English2010,Section7

</WhereCodeEnds/>
MasonLowe

WhatisanArtificialintelligence?

ArtificialIntelligence.Theultimateshowofthementalprowessandcapabilitiesofhumanity.Beingabletocreatelife,notin
theformofachild,butintheformofacomputerthatisabletothinkandlearnforlackofbetterterms.ThefirstArtificial
Intelligence(AI)wasinventedintheearly1200sIsmailal-Jazariwasthefirsttocreateasuccessfulandphysicalversionofan
ArtificialIntelligence,thatcouldcarryoutonlythesimplestoftasks,suchaspouringwater,orwavingafantocoolaroom.
However,sincethetimeofal-Jazari,thedefinitionandrequirementsofAIhavechanged,asdefinedbyMerriam-Websters
RandomHouseWebstersCollegeDictionaryisabranchofcomputersciencedealingwiththesimulationofintelligent
behaviorincomputers,orthecapabilityofamachinetoimitateintelligenthumanbehavior(78)Whichleavesthequestionof
whatisintelligenthumanbehavior?

Tothisquestion,AndrzejBieleckigavethemostsuitabledefinitionofjustwhatexactlyitistopossessintelligent
humanbehavior.WhilespeakingontheimplementationsofAIinCybernetics,Bieleckistatedthatthethreemostcomplex
aspectsofhumanintelligenceistheabilitiesofcommunication,cognitivethought,andlearning.(418-421)Meaningthatfor
amachinetobeclassifiedasanAI,itmustbeabletoperformthosethreetasksofcommunication,cognitivethought,and
learning.Whichthenleadstothequestionthathascountlessscientistsinvigorousdebate,andhasfordecades.Itisno
longeramatterofif,butinsteadamatterofwhencomputersreachthelevelofbeingabletoimitateintelligenthuman
behaviorwillthey,andsubsequentlyshouldtheybeconsideredalive?

TheMatterofLifeinaMachine

Ethicsvs.DefinitionofLife

Fordecades,thedebatehasgonebackandforth,inregardstowhetherornotcomputersshouldbeconsideredasalive.The
questionofwherecomputerendsandlifebeginshasravagedbythetopmindsofthefield.Debatingonthefinelinebetween
thedefinitionofwhatlifeis,andtheethicsofwhatlifeis.

Thedefinitionoflifeisasfollows,theanimateexistenceorperiodofanimateexistenceofanindividual,orthe
manifestationofgrowth,ameansofreproduction,andinternalregulationinresponsetotheenvironment.(Webster783)
essentiallystatingthatifanindividualorbeingcangrow,reproduce,andrespond/adapttoitssurroundingsandenvironment,
thenitisconsideredtopossesslife.Thus,ifanAIhadaphysicalmanifestation,anditcouldlearnandgrowfromitspast
experiences,createmoreofitself,andadapttoitsenvironmentandsituationsthatitmightfinditselfin,thenanAIwould,by
definitionbealive.

Ethicallyspeaking,anAIcouldbeconsideredeitheramachinethatpossessesconsciousnessandcanthinkand
decideitsactionsforitself,oranactuallivingbeingthatisabletocarryoutitslifelearningfrompastdecisions,andits
mistakesanddownfalls.(Blow785)

Whilethedecisionmayseemfairlycutanddrysimple,eachopposingopinionandstanceoftheissuehasdefinitive
backing.Oneofthemostchallengingaspectsofthediscussion,ishowmostoftheaspectsofdebateareonlyfoundin
hypotheticalscenarios,duetothefactandreasoningthatinthecurrentstateoftechnology,thereisnoAIinknownhistorythat
isadvancedenoughtohavereasontoencounterproblemssuchasthese.

Interview,andNewAspects

Ihadtheopportunitytoholdaninterviewwithanindividualwhohasrequestedthattheirnameremainanonymous,this
individualhadseveralaspectsthatwereentirelyforeigntome.Andaresoundingopinionthattobequitehonest,gaveawhole
newaspecttothedebateoflifeinAI.

