What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and software. The goal of artificial intelligence is to make software or machines think or behave like humans do. Different companies use AI for purposes such as voice recognition, such as Alexa and Google Assistant. Another example is chat bots such as Chat GPT.
How is AI developed/created?
AI is not simply programmed like a software, where everything runs smoothly. Since AI is supposed to replicate human thinking and behaviour, you have to teach it as if it were human. When a young child is learning how to write, it won’t immediately acquire the knowledge to start writing sentences. You have to teach a child slowly, through multiple trials and errors. This process is also used to teach AI skills, which is known as “deep learning”. In short, “deep learning” is the process to teach computers to process and learn information in the same way a human learns, through different neural processes. (-> processes inside the brain).
Early history of AI (1950s)
We aren’t really sure what started the idea behind an artificial intelligence but because of development in information theory and computing, researchers came up with the idea of creating an electronic brain, which would mimic that of a human brain. The first paper to have known to be released on the topic of artificial intelligence was in 1943 written by Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts. The paper discussed ideas such as artificial neurons and the first model of a neuron network. However artificial intelligence was first be used by Alan Turing in 1950. He wrote the paper on “Computing Machinery and Intelligence“. This paper discussed topics revolving around what we know as AI today. One year later in 1951 at the University of Manchester the first computer to play checker and chess was programmed. This saw a huge leap in computing, artificial intelligence and the similarity to human neural networks.
Revival of research in AI (1980 onwards)
In the 1960s there were huge investments from the USA and Great Britain towards research for artificial intelligence but they underestimated the time and depth required, so the research was halted. Nevertheless, in the 1980s things changed. There were new developments such as expert systems, which could almost perfectly replicate human behaviour. The market for artificial intelligence was booming because of the commercial gain companies were receiving from these systems. The market for AI hit the billions. Everything seemed to be fine - the government restored funding for research and development was fast but everything fell as fast as it came and in 1987 AI was forgotten.
Second revival of AI (1990-PRESENT)
After a giant fall in research in AI many researchers believed that machines could not replicate human thinking and instead worked on developing machines that didnt have any “intelligence“... Until 1990, when a french computer scientist Yann LeCunn discovered that the artificial neural networks could process information by recognising numbers and letters. This discovery led to a gradual uprise in research throughout the 1990s and the 21st century.
Specifically in 2012, deep learning was implemented into artificial intelligence to create A.I as we know it today, in the forms of Chat GPT and Bing AI.