaker, there is no progress made in AI because it is very difficult to solve very specific problems. AI is successful due to the massive computing power available today, and if you added natural selection into the mix, AI would quickly get very smart.
  • #1
edpell
282
4
How come AI never makes an progress? OK this may be slightly over stated but it has been 50 years since we thought we could make an AI soon and we are no where near an AI.
 
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  • #2
It's very hard to convince people determined to dismiss every advance as being "that's not intelligence". I've seen some critics effectively admit that "a computer can't do it" is part of their definition of "intelligent".
 
  • #3
The Turing test would prove intelligence to me. Even a typed conversation at the level of a six year old would work for me.
 
  • #4
I've seen some humans I think would fail a Turing test. :smile:

Part of the issue is that there isn't much use for that sort of intelligence. An AI that can converse at a kindergarten level isn't very useful. An AI that can accurately guess which of the trillions of web-pages on the internet you want to see is very useful.
 
  • #5
The kindergarten level is a stepping stone to the post-doc level. How much do we pay doctors per hour? That is a big market with high profit margins.

That there are stupid humans I already know.
 
  • #6
edpell said:
The kindergarten level is a stepping stone to the post-doc level. How much do we pay doctors per hour? That is a big market with high profit margins.
A medical AI would be much more effective than a human AI that was trained in the human way to be a doctor.
 
  • #7
How can you watch IBM's "Watson" software beat the best humans in the world at Jeopardy and say there has been no progress?
 
  • #8
phyzguy said:
How can you watch IBM's "Watson" software beat the best humans in the world at Jeopardy and say there has been no progress?

Seconded.
 
  • #9
AI success to date is largely due to massive computing power, not efficient decision making. Put a little natural selection into the mix and AI would be compelled to get real smart in a big hurry of go extinct.
 
  • #10
Last edited:
  • #11
edpell said:
How come AI never makes an progress? OK this may be slightly over stated but it has been 50 years since we thought we could make an AI soon and we are no where near an AI.

One thing you should be aware of is that in the field of AI, (and in science in general), people usually work on very specific problems.

Sometimes people bring a variety of results together and create some great ideas for tackling general problems, but the majority of problems that people tackle are very specific.

When you have a problem and you want to solve it, you need to get a concise definition of the problem before you can have any chance of solving it.

Now think about a large problem such as general intelligence: in cases like this it's really hard to precisely describe the problem in great detail. It is easier however to do it for smaller problems because the scope is reduced and it is a lot clearer to actually state the problem, and hence make efforts to solving it.

There have been many great achievements and applications of math, engineering, and science to intelligent applications, and this in my view, is not something that should be trivialized: science, and in particular innovation is hard and should be appreciated for what it is.
 

1. What is the current state of AI technology?

The current state of AI technology is constantly evolving and advancing. Some applications of AI, such as virtual assistants and chatbots, are already widely used and considered to be functioning at a high level. However, there are still limitations and challenges in other areas, such as natural language processing and decision-making.

2. How has AI progressed over the past 50 years?

AI has come a long way in the past 50 years. In the 1970s, AI technology was limited mainly to rule-based systems and basic problem-solving algorithms. In the 1980s and 1990s, advancements in computing power and machine learning algorithms led to the development of more complex AI systems. In recent years, AI has made significant progress in areas such as computer vision, speech recognition, and natural language processing, among others.

3. What are the main challenges and limitations of AI?

One of the main challenges of AI is achieving human-level intelligence and decision-making. While AI systems can perform specific tasks with high accuracy, they still struggle with tasks that require creativity, intuition, and common sense. Another limitation is the potential for bias and ethical concerns in AI systems, as they are only as unbiased as the data and algorithms used to train them.

4. How is AI being used in different industries?

AI is being used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, transportation, and entertainment. In healthcare, AI is used for tasks such as medical image analysis and drug discovery. In finance, AI is used for fraud detection and risk assessment. In transportation, AI is used for autonomous vehicles and route optimization. In entertainment, AI is used for personalized recommendations and content creation.

5. What is the future of AI?

The future of AI is exciting and full of potential. It is expected that AI will continue to advance and be integrated into more aspects of our daily lives. Some experts predict that AI will eventually surpass human intelligence and lead to the development of superintelligent AI. However, there are also concerns about the potential consequences and ethical implications of such advancements.

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