Introduction

Chapter 1

Digital computers and the rise of the information age have revolutionized the
modern lifestyle. The invention of digital computers has enabled us to digitize
numerous areas of our lives. This digitalization allows us to outsource many tedious
daily tasks to computers where previously humans may have been required. An
everyday example of this would be modern word processing applications that
feature built in spell checkers to automatically check documents for spelling and
grammar mistakes.
As computers have grown faster and more computationally powerful, we have
been able to use them to perform increasingly complex tasks such as understanding
human speech and even somewhat accurately predict the weather. This constant
innovation allows us to outsource a growing number of tasks to computers. A
present day computer is likely able to execute billions of operations a second,
but however technically capable they become, unless they can learn and adapt
themselves to better suit the problems presented to them, theyll always be limited
to whatever rules or code us humans write for them.
The field of artificial intelligence and the subset of genetic algorithms are
beginning to tackle some of these more complex problems faced in todays digital
world. By implementing genetic algorithms into real world applications it is possible
to solve problems which would be nearly impossible to solve by more traditional
computing methods.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

In 1950, Alan Turing a mathematician and early computer-scientist - wrote
a famous paper titled, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, where he questioned, Can computers think? His question caused much debate on what intelligence actually is and what the fundamental limitations of computers might be.
Many early computer scientists believed computers would not only be able to
demonstrate intelligent-like behavior, but that they would achieve human level
intelligence in just a few decades of research. This notion is indicated by Herbert A.
Simon in 1965 when he declared, Machines will be capable, within twenty years,
of doing any work a man can do. Of course now, over 50 years later, we know that
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Chapter 1

Introduction

Simons prediction was far from reality, but at the time many computer scientists
agreed with his position and made it their goal to create a strong AI machine.
A strong AI machine is simply a machine which is at least just as intellectually
capable at completing any task its given as humans.
Today, more than 50 years since Alan Turings famous question was posed, the
possibility of whether machines will eventually be able to think in a similar way
to humans still remains largely unanswered. To this day his paper, and thoughts,
on what it means to think is still widely debated by philosophers and computer
scientists alike.
Although were still far from creating machines able to replicate the intelligence
of humans, we have undoubtedly made significant advances in artificial intelligence
over the last few decades. Since the 1950s the focus on strong AI and developing
artificial intelligence comparable to that of humans, has begun shifting in favor
of weak AI. Weak AI is the development of more narrowly focused intelligent
machines which is much more achievable in the short term. This narrower focus has
allowed computer scientists to create practical and seemingly intelligent systems
such as Apples Siri and Googles self-driving car, for example.
When creating a weak AI system, researchers will typically focus on building a
system or machine which is only just as intelligent as it needs to be to complete a
relatively small problem. This means we can apply simpler algorithms and use less
computing power while still achieving results. In comparison, strong AI research
focuses on building a machine thats intelligent and able enough to tackle any
problem which we humans can. This makes building a final product using strong AI
much less practical due to the scope of the problem.
In only a few decades weak AI systems have become a common component
of our modern lifestyle. From playing chess, to helping humans fly fighter jets,
weak AI systems have proven themselves useful in solving problems once
thought only possible by humans. As digital computers become smaller and more
computationally capable, the usefulness of these systems is likely to only increase
in time.

Biologically Analogies
When early computer scientists were first trying to build artificially intelligent
systems, they would frequently look to nature for inspiration on how their
algorithms could work. By creating models which mimic processes found in nature,
computer scientists were able to give their algorithms the ability to evolve, and even
replicate characteristics of the human brain. It was implementing their biologicallyinspired algorithms that enabled these early pioneers, for the first time, to give their
machines the ability to adapt, learn and control aspects of their environments.
By using different biological analogies as a guiding metaphor to develop
artificially intelligent systems, computer scientists created distinct fields of research.
Naturally, the different biological systems that inspired each field of research have
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