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Thisindividual,whowillhereafterbereferredtoasSamuel,isaprofessoratauniversity,whereheteachesthe
basicsofcodingandunderstandingandtohisupperlevelstudents,howtoprogramaspeechrecognitiontoolthattheAIcan
usetocommunicateandspeakwiththeuser.

Aspreviouslymentioned,SamuelhasauniquestandingonthedebateonwhetherornotAIwillorshouldbe
consideredasbeingaliveoncetheyreachthepointofcognitivethoughtandreasoning.Samuelbelievesthattheissueshould
bediscussedanddebatedatalatertime,atimewhereinAIareatthepointthattheycouldbeconsideredalive.

SamuelsopinionbroughtathirdpartyintothedecadelongdebateonAI,onethatproposestosimplywaituntil
humanitygetstothatbridge,thendecidewhetherornottocrossSamuelstated,becausehowcanyoujudgewhether
somethingisaliveornotbeforeitsreal.Itslikejudgingsomeonebasedonlyonwhattheycouldbe,withoutevermeeting
them.

Takingintoconsiderationthenewaspectofthedebate,andhowwecannotethicallyjudgewhetherornotAIshould
bealivebeforetheirfullpotentialhasbeenreached,alongwithseveralofthefollowinghypotheticalscenarios.

AdvancingTooFar

OneofthemostinterestingscenariosthatbothSamuel,aswellasJasonTanz,awriterforWiredBusiness,bothmentioned
thattherewillcometobeapointintheevolutionofAI,wherewe,asitscreatorswillnolongerneedtocodeit,muchlikea
parentraisingachild,thereisapointinitsexistence,wherethecreator,orparentwillnotbeabletoteachanymore,andwill
havetoletthechildorAIfail,fallshort,andlearnforitself.(Tanz698)

ThisdoespresenttheproblemthatmanyfearwiththeadvancesbeingmadeinArtificialIntelligence,beingthe
matterofwhathappensiftheAIthatonepointassodependantonusashumanitytoteachitandtohelpitdevelopandlearn,
wheretosurpassusashumans(thisbeingahypotheticalscenario,whereinnofactualevidenceisyetpresent)Howwouldthe
AIreact?Woulditfindhumanityasinferior,orwoulditallyitselfwithhumanitytohelpfurtherourtechnologies.(599)Thisis
oneofthemanyconcernsthatmanyindividualshaveconcerningthedevelopmentandfurtheringofthepowerofAIoftoday,
duetotheselfpreservationaspectofmanypossiblescenarios.

CommonMisconceptions

QuitepossiblythemostdauntingobstacleinthedevelopmentinArtificialIntelligenceistheuncertaintiesthatcome
alongwithit,howeverthiswasalsoanissuewithsendingamantothemoon.Unliketheshuttlethatwassenttothemoon,
thedevelopmentofArtificialIntelligenceisnotsomethingthathasspecificoutcomes.

Itisasimilarpredicamenttoattemptingtoanticipatewithonehundredpercentcertaintyastohowahumanwill
reactinacertainscenario.Itsimplycannotbedone,therewillalwaysbeanunexpectedvariablethatwillchangethereaction
oftheindividual.ItistheuncertaintyofjustwhatAIwilldo,beitgoodorbeitevil,thatfrightensmanyawayfromthedesire
tofurthertheresearchandcontinuationoftheadvancementofArtificialIntelligence.

Alongwiththisuncertainty,therecomesseveralmisconceptionsaboutjustexactlywhatArtificialIntelligencewilldo.
Mainstreammedia,alsohasmajorsayastowhatpeoplethinkofandhowtheyreacttoAI.Forexample,inthebignamemovie
TheTerminatortheAIthathumanityoriginallycreateddevelopedatsucharatethattheAIasawholedeterminedthat
humanitywasnolongernecessary,andthattheexistenceofhumanityshouldbeterminated.

