Our Fascination, Hopes, and Fears.

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Our Fascination, Hopes, and Fears.

Introduction: What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) ?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science which deals with helping machines find solutions to complex problems in a more human-like fashion. [1] What does it mean to say that a machine might be intelligent? This is the goal of the field of AI, yet it is not an easy goal to define. AI researchers express their goals differently, but they all share an interest in creating, through the hardware and software of a computer, an entity that is in some way recognized as intelligent and that shares some aspects of the distinctly human conditions. Thus, AI can be viewed as the attempt to create a machine that is in some way created in the image of the human person, an image loosely defined using the term intelligence. [3]

One of the most challenging approaches facing experts is building systems that mimic the behavior of the human brain, made up of billions of neurons, and arguably the most complex matter in the universe. Alan Turing, a British computer scientist, stated that a computer would deserves to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human. This generally involves borrowing characteristics from human intelligence, and applying them as algorithms in a computer friendly way. [1]

"Strong AI" approach claims that modeling the human mind is necessary for creating some form of computer-based AI that can truly reason and solve problems. A strong form of AI is said to be sentient (self-aware). In contrast, "weak AI" approach focus instead on simulating intelligence (attempting to create machines which will be perceived as intelligent by their users) rather than trying to create it through a model of the mind.

The field of Artificial Intelligence has split into several different approaches based on the opinions about the most promising methods and theories. These rivaling theories have lead researchers in one of two basic approaches: bottom-up approach (which believe the best way to achieve artificial intelligence is to build electronic replicas of the human brain's complex network of neuronsand) and top-down (which attempts to mimic the brain's behavior with computer programs). [4]

Many articles showed a desire to allay fears that computers truly are intelligent, or worse, that human might soon be supplanted by machines. [3] Intelligent computers, robots, androids, and cyborgs have come to be staple characters in science fiction stories and films.

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