Do you know what artificial intelligence is? Do you have an idea of its history? In what fields it is used? Do you know its most promising branch and what it can achieve? Do you know where it can compete with and surpass human beings? Test your knowledge by answering the following five questions.
1. True or false? Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the set of technologies used to develop machines or software capable of simulating cognitive functions generally associated with human intelligence, such as learning and reasoning.
CORRECT ANSWER
TRUE
In its broader sense, AI also refers to the theories developed in this field.
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2. Which of the following statements about artificial intelligence is inaccurate?
A) It has made great strides in recent years thanks to the improvement of the computing capacity, the development of suitable algorithms and the availability of Big Data.
B) One of the world’s three leading experts in this field is a Montrealer.
C) At present, it is integrated into only a few cutting-edge fields.
D) It has made its foray into the art world, notably by producing visual art and music.
CORRECT ANSWER
C.
Far from being integrated into just a few cutting-edge fields, AI is present in many sectors. It is used, for example, in health care for medical imaging analysis, in e-commerce to offer specific products to customers or to answer their questions using conversational agents, in transportation to detect problems on the road or to make driving autonomous, in education including adaptive learning, etc. On a daily basis, we interact with it through our intelligent assistants, emails, social networks, search engines, and much more.
AI can allow computer programs to perform specific tasks, but in its most developed version, deep learning — based on a network of artificial neurons — it allows computers to learn to perceive, by analyzing sound and visual signals, and to reason, by trying to solve by themselves problems of great logical or algorithmic complexity. The resulting technologies include voice recognition, facial recognition, automated language processing and computer vision.
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3. In which of the following domains has AI not yet surpassed human beings?
A) In the game of Chess
B) In Jeopardy
C) In the game of Go
D) In humour
CORRECT ANSWER
D.
And this is not likely to happen anytime soon…
Let us specify nevertheless that the first humorist artificial intelligence occurred in 2017 at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. LOL-BOT, from its little name, tells jokes by cross-referencing text and image data from the thousands of servers it is connected to. Admittedly, if its audience has joined in the laugh, it is probably more because of the surprise effect it has created than for its stand-up performance.
As natural as it seems to mankind, humour is a challenge for AI, the biggest one, according to many.
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4. Select the correct term to complete each of the following statements about deep learning.
Terms: solve a problem, rules or guidelines, layers, Big Data, calculations, artificial neurons
Deep learning is the most promising branch of AI. The principle of this technology is to let the computer find by itself the best way to ________. It allows to process ________ using ________ networks inspired by the neural network of the human brain.
Optimized by learning algorithms — which represent a set of ________ on the expected result —, these networks perform ________ and operate according to a system of ________: the results of each layer are used by the successive layers, hence the qualifier “deep.” The first layers extract simple characteristics that subsequent layers combine to form increasingly complex concepts.
CORRECT ANSWER
The complete correct statements are as follows:
Deep learning is the most promising branch of AI. The principle of this technology is to let the computer find by itself the best way to solve a problem. It allows to process Big Data using artificial neurons networks inspired by the neural network of the human brain.
Optimized by learning algorithms — which represent a set of rules or guidelines of the expected result — these networks perform calculations and operate according to a system of layers: the results of each layer are used by the successive layers, hence the term “deep.” The first layers extract simple characteristics that subsequent layers combine to form increasingly complex concepts.
5. True or false? From the birth of deep learning in the 1970s and 1980s, the development of AI has never stopped progressing at a rapid pace.
CORRECT ANSWER
FALSE
The development of AI has known several low moments, which have been called “AI winters.” Although deep learning will later have a major impact on the development of AI, it was neglected for several years when computing power and the mass of available data were insufficient.
The history of AI can be traced back to the 1950s:
In 1951, Marvin Minsky and Dean Edmonds, two PhD students in mathematics, built at Harvard the neural network simulator, the SNARC (for stochastic neural analog reinforcement calculator), implementing the Hebb rule, which states that when two neurons are activated at the same time their synapse (functional contact) is reinforced.
In 1957, the American psychologist and project engineer Frank Rosenblatt invented the perceptron, the first machine learning algorithm and the simplest form of artificial neural network. This linear and binary classifier for categorising data was the first model for which a learning process was defined, a major innovation for the development of machine learning, a sub-domain of AI (see Mini Glossary of Artificial Intelligence).
Find out more: The Remarkable Journey of Deep Learning
Author:
Catherine Meilleur
Creative Content Writer @KnowledgeOne. Questioner of questions. Hyperflexible stubborn. Contemplative yogi.
Catherine Meilleur has over 15 years of experience in research and writing. Having worked as a journalist and educational designer, she is interested in everything related to learning: from educational psychology to neuroscience, and the latest innovations that can serve learners, such as virtual and augmented reality. She is also passionate about issues related to the future of education at a time when a real revolution is taking place, propelled by digital technology and artificial intelligence.