Whilethisdarkerpossibilityseemstobesolelyfictitious,itisnotentirelyimpossible.Itshowsthepotentialfor
exactlyhowpowerfulanAIcouldbecomeifitcouldproperlylearnfromitsmistakes,andmaketheproperadjustmentsto
correctsaidmistake.

WhiletherecertainlyaredarkerTerminatortypespeculationsonjustexactlyhowAIwillinteractwithhumanityin
specific.Buttherearejustasmanypositivespeculations,onhowmuchhumanitycouldadvancewiththehelpofArtificial
Intelligence.HowalongsideAI,humanitycouldflourishintoanotherindustrialrevolution,andhowmuchmorewouldbe
accomplishedwithAIworkingsidebysidewithpeople.

TheRateofAdvancement

Intherecentyears,therateatwhichArtificialIntelligencehasprogressedhasbeenexponential,goingfromthemid1960s
havingcomputersbecomingmoremainstreamandverylimitedintheircomputingandprocessingpower,totheyear2016,
whenthemostadvancedArtificialIntelligencetodatewascapableoftakingrisksandwasfoundtopossesscognitivethought.

ThisresultwasdeterminedinpittingtheAI,namedDeepStack,equippedwiththelatestversionofitsrisktakingand
evaluatingsoftware,againstsomeoftheworldsbestpokerplayers,inagameofHeads-UpNo-LimitTexasholdem.44,000
gamesofpokertobespecific.Throughthesethousandsuponthousandsofhandsofpoker,theAIwasabletodemonstratea
levelofcognitivethought,whereinitweighedtherisksofwinningandlosingincreasinglylargesumsofmoneywitheach
hand.andlaterstatedthatThisisoneofthelargeststepsintheadvancesinAIresearchsincevoicerecognitionsoftwarewas
firstimplemented.(Schmid1-34)

Overview

Overall,theprospectofArtificialIntelligenceholdsmuchpromise.Andshouldbeseennotasathreattohumanity,butinstead
asatool,associate,andatriumphtohavegiventhoughtandconsciousnesstoamachine.

Thedecadelongdebatewillnotcometoahalt,anytimesoon.Itwilllikelynotberesolvedbeforecomputershave
reachedthepointwhereconsideringthemtobealivewouldactuallybeafeasiblenotion.

InthesimplewordsofaCollegeStudent,IbelievethatinthemostunbiasedmindsetshouldanArtificialIntelligence
beabletoimitateintelligenthumanbehavior

WorksCited
Anonymous."ANewAspect."Personalinterview.11Mar.2017.

"ArtificialIntelligence."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,19Mar.2017.Web.20Mar.2017.

Bielecki,Andrzej."TheGeneralEntityofLife:ACyberneticApproach."BiologicalCybernetics,vol.109,no.3,June2015,pp.
401-419.EBSCOhost,Web.17Mar.2017.

Blow,NathanS."FromtheEditor:ArtificialIntelligenceinLifeScience."Biotechniques,vol.58,no.6,June2015,p.277.
EBSCOhost,Web.17Mar.2017.

Dietterich,Tom."ArtificialIntelligenceProgress-TomDietterich."LinkedInSlideShare.N.p.,29Oct.2015.Web.18Mar.
2017.

Gadanidis,George."ArtificialIntelligence,ComputationalThinking,andMathematicsEducation."InternationalJournalof
Information&LearningTechnology,vol.34,no.2,Mar.2017,pp.133-139.EBSCOhost,Web.17Mar.2017.

RandomHouseWebster'sCollegeDictionary.PlaceofPublicationNotIdentified:RandomHouse,1995.Print.

Schmid,Martin."DeepStack."DeepStack.N.p.,n.d.Web.29Mar.2017.

Tanz,Jason."TheEndofCode.(CoverStory)."Wired,vol.24,no.6,June2016,p.74.EBSCOhost,Web.17Mar.2017.