Lecture 1: What is Artificial Intelligence? COM1005 PDF

Lecture 1 What is Artificial Intelligence? Rob Gaizauskas COM1005 2023-24 Lecture Outline • What is Artificial Intelligence? – Origins of the Idea – Proposed Definitions – What is “natural” intelligence? • Motivations and Philosophical Questions • Motivations: Why seek to build AIs? • Strong AI...

Lecture 1 What is Artificial Intelligence? Rob Gaizauskas COM1005 2023-24 Lecture Outline • What is Artificial Intelligence? – Origins of the Idea – Proposed Definitions – What is “natural” intelligence? • Motivations and Philosophical Questions • Motivations: Why seek to build AIs? • Strong AI vs Weak AI • Ethics and AI: Should we build AIs? COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? • The idea of the “intelligent” computer deeply embedded in popular culture – In literature, film, comics … – As robots, androids, spaceship computers, etc. COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Intelligent Machines in Popular Culture Speilberg's Film, AI Ex Machina Trailer COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Origins of the Idea • While robots have a been a staple of science fiction for the past century, the idea of an intelligent/human-like fabricated creature significantly predates this. • China: account in the Lie Zi text (3rd c. BC.) of an encounter between King Mu of Zhou (1023–957 BC) and a mechanical engineer, Yan Shi, who produced a working life-size, human-shaped figure • Ancient Greece: myths of Hephaestus who manufactured mechanical servants and a bronze warrior; Pygmalion who produced a sculpture that came to life COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Origins of the Idea • Turkey: Al-Jazari (1136–1206), Arab Muslim inventor constructed the first programmable humanoid robot in 1206 (4 programmable musicians in a boat). • Jewish Folklore: “golem” – an ``animated anthropomorphic being created from inanimate matter”. – Most famous story involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, 16th c. rabbi of Prague, alleged to have created a golem to defend the Prague ghetto from anti-semitic attacks. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem) COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Origins of the Idea • Others: – Da Vinci’s mechanical knight (~1495) – de Vaucanson’s digesting duck (1737); – Hisashige Tanaka’s (1799-1881) mechanical toys “karakuri ningyō” • Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818): monster made of human parts brought to life by electricity • See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_robots for many more examples COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Origins of the Idea • Thus, stories/models of artificial beings manufactured or brought to life to function as servants, wives, warriors have pervaded human literature and preoccupied engineers for millenia and across many very different cultures “Our history is full of attempts—nutty, eerie, comical, earnest, legendary and real—to make artificial intelligences, to reproduce what is the essential us—bypassing the ordinary means. Back and forth between myth and reality, our imaginations supplying what our workshops couldn't, we have engaged for a long time in this odd form of self-reproduction." “the urge to "forge the Gods"” (Pamela McCorduck, Machines Who Think, 2004) COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Origins of the Idea • Then, after centuries of imagination and “primitive” crafting, AI became a scientific discipline in the 1950’s • Why then? – The invention of the programmable digital computer in the 1940’s made possible machines of undreamt of complexity Manchester Mark 1 (operational June 1948) – Turing’s foundational theoretical work demonstrated that logical deduction – the paradigm for thinking – could be carried out on a computer – Discoveries in related areas – neurology, information theory and cybernetics – suggested building an electronic brain might be possible – More on the history of AI next week … COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Now, suddenly, AI is Everywhere • 20 years ago, very few had heard of AI • Various recent headlines: COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Cruise/GM self-driving car … And in everything COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Proposed Definitions • But what is artificial intelligence? • No widely accepted definition of “artificial intelligence” • But lots of candidates … COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Proposed Definitions • John McCarthy: (1927-2011) “father of AI”; organized 1956 Dartmouth Conference; Stanford Computer Scientist Q. What is artificial intelligence? A. It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable. Q. Yes, but what is intelligence? A. Intelligence is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals and some machines. Q. Isn't there a solid definition of intelligence that doesn't depend on relating it