Androids and AI
With the recent release of the science fiction film "Blade Runner 2049", many are currently discussing when and how the use of human-like robots will become a reality. In both Blade Runner films, audiences are introduced to the beings known as replicants, which are artificially intelligent androids that look and behave in the same way as humans. While a discussion on such a topic would be fascinating, one must first ask, what is artificial intelligence?. Simply put, artificial intelligence can be defined as “the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems”. These computer systems are known as neural networks and they allow computers to make connections and “learn”, similar to the human brain. This concept clearly interested author Mindy Weisberger from Live Science, who was inspired by the replicants of the most recent Blade Runner film to try and attempt to answer questions regarding the likelihood of artificially intelligent robots being produced any time soon.
Weisberger’s History Lesson
To answer the question of when artificially intelligent androids like the replicants will be developed, Weisberger starts her article by saying that AI androids will not be here any time soon. This statement is supported by an explanation of what has been accomplished in the field of AI and what still has to be done to develop the AI android. One of the first major accomplishments mention by Weisberger was Deep Blue, the IBM computer which, in 1997, beat the chess champion Garry Kasparov in a series of chess matches. This victory was possible by Deep Blue’s ability to compare around 200 million possible chess moves per second. With this, the world was shown that a computer was able to “make complex and strategic choices by referencing a vast database of potential responses”.
Similarly, Weisberger mentions another IBM computer by the name of Watson which, in 2011, defeated two previous Jeopardy champions. With this, Weisberger noted that the neural network of Watson was much more advance than IBM’s Deep Blue as it was capable of understanding natural language and responding to question with answers based on information from previous competition. Most recently in 2016, AI system known as AlphaGo defeated a human player in Go, strategy game which is many consider to be one the most complex games ever created. Weisberger explains that programmers created two neural networks which allowed AlphaGo to “evaluate the status of a game” and “determine its next move”.
While the accomplishments presented above seem quite promising, Weisberger is still stands strong in saying that much needs to be done to develop AI androids that behave like humans. With this Weisberger quotes electrical engineering researcher, Janelle Shane, who agrees by saying, “For a neural network to coordinate realistic physical activity in a robotic body alongside interactions that correctly use emotional inflection and social nuances, it would require programmers to input massive quantities of data, and would need processing capabilities far beyond those of any AI around today”. It is here that we start to see the limitations of AI, as Shane goes on to suggest that due to the unexpectable nature of the world, the ability of AI at the moment is limited to relatively simple tasks.
In conclusion, it is clear that the AI androids of the Science Fiction genre will not become here any time soon. However, there is hope that we may one day be able to make use of such an advanced technology. The future of AI depends largely on computer programming as AI’s ability to deal with everyday situations relates directly to the programs that instruct it on how to react properly. With the development of better programs comes AI that is capable of achieving more and more things. Thus, it is up to experts in the computer science field to continue their work in hopes that AI androids can one day become a reality.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZOaI_Fn5o4
https://www.livescience.com/60703-no-blade-runner-replicants-yet.html
https://gogameguru.com/alphago-shows-true-strength-3rd-victory-lee-sedol/
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