When Artificial Intelligence was invented, the goal was to create a computer system capable of solving problems. Today, AI systems can learn and perform a variety of tasks, including decision making. However, this technology is not perfected yet. Many challenges still remain, including how to teach a robot to communicate with humans. However, there have been several notable advances in the field. Below are some of the major milestones in the development of AI.
AI has made its way into our daily lives. The first self-driving car, the Toyota Prius, was created in 2002. It completed 10 hundred-mile journeys, setting society on a road to driverless cars. Similarly, IBM Watson won the popular US quiz show Jeopardy in 2011 using artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and analytics to process vast data repositories.
In the late 1980s, the business community’s fascination with AI peaked. However, it eventually fell flat, largely due to the inability of commercial vendors to build and maintain such systems. Meanwhile, a new approach to AI development was advocated by robotics developers, who argued that AI had the potential to be used in the field. A decade later, it was widely embraced and the world is increasingly dependent on AI.
The philosophical and historical roots of AI go beyond the development of machines to help humans do our daily tasks. The concept of intelligence goes far back into human knowledge, touching on realms of myth, religion, and metaphysics. A Platonic demiurge is a classic example of this concept. The concept of an artificial intelligence beyond human intelligence grew into many subfields of the humanities. This asymmetry, however, makes AI development a complex process.
The 1950s were a golden age for AI research. The availability of computing power and data fueled breakthroughs in the field. With these advances, AI technology finally came of age, and the first computer to beat Garry Kasparov was born. But there were other problems along the way. For example, deep learning and computer vision were not yet fully developed in the 1950s, and the emergence of artificial intelligence led to numerous advances in these fields.
AI research was not easy. Following reports that criticized the research progress, U.S. and British governments ceased funding undirected research. After a year of opposition, Congress continued to exert pressure on the field. This period is called AI winter. In the late 80s, a Japanese initiative helped revive the field and spurred government and industry funding. During this time, investors started withdrawing their funding.
The National Science and Technology Council has recently released a report on regulation of AI. While there is no specific legislation at this time, the report outlines the issues relating to AI. Further research is needed to determine how best to regulate AI and ensure the ethical use of the technology. Ultimately, the legal future of AI depends on the ethical choices we make today. While this is an ongoing debate, one question remains: When was Artificial Intelligence Invented? In human society?