to human intelligence? A. Not yet. The problem is that we cannot yet characterize in general what kinds of computational procedures we want to call intelligent. We understand some of the mechanisms of intelligence and not others. From: http://jmc.stanford.edu/artificial-intelligence/what-is-ai/index.html COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Proposed Definitions • Herbert Simon: (1916-2001) American political scientist, economist, sociologist, psychologist, and professor (Carnegie Mellon University); Nobel prize winner (Economics); another “founding father” of AI “We call programs intelligent if they exhibit behaviours that would be regarded intelligent if they were exhibited by human beings.” • Marvin Minsky: (1927-2016) American cognitive scientist/AI researcher; co-founder of MIT AI lab; another ““founding father” "[AI is] the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by humans.” (1968) COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? Proposed Definitions • Margaret Boden (1977): author of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man "[AI is] the use of computer programs and programming techniques to cast light on the principles of intelligence in general and human thought in particular.” • Elaine Rich (1991): author of the influential early textbook Artificial Intelligence “AI is the study of how to make computers do things at which, at the moment, people are better.” • Blay Whitby (2008): author of Artificial Intelligence: A Beginner's Guide “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the study of intelligent behaviour (in humans, animals and machines) and the attempt to find ways in which such behaviour could be engineered in any type of artifact” • (Or perhaps (cynically) “AI is any software my product contains that allows me to convince you that it’s better than the competition and that you should pay more for it”) COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? What is natural intelligence? • Most definitions of AI make reference to human or animal intelligence – but what is human or natural intelligence? • Question has received considerable attention from psychologists and learning researchers • Possible definitions: “A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—"catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do” (from "Mainstream Science on Intelligence" (1994), an editorial statement by fifty-two researchers – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence) COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? What is natural intelligence? • Possible definitions: “Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena. Although considerable clarity has been achieved in some areas, no such conceptualization has yet answered all the important questions, and none commands universal assent. Indeed, when two dozen prominent theorists were recently asked to define intelligence, they gave two dozen, somewhat different, definitions.” (from–"Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" (1995), a report published by the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence) COM1005 2023-24 What is Artificial Intelligence? What is Natural Intelligence? • While there is no consensus about what constitutes intelligence, there is much agreement – intelligence involves abilities to: – – – – – – Reason Learn Plan Understand complex ideas Solve Problems Adapt to the environment • Trying to replicate these abilities in machines is the bread and butter of AI COM1005 2023-24 Lecture Outline • What is Artificial Intelligence? – Origins of the Idea – Proposed Definitions – What is “natural intelligence”? • Motivations and Philosophical Questions • • • • Why do we want to build artificially intelligent machines anyway? Philosophical questions underlying AI Strong AI vs Weak AI Ethics and AI COM1005 2023-24 Motivations and Philosophical Questions • Why do we want to build artificially intelligent machines anyway? – Technological/engineering motivation: to construct sophisticated tools/assistants to help us achieve various ends (get rich/keep up with the competition) – Cognitive science motivation: to help us better understand our own mental faculties/map the space of intelligent mechanisms/capabilities – Philosophical motivation: to explore the boundary between mind and matter, determine whether thinking and computation are the same thing – Fun!: … but, must ask ourselves why do we find it fun? COM1005 2023-24 Motivations and Philosophical Questions • The Wikipedia article “Philosophy of AI” distinguishes three philosophical questions that underlie work on AI 1. Can a machine act intelligently? Can it solve any problem that a person would solve by thinking? 2. Are human intelligence and machine intelligence the same? Is the human brain essentially a computer? 