James Yang jamesyan@andrew.cmu.

edu 10/1/2013

15-221 Fall 2013 Section C

James Yang

Artificial Intelligence: Thoughts about Thought-Machines Artificial intelligence is my favorite topic in computer science because not only is it challenging and thought provoking, but it also has several exciting sub-fields with many important applications in the real world. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the branch of computer science that seeks to create smart programs that have the problem solving and learning capabilities of humans. The idea of artificial intelligence has been around for thousands of years, but there are still many unsolved problems in AI that remain. Early philosophers pondered whether it would be possible for humans to create a machine that could think for itself, but no real progress was made until the advent of computers. Officially, the field of artificial intelligence was born in 1956 at a conference at Dartmouth College. Many exciting breakthroughs were made in the early years of artificial intelligence, such as the creation of a chess algorithm that defeated the world chess champion. At the time, researchers optimistically believed that computers would be able to simulate human thinking within the next few years. As it turned out, the problem of representing and understanding human thought remains unsolved to this day. Sub-fields of artificial intelligence include natural language processing (teaching computers to understand and communicate in human languages) and machine learning (programming computers to learn from large amounts of data). Natural language processing research makes it easier for humans and computers to interact. As researchers and programmers create more sophisticated software to understand human languages, we will be able to speak to computers to dictate their actions rather than writing complicated instructions with code. In addition, progress in machine learning allows programmers to create software that can find trends in data and adapt to new circumstances. Artificial intelligence has an important impact on the world because it allows computers to do tasks that humans would spend hours on otherwise. Computers efficiently process repetitive and computational tasks, but humans must carefully program computers before computers can do these tasks. This means that for each new problem that comes along, humans must spend time writing new programs. In contrast, artificially intelligent programs can learn from mistakes that they make in order to adapt and improve. Using artificially intelligent software, humans will no longer have to program computers through each step of the problem solving process. Many things in our everyday world use artificial intelligence. WolframAlpha and Google Maps are two well-known examples of how artificial intelligence can simplify our lives. WolframAlpha uses artificially intelligent programs to interpret and solve the math problems that we type in at their website. Google Maps saves our time and effort by cleverly planning the best route to help us reach our destinations. Both of these tools are used every day by millions of people and have had a large impact on world. With many growing sub-fields and intriguing unsolved problems, artificial intelligence provides a novel direction in which to develop technology. Furthermore, AI has many applications that improve our everyday lives. Most importantly and interestingly, it addresses the deep question of whether humans can create machines truly capable of thought.