Alex Maxim

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1 Hour, AP Computer Science A

Independent Study: The Inner Workings of AI and IA

The world of artificial intelligence and technology is expanding rapidly in today’s

society, creating new machines to make use of but also debates behind the ethics of replacing the

human work force. So when did the development of independent machines begin? What things

can robots do today that humans can’t? Where is the race for the most sophisticated technology

taking place? In order to fully understand the nature of AI and IA, one must look into the effects

it has had around the world and what the developments could actually mean for the population of

our planet.

To start, artificial intelligence, or a machine showing awareness and use of software and

algorithms, has roots in the earliest of human history. While the technology we are used to didn’t

exist, there were still ideas about such robots being created with the first automated people and

animals spanning back centuries ago. It wasn’t until people like Alan Turing in the 1940s that

machines began being used to decode messages during the war and research into combining

neurology and cybernetic information was applied. The Turing test is one example that tests the

limits of natural language and the communication between humans and machines. However, the

true turning point for artificial intelligence was the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on

Artificial Intelligence, a conference that started the first major advances in engineering. Although

there were many disagreements on how to approach the studies in 1956, the conference still

managed set off a wave of research afterwards. For 20 years, there were several experiments

conducted to try and create functioning AI. Many programs were funded from then on as

scientists began to work on more complex machines. Innovators like Joseph Weizenbaum who

created ELIZA the first chatbot and Arthur Samuel who created a program that could outsmart
world champion checkers players came into the spotlight. The spectrum of AI expanded to

cooperate with other science groups as chemistry samples could be interpreted by a program

created in 1967 and biologists began to see interest in the capabilities of machines in assisting

patients. The government saw potential in AI for defense purposes and began funding research in

how spoken language could be interpreted by machines. Although, it wasn’t until the 1980s that

the introduction of Expert Systems once again instilled purpose to research. It was in the 1990s

to 2000s that AI flourished without government supervision with IBM chess players and Dragon

Systems that recognized speech being introduced into daily life. Thus, companies like Google,

IBM, and Microsoft are heavily investing in AI technicians to expand the reaches of what

technology can do for humans. Research in other fields using AI have grew greatly such as the

automotive industry where autonomous driving has been researched since 2004. Clearly, one can

see that AI has had a relatively recent history- one that shows off motivated individuals investing

in intelligent machines that could improve the quality of human life.

The next idea to keep in mind is that the United States is no longer in the race alone.

While most of the previously mentioned advances were made in the USA, many countries are

beginning to invest heavily into the technological world. China is the leading country in regards

to AI technology and advancements in the field as of 2018. Over the span of 4 years, the country

published 41,000 papers regarding the topic and is backed strongly by the government.

Investments in large companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent are worth trillions of dollars.

“China has set an ambitious target of becoming the leader in this field by 2030 and transform AI

work into an industry worth $150 billion” according to Times Higher Education, showing just

how far artificial intelligence has come. However, the United States is still a close second with a

more solid base on the subject and global companies that are working on expansion. Other
countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany, while far behind number wise in

published research, are advancing rapidly and are shown to be some of the most forward thinking

countries today. Meanwhile, countries like South Korea and Russia are employing AI for

military and defense purposes with billions of dollars of funding for new programs. With the

government coming into play in so many countries to encourage research and machines used for

fighting physical battles, many critics of artificial intelligence have called for more restrictions

and precautions to be observed in the future.

The huge advancements in AI have created debates over how much more the technology

should permeate into our lives and the risks involved with the research. First, it is important to

understand how artificial intelligence works. Data is passed through strings of math inspired by

how brain cells in neural networks work in the machines. Connections between the parts of the

network can adjust, allowing more data to be evaluated in the future. Machine Learning, robots

doing typical human tasks such as manning call services, driving cars, and more could be in the

future as AI advances with research and more large companies are investing in scientists willing

to program the robots. The main issues with AI come with the ML. Bias and inaccurate decisions

based on statistics are likely due to the nature of AI learning from data provided by humans.

Machines have become good at answering questions and performing tasks, however there is a

lack of entrepreneurship and other such traits that will continue to be needed from humans. The

increase in data available to AI machines has also allowed AI to become smarter and more

efficient. The machines are now able to analyze faster and develop more than ever before. In

modern times, AI is already being applied in tasks such as banking, marketing, and

entertainment. Breakthroughs in all fields from math to neuroscience have wrought about a

deeper understanding of how machines could play a larger part in our lives. Companies like
Facebook and Google have announced that they will place robot systems in their framework to

automate certain tasks. Many modern robots can process language such as pizza ordering at

Domino’s or X.ai which can schedule meetings for workers while posing as a human. Companies

only continue to implement AI technology with even Microsoft using conversations and advice

from the computer in their Office 365 programs. AI is being implemented more and more into

the future and the companies whose technology we use daily are showing the shift in focus.

Nonetheless, many aspects of AI still require extensive research (such as cognitive language

skills and reasoning); the next 50 years and on are foreseen to be rapidly changing in a world of

mass machinery. Opposition to the movement argue the ethics due to the possibility of robots

taking away jobs and other aspects of human life. Many of these people want to involve a

different approach to AI using intelligence augmentation. While very similar and sometimes

used in AI automatically, IA involves the effective of information technology for the purpose of

assisting humans rather than replacing them at doing a task. IA excels in the area where AI lacks:

giving advice to humans about what to do with information received and allowing humans to

ultimately utilize the information in a smart way. Widgets and apps allow IA to assist the user by

making information easier to read but not doing the entire task for the worker. Yet, AI and IA

supporters are at ends trying to decide just how much control should be given to the robot versus

the human. With machines getting smarter, it is essential that people continue to consider how

far machine research should be taken and what barriers are alright to be taken down and what

should be controlled. Machines are learning from examples from humans and picking up patterns

instead of being coded specifically for something in areas such as supervised learning systems

where they judge inputs from users, creating the possibility of a future similar to that in science -

fiction novels where robots are capable of replacing humans altogether at many tasks. Many of
the most experienced AI workers agree that AI libraries and development tools should be open to

the public and that companies should be more open about how they are using it, hoping to

provide a deeper understanding of how the technology works and how humans can work with it.

Overall, the issue is one that is pressing in terms of what steps the government and other

individuals should invest into AI with its rapidly advancing capabilities.

Both AI and IA will be needed for the discussion about robot involvement in daily life,

continuing due to the rapidly approaching future of mechanical design and thinking. The

necessity for jobs in the AI industry and related projects involving ML is still rising and it is

unlikely that any of the countries involved in the current race will back down. While there are

still many issues involved with modern AI technology, the advancements and implementation of

the machines is one that will predict that fate of mankind in the future