3. Can a machine have a mind, mental states and consciousness in the same sense humans do? Can it feel how things are? These questions correspond to the preoccupations of AI researchers, cognitive scientists and philosophers, respectively (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_artificial_intelligence) COM1005 2023-24 Motivations and Philosophical Questions Strong AI vs Weak AI • A distinction is commonly made between strong AI and weak AI • Confusingly, actually two different distinctions. Distinction 1: due to philosopher John Searle: – Strong AI Hypothesis: “The appropriately programmed computer with the right inputs and outputs would thereby have a mind in exactly the same sense human beings have minds.” (Searle, Mind, language and society, 1999); or "The appropriately programmed computer really is a mind, in the sense that computers given the right programs can be literally said to understand and have other cognitive states.” (Searle, Minds, Brains and Programs, 1980) – Weak AI Hypothesis: Computers can demonstrate intelligence (i.e. can act as if they are intelligent), but do not necessarily have a mind, mental states or consciousness. COM1005 2023-24 Motivations and Philosophical Questions Strong AI vs Weak AI • Russell and Norvig from their 2010 (3rd edition) AI textbook: "The assertion that machines could act as if they were intelligent is called the weak AI hypothesis by philosophers, and the assertion that machines that do so are actually thinking (not just simulating thinking) is called the strong AI hypothesis.” • • This distinction, therefore, is about whether suitably programmed computers would genuinely understand/have minds or whether they can only ever simulate understanding/having a mind Searle (2009): “according to Strong AI, the correct simulation really is a mind. According to Weak AI, the correct simulation is a model of the mind.” • Russell & Norvig (2010): "Most AI researchers take the weak AI hypothesis for granted, and don't care about the strong AI hypothesis.” – But ethical questions arise if the Strong AI hypothesis is true (e.g. is it wrong to terminate an AI computer?) COM1005 2023-24 Motivations and Philosophical Questions Strong AI vs Weak AI • Distinction 2: – Strong AI: The belief that machines can be developed that will have human-level intelligence or greater Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near, 2005) • Sometime referred to as Artificial General Intelligence – Weak AI: The belief that machines can be developed that possess some aspects of intelligence, e.g. can reason/solve problems in a limited domain • This distinction is about the amount or the scope of intelligence computers will be able to acquire, not about whether computers can ever really have a mind/understand as opposed to simulating intelligence (distinction 1) COM1005 2023-24 Ethics and AI • If we can build AIs, should we? • Won’t AI lead to: – Job Loss? – Too much leisure? – Undesirable uses, such as autonomous weapon systems, intrusive surveillance systems, more state/corporate control? – An ultra-intelligence that subjugates or even eliminates the human race? • Will truly intelligent robots have rights? • What are our responsibilities as Computer Scientists? • More in later lectures … COM1005 2023-24 Summary • AI is part of a long cultural tradition of imagining and attempting to build machines that are images of ourselves/some of our capabilities • AI emerged as a scientific discipline in the 1950s as the result of the convergence of advances in several fields • There is no single, clear, widely accepted definition of AI – But much consensus over what it must include • Extensive philosophical debate over whether thinking machines can ever be built, in particular – Strong AI hypothesis: a correctly programmed computer really is a mind – Weak AI hypothesis: a computer can only ever simulate being a mind COM1005 2023-24 References Boden, Margaret (1977) Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man. Basic Books. Copeland, Jack (1993) Artificial Intelligence: A Philosophical Introduction. Blackwells. McCorduck, Pamela (2004) Machines Who Think. A K Peters/CRC Press. Rich, Elaine and Knight, Kevin (1991) Artificial Intelligence (2nd ed). McGraw Hill. Russell, Stuart and Norvig, Peter (2010) Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Introduction (3rd ed). Pearson. Whitby, Blay (2008): Artificial Intelligence: A Beginner's Guide. Oneworld Publications. Wikipedia: Artificial Intelligence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence (visited 19/09/23). Wikipedia: Artificial General Intelligence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence (visited 19/09/23). Wikipedia: History of Artificial Intelligence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_artificial_intelligence (visited 19/09/23). Wikipedia: Robot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot (visited 19/09/23). Wikipedia: History of Robots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_robots (visited 19/09/23). Wikipedia: Strong AI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_AI (visited 19/09/23). COM1005 2023-24