This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – Marvin Minsky was quoted in Life magazine, “In from three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being”

by Admin | Mar 5, 2021 | Chronicles, News

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – in 1970 Marvin Minsky was quoted in Life magazine, “In from three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being.”

Marvin Minsky was interviewed by Life magazine in 1970 by journalist Brad Darrach, who was writing an article on Shakey the Dog, an early mobile robot built at Stanford. Minsky made this bold claim, and further added on that “If we’re lucky, they might decide to keep us as pets.” This statement was meant as a warning to not let intelligence computers control vital systems. 

Marvin Minksy was an important pioneer in the field of AI. He penned the research proposal for the Dartmouth Conference, which coined the term “Artificial Intelligence”, and he was a participant in it when it was hosted the next summer. Minsky would also co-founded the MIT AI labs, which went through different names, and the MIT Media Laboratory. In terms of popular culture, he was an adviser to Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He won the Turing Award for his influence on AI in 1969.

Marvin Minsky’s quote and this interview highlighted the popularity and mainstream attention AI have received in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Furthermore, Marvin Minsky was one, if not the, most important figure in the development of Artificial Intelligence. His writings and sayings during the rise of AI in the 60s are still deliberated about to this day.

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – Arthur Samuel popularises the term “machine learning” in 1959

by Admin | Feb 26, 2021 | Chronicles, News

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – Arthur Samuel popularises the term “machine learning” in 1959 in his article “Some Studies in Machine Learning Using the Game of Checkers”.

Arthur L. Samuel was an American computer scientist. He was a pioneer in the field of computer gaming and artificial intelligence. Born in 1901, he studied at the College of Emporia for his Bachelor and MIT for his Master. His Samuel Checkers-playing Program was one of the first successful self-learning programs and was a basis for this article that coined “machine learning”. He was notable for his works at IBM and Stanford. Samuel won the Computer Pioneer Award in 1987 for his contributions to computer science and AI. He passed away in 1990.

“Machine learning” is the study of computers that can self-improve through time and experience. It is often considered a part in the development of artificial intelligence. Although the study has existed before 1959, with this program and also developments such as the Dartmouth Conference, helped the field become more active. A subset of machine learning, deep learning, has also been gaining traction lately.

The article that he wrote on this program and “machine learning” can be read and downloaded here.

This is important to the history of AI in that it popularises the term “machine learning”, which is an important aspect of artificial intelligence. Arthur Samuel is also one of the pioneers in computer science and AI.

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – Marvin Minsky was quoted saying, “Within a generation … the problem of creating ‘artificial intelligence’ will substantially be solved.”

by Admin | Feb 19, 2021 | Chronicles, News

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – in 1967 Marvin Minsky was quoted saying, “Within a generation … the problem of creating ‘artificial intelligence’ will substantially be solved.”

Similar to H. A. Simon’s writings from the same era, Minsky’s prediction was stated in his work in the 60s, after the bloom of AI development in the advent of the Dartmouth Conference. Optimism was running high, and advocates and academics for AI envisioned a romantic vision of what it could be. However, his prediction did not come to fruition, as AI development suffered stagnations and the like, most notably the first AI Winter, whose beginnings ironically was contributed to by Minsky himself.

Marvin Minksy was an important pioneer in the field of AI. He penned the research proposal for the Dartmouth Conference, which coined the term “Artificial Intelligence”, and he was a participant in it when it was hosted the next summer. Minsky would also co-founded the MIT AI labs, which went through different names, and the MIT Media Laboratory. In terms of popular culture, he was an adviser to Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He won the Turing Award for his impact on AI in 1969.

As with Herbert Simon, this quote was an event in the history of AI due to its display of the sentiments of optimism of the time. Furthermore, Marvin Minsky was one, if not the, most important figure in the development of Artificial Intelligence. His predictions about AI during its rise in the 60s are still discussed about to this day.

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – IBM “Watson” machine defeats 2 human Jeopardy! champions

by Admin | Feb 12, 2021 | Chronicles, News

This week in The History of AI at AIWS.net – IBM “Watson” machine defeats 2 human Jeopardy! champions. The machine went on the show on February 16th, 2011 and faced off against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, previous winners of the famous game-show. 

The show was taped in Janaury of 2011 but was not aired until February of the same year. Instead of a regular episode, this showdown was played out over three parts, concluding on February 16th. It was filmed at one of IBM’s research lab. More than just a publicity and PR display, it was a vindication of the progress Artificial Intelligence has made in the past decades.

“Watson” is a question-answering computer system, developed by IBM as a part of their DeepQA project. David Ferrucci, an American biologist and computer scientist, headed the development of Watson as principle investigator with a research team. Watson is named after IBM’s founder and first leader, Thomas J. Watson. After its success on Jeopardy, Watson was first utilised in helping lung cancer treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

The New York Times covered this event on its website. The article can be read here. A clip of Watson’s victory can be viewed here.

The HAI initative considers this an important development in the history of AI due to its publicity and notability as the culmination of a research project in artificial intelligence.