Artificial intelligence has made a big impact on the public consciousness, especially with the recent advances of chatbots, image and video generators, and other systems. However, this advancement was not made suddenly but is the product of decades of work in the field and incremental improvements. Here are five of the most important evolution points that were crucial in AI history.
Artificial Intelligence for Alan Turing
In 1950, Alan Turing published a paper called “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” It posed the question, “Can machines think?”
Turing didn’t think to answer that question but rather came up with a game known as the Turing Test that was meant to show if an agent was artificial intelligence. The main goal of the game was to see if an observer could distinguish between responses from a human and a machine, and if not, it would mean that the machine passed the test.
The First AI Chatbot
ELIZA was the first artificial intelligence chatbot ever made. It was developed by MIT researcher Joseph Weizenbaum in 1966, and it generated basic responses based on keyword detection.
It still managed to amaze people with its ability to mimic conversations and is considered a breakthrough in AI research.
Foundations of Deep Learning
Around 1986, the focus shifted from symbolic AI to connectionist approaches that are supposed to mimic brain functions. Geoffrey Hinton published a foundational paper that year focused on backpropagation as a method for training artificial neural networks.
This would be the groundwork for more adaptive and flexible AI systems. Those are supposed to learn from data, and this is what drives today’s most modern artificial intelligence systems.
Deep Blue’s Victory
In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue made headlines after defeating world chess champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game series. The mastery of chess was considered a big benchmark for AI researchers for decades, and this public victory was a turning point.
It demonstrated artificial intelligence was evolving its capabilities. Later, the AI AlphaGo would beat Lee Sedol in the Chinese board game Go, marking another benchmark.
AlexNet and Deep Learning Era
In 2012, there was a great groundbreaking moment with Alex Krizhevsky’s AlexNet winning the ImageNet competition with its model. It leveraged graphics processing units to handle large neural networks efficiently and made that process practical using conventional hardware. AlexNet’s success demonstrated that the power of deep learning was big and set the stage for numerous subsequent AI advancements, including the advance of ChatGPT and other modern AI.
Today, AI advancements are advertised every week, and where it will all go is uncertain and a point of debate. It is, however, undeniable that artificial intelligence is here to stay and can be applied in many fields.
What Is This Mysterious Golden Orb Scientists Found on the Ocean Floor?
There was a new and strange discovery on the ocean floor of the waters off the coast of Alaska that is still confusing scientists. The enigmatic object is an orb approximately four inches in diameter and has a tannish-gold hue. It is intriguing and has captured the collective imaginations of researchers and casual observers. The item was discovered during an expedition during a deep sea exploration beneath the Pacific Ocean’s surface.
A Mysterious Organic Golden Orb
Found at a depth of around two miles, the soft, smooth object had affixed itself to a rock. Employing remotely operated vehicles as part of their mission to chart the depths of the Alaskan seabed, researchers came upon this enigma on August 30th. In a live-streamed account of their subaquatic expedition, the scientists could be heard engaged in animated discussions, speculating about the object’s true nature.
Their hypotheses included the orb being an egg casing for a coral formation or even an encrusting sponge. One feature that truly intrigued them was a minuscule opening in the object, akin to an entrance or exit point. Some among them couldn’t help but humorously draw parallels to the beginnings of a horror movie or the opening scene of the iconic television series The X-Files.
The Orb Was Extracted
Using a gentle suction mechanism affixed to the ROV, they gingerly dislodged the orb from its rocky anchor and transported it to the surface for closer examination within the wet lab of their research vessel, the Okeanos Explorer.
Yet, even under the scrutiny of the lab’s controlled environment, the object’s identity remained elusive. Sam Candio, the coordinator of the expedition, lamented that they could only ascertain it to be of biological origin. The team then transferred it to a land-based laboratory equipped with more advanced instrumentation.
An Ocean Mystery
Exploratory missions often yield new and unfamiliar specimens, but typically, these can be broadly categorized. What sets this discovery apart is the sheer lack of clarity regarding its classification. According to deep sea ecologists, the unusual thing about this orb was that no one was sure what it was.
The Seascape Alaska 5 expedition, which commenced on August 23rd in Kodiak, Alaska, and concluded on September 16th in Seward, Alaska, formed part of NOAA’s ambitious venture. Utilizing ROVs and multibeam sonar technologies, scientists explored uncharted territories within the Gulf of Alaska, reaching depths ranging from 650 to a staggering 19,700 feet. Their overarching objective was to bridge gaps in comprehension by investigating deep-sea coral and sponge habitats, fish habitats, chemosynthetic communities, and the water column while also enhancing knowledge concerning historical and potential geological hazards.