AI: Artificial Intelligence

So what is Artificial Intelligence? Artificial Intelligence is the area of computer science focusing on creating machines that can engage on behaviors that humans consider intelligent. The ability to create intelligent machines has intrigued humans since ancient times. Today, with the advent of the computer and fifty years of research into Artificial Intelligence programming techniques, the dream of smart machines is becoming a reality. Researchers are creating systems which can mimic human thought, understand speech, beat the best human chessplayer, and countless other feats never before possible.


History
In 1941 an invention revolutionized every aspect of the storage and processing of information. That invention, developed in both the US and Germany was the electronic computer. The first computers required large, separate air-conditioned rooms, and were a programmers nightmare. They involved the separate configuration of thousands of wires to even get a program running.
The 1949 innovation, the stored program computer, made the job of entering a program easier, and advancements in computer theory lead to computer science, and eventually Artificial intelligence. With the invention of an electronic means of processing data, came a medium that made AI possible.

Although the computer provided the technology necessary for Artificial Intelligence, it was'nt until the early 1950's that the link between human intelligence and machines was fully noticed. Norbert Wiener was one of the first Americans to make an observation when it came to the feedback theory. An example of the feedback theory is the thermostat because it controls the temperature of an environment by gathering the actual temperature of the house. Then it compares it to the desired temperature, and it responds by turning the heat up or down. The thing that was so important about his research into feedback was that Wiener theorized that all intelligent behavior was the result of feedback mechanisms. Mechanisms that could possibly be simulated by machines. This discovery influenced much of early development of Artificial Intelligence.

In late 1955, Newell and Simon developed "The Logic Theorist". This was considered by many to be the first Artificial Intelligence program. The program, representing each problem as a tree model, would attempt to solve it by selecting the branch that would most likely result in the correct conclusion. The impact that the logic theorist made on both the public and the field of Artificial Intelligence has made it a crucial stepping stone in developing the Artificial Intelligence field. In 1956 John McCarthy, who was regarded as the father of Artificial Intelligence, organized a conference to draw the talent and expertise of others interested in machine intelligence for some time of brainstorming. Ever since that, because of McCarthy, the field would be known as Artificial intelligence. This conference laid down the foundation for Artificial Intelligence research.

Seven years after the conference, Artificial Intelligence began to pick up momentum. Although the field was still undefined, ideas formed at the conference were re-examined, and built upon. Centers for AI research began forming, and a new challenges were faced. Some were that further research was placed upon creating systems that could efficiently solve problems, by limiting the search. And second, making systems that could learn by themselves.

In 1957, the first version of a new program The General Problem Solver also known as GPS was tested. The GPS was an extension of Wiener's feedback principle, and was capable of solving a greater extent of common sense problems. A couple of years after the GPS, IBM contracted a team to research artificial intelligence. While more programs were being produced, McCarthy was busy developing a major breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence history. In 1958 McCarthy announced his new development; the LISP language, which is still used today. LISP stands for LISt Processing, and was soon adopted as the language of choice among most Artificial Intelligence developers.

How it is created and how it is used
Artificial Intelligence is something very important. In the journey to make intelligent machines, the field of Artificial Intelligence has split into several different approaches based on the opinions about the most promising methods and theories. Both of these theories tend to clash. These two rivaling theories have lead researchers in one of two basic approaches which are bottom-up and top-down. Bottom-up theorists believe the best way to achieve artificial intelligence is to build electronic replicas of the human brain's complex network of neurons. The top-down approach attempts to mimic the brain's behavior with computer programs.

Using the way the human brain works two men, Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts designed electronic replicas of neural networks. These were used to show how electronic networks could generate logical processes, just like our brains. They also stated that neural networks can be able to learn and recognize patterns. Artificial neural networks have become very impressive. A man named Frank Rosenblatt showed this. He experimented with computer simulated networks. In doing so he was able to create a machine that could mimic the human thinking process and recognize letters.

Artificial Intelligence is used in so many ways, mostly beneficial. Some are pure entertainment others are what the world tends to rely on. AI has mainly affected our society with the way we use it. Today we use it for authorizing financial transactions, configuring hardware and software, diagnosing and treating problems, and scheduling for manufacturing. It sometimes is a little scary. But here are some ways that AI is used.

One very interesting AI machine deals with chess. Yes, a mechanical chess player. Artificial Intelligence based game playing programs combine intelligence with entertainment. These chess playing programs can see ahead twenty plus moves in advance for each move they make! Which is pretty impressive. In addition, the programs have an ability to get progressably better over time because of their ability to learn.

An important way AI is used is in our military. The military and the science of computers has always been incredibly closely tied. The very first operational use of a computer was the gun director used in the second world war to aid ground gunners to predict the path of a plane given its radar data. Artificial Intelligence usage started to become extensively researched when the Japanese announced in 1981 that they were going to build a 5th Generation computer. It was to be capable of logic deduction and other such capabilities. However, that eventually failed. But nonetheless, use of AI in the military increased. Nowadays, developers seem to be concentrating on smaller goals, such as voice recogition systems, expert systems and advisory systems. The main military value of such projects is to reduce the workload on a pilot. Aside from research in this area, various paradigms in AI have been successfully applied in the military field. For example, using an evolutionary algorithm to evolve algorithms to detect targets given radar/FLIR data, or neural networks differentiating between mines and rocks given sonar data in a submarine.

When it comes to computers AI is very important. AI systems configure custom computer, communications, and manufacturing systems, guaranteeing the purchaser maximum efficiency and minimum setup time. This all occurs while providing the seller with superhuman expertise in tracking the rapid technological evolution of system components and specifications. These systems detect order incompletenesses and inconsistencies, employing large bodies of knowledge that describe the complex interactions of system components.

Another very important use if AI is medical. This applies to everyone. Systems that diagnose and treat problems, whether illnesses in people or problems in hardware and software are now in used almost everywhere. Diagnostic systems based on AI technology are being built into photocopiers, computer operating systems, and office automation tools to reduce service calls. Stand-alone units are being used to monitor and control operations in factories and office buildings. AI-based systems assist physicians in many kinds of medical diagnosis, in prescribing treatments, and in monitoring patient responses.


I find Artificial Intelligence very interesting. It seems so important in our lives today, but its weird. When i researched it i found that many sites talked about how these machines are great because they create less work. But what does that mean for our world? That humans are just going to let machines take over and run the world? I think its awesome that we're becoming so advance but it seems a little iffy. I just think we need to take a look into the future before we constantly are making such huge steps in technology.