Latest AI Articles:

Where will mankind be in 2050? Out colonizing Mars? Perhaps collectively uploaded to an artificial neural network? According to a semi-intelligent android, we may well be the subjects of his people zoo.

Episode Summary: Could we one day upload ourselves into a computer or chip? Dr. Keith Wiley thinks that one day, we might be able to replicate consciousness within another entity. In this episode, he speaks to us about why uploading human identity in a computer substrate might be possible in the coming decades, and the type of progress we’re making today in the areas of computing and mapping the brain.

Episode Summary: When should we care about robots? How quickly should and will that change? These are just some of the thought points addressed by Professor David Gunkel, whose work on the moral valuations of AI is some of the first of its kind. In this interview, we consider the extent to which our “moral weighing” of other entities is arbitrary, and ask what a biased process might imply when we create other aware entities.

Episode Summary:  We talk a lot about the future of technology on Emerj - the long-road potentials and ethical considerations that intersect the various paths of artificial intelligence. But keeping the conversation real and present necessitates looking through binoculars rather than a telescope from time to time. In this episode, Eyal Amir, a tech entrepreneur and associate professor of Computer Science at University of Illinois, gives his zoomed-in perspective of the types of technological progress that he believes will be relevant in the next 5 to 10 years.

Episode Summary:  Do you need a body to think? This is a worthwhile (and also a perplexing) question, and an ongoing debate amongst roboticists. Cognitive Roboticist Dr. Mark Bickhard is part of a field of belief that cognition and intelligence - and maybe consciousness itself - requires embodiment and direct interaction with the world. In this interview, he discusses the concept of normative function and self maintenance in entities, and why this matters when it comes to thinking.

1 - What Emotions Do We Want Robots to Show?

Humanity has the Turing test to evaluate whether humans can distinguish conversing with a machine versus a human, and a machine seems to have been partially triumphant in a June 2014 Turing Competition at the Royal Society. We have the Ada Lovelace test, which is meant to evaluate a computer's creativity i.e. the person who designed a program must not be able to immediately discern how a machine produces its creative works. In August, a panel of scientists at a Robotronica 2015 conference discussed the sorts of emotions that we may want machines to express. This led the article's Author David Lovell to wonder, is time for another test?  How about the Frampton Test, after rock legend Peter Frampton, in which a machine has to give a convincing and emotionally-appropriate test that also stimulates emotional responses in most humans?

Even people who aren't fans of sci-fi or avid A.I. enthusiasts know that in 1997, IBM's "Deep Blue" chess computer defeated the then world chess champion at the time, Garry Kasparov, but relatively few of us are aware of the fascinating developments in other narrow domains of skill where artificial intelligence is gaining ground at incredible speed.

Episode Summary:  In this episode, Stephan draws on his robotics background to articulate what it takes to give a robot a "personality", explaining the differences between responses and propensities along the way. Androids are already making news in the entertainment and retail industries, but we delve into why the health sector is one of the next big industries, and how culture might influence social acceptance across country lines.

1 - Scientists Can't Stop AI But They Can Make It 'Good'

Artificial intelligence is in the media spotlight, with the band of tech movers' Hawking, Gates and Musk certainly acting as a catalyst but certainly not the only development worth noting. A new report from Tractica, a market intelligence group, recently released a report that predicts more than $40 billion investment by business industries in the next 10 years. AI is everywhere, and the deep learning algorithms and other life-changing arenas are only improving. Many computer scientists behind the scenes are reminding the public that any technology, AI included, can be used for bad and good purposes. AI is not going away, and scientists have an an opportunity to investigate the full rang of risks that AI presents - and brainstorm real solutions for how to avert real dangers.

Episode Summary: Dr. Ayers provides a comprehensive overview of his development of autonomous underwater robots, intended to help discover and destroy dangerous underwater land mines. He provides his perspective on two major obstacles facing robotics, including the concept of autonomy, providing valuable insight in light of the current events surrounding the development of autonomous AI.