When someone hears the term "AI" or "Artificial Intelligence", a sterotypical image probably springs to mind in the form of either terminator or skynet who wants to wipe out humanity to ensure it's own survival. Although there are many who honestly believe that AI poses a great threat to humanity, among them are Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking (RIP), and many more intelligent individuals, AI does in fact yield very promising innovations that will improve the lives of millions.
My optimism for the future does not blind me to the potential dangers that AI comes prepackaged with, but just because something that has remarkable potential for good as well as bad, should not be a reason to abandon it altogether. AI is very similiar to Nuclear Power in this regard. Nuclear Power has given us abundant energy for improved living, but also yielded catastrophic events through nuclear weapons. If we are to proceed further with AI, we must be very careful and take on a much higher level of responsibility in how we use it. It is true that the brilliant individuals listed above shared their concerns for the dangers of AI, but they were equally optimistic about the bright future ahead of us if we proceed carefully. Elon Musk is one of the founders of OpenAI, a world leader in AI Research and particulary NLP (GPT-2). Bill Gates is quoted in a recent interview claiming that if he were to start a company today, it would be an AI company specializing in Reading Comprehension to absorb all the knowledge of the world. It is obvious that a healthy relationship to this field is on a balanced diet of Realism and Optimism.
You might be thinking at this point, So.. what is AI then? Considering that we have now tackled the surrounding stereotypes and major concerns, let us now attempt to define this allusive definition of Artificial Intelligence. John McCarthy, one of the early pioneers of Artificial Intelligence, has a very simple yet spot on definition for AI:
"Artificial Intelligence is the science of intelligent machines" - John McCarthy
It is safe to say that the term AI is thrown around today as frequently as a football at a summer camp. Be that as it may, my definiton being purely derived from McCarthy's, is simply - Artificial Intelligence is the application and constant pursuit to replicate intelligence within machines. Artificial Intelligence is such a broad topic that there are many justified definitions out there, so reading many articles and sources on this matter certainly could not hurt. But i know what your probably thinking...
