Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and is defined it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."

Philosophy of AI

Artificial intelligence, by claiming to be able to recreate the capabilities of the human mind, is both a challenge and an inspiration for philosophy. Are there limits to how intelligent machines can be? Is there an essential difference between human intelligence and artificial intelligence? Can a machine have a mind and consciousness?

AI research

In the 21st century, AI research has become highly specialized and technical. It is deeply divided into subfields that often fail to communicate with each other.[10] Subfields have grown up around particular institutions, the work of particular researchers, particular problems (listed below), long standing differences of opinion about how AI should be done (listed as "approaches" below) and the application of widely differing tools

Deduction, reasoning, problem solving

Early AI researchers developed algorithms that imitated the step-by-step reasoning that human beings use when they solve puzzles, play board games or make logical deductions.[53] By the late 80s and 90s, AI research had also developed highly successful methods for dealing with uncertain or incomplete information, employing concepts from probability and economics.[54]

For difficult problems, most of these algorithms can require enormous computational resources — most experience a "combinatorial explosion": the amount of memory or computer time required becomes astronomical when the problem goes beyond a certain size. The search for more efficient problem solving algorithms is a high priority for AI research.[55]

Human beings solve most of their problems using fast, intuitive judgments rather than the conscious, step-by-step deduction that early AI research was able to model.[56] AI has made some progress at imitating this kind of "sub-symbolic" problem solving: embodied approaches emphasize the importance of sensorimotor skills to higher reasoning; neural net research attempts to simulate the structures inside human and animal brains that gives rise to this skill.

Approaches to AI

There is no established unifying theory or paradigm that guides AI research. Researchers disagree about many issues. A few of the most long standing questions that have remained unanswered are these: Can intelligence be reproduced using high-level symbols, similar to words and ideas? Or does it require "sub-symbolic" processing?[90] Should artificial intelligence simulate natural intelligence, by studying human psychology or animal neurobiology? Or is human biology as irrelevant to AI research as bird biology is to aeronautical engineering?[91] Can intelligent behavior be described using simple, elegant principles (such as logic or optimization)? Or does artificial intelligence necessarily require solving many unrelated problems?[92]

Artificial intelligence can also be evaluated on specific problems such as small problems in chemistry, hand-writing recognition and game-playing. Such tests have been termed subject matter expert Turing tests. Smaller problems provide more achievable goals and there are an ever-increasing number of positive results.

The broad classes of outcome for an AI test are:

• optimal: it is not possible to perform better

• strong super-human: performs better than all humans

• super-human: performs better than most humans

• sub-human: performs worse than most humans

AAAI

Founded in 1980, the American Association for Artificial Intelligence has expanded its service to the AI community far beyond the National Conference. Today, AAAI offers members and AI scientists a host of services and benefits:

■ The National Conference on Artificial Intelligence promotes research in AI and scientific interchange among AI researchers, practitioners, and scientists and engineers in related disciplines.

(www.aaai.org/Conferences/National/)

■ The Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence highlights successful applications of AI technology; explores issues, methods, and lessons learned in the development

and deployment of AI applications; and promotes an interchange of ideas between basic and applied AI. (www.aaai.org/Conferences/IAAI/)

■ The Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference is intended to be the definitive point of interaction between entertainment software developers interested in AI and academic and industrial researchers. (www.aaai.org/Conferences/AIIDE/)

■ AAAI’s Spring and Fall Symposia ((www.aaai.org/Symposia/) and Workshops (www.aaai.org/Workshops/) programs affords participants a smaller, more intimate setting where they can share ideas and learn from each other's AI research

■ AAAI’s Digital Library (www.aaai.org/Library), (www.aaai.org/Resources) and Online Services include a host of resources for the AI professional (including more than 12,000 papers), individuals

with only a general interest in the field (www.aaai.org/AITopics), as well as the professional press (www.aaai.org/ Pressroom).

■ AAAI Press, in conjunction with The MIT Press, publishes selected books on all aspects of AI (www.aaai.org/Press).

■ The AI Topics web site gives students and professionals alike links to many online resources on AI (www.aaai.org/AITopics).

■ AAAI Scholarships benefit students and foster new programs, meetings, and other AI programs. AAAI also recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the science of AI and AAAI through an extensive awards program (www.aaai.org/Awards).

■ AI Magazine, called the “journal of record for artificial intelligence,” has been published internationally for 25 years (www.aaai.org/Magazine).

■ AAAI’s Sponsored Journals program (www.aaai.org/Publications/Journals/) gives AAAI members discounts on many of the top AI journals.

www.aaai.org