Intelligent machines are still far off in the future, how far is anyone’s guess but the reality is the concept is being worked on. There’s much debate on intelligent machines, otherwise known as “artificial intelligence,” and whether or not creating such things is wise. On one hand the benefits of intelligent machines could have a massively positive impact on the well being of some of the populace. On the other hand those same machines could cause hardship for others in the populace through job loss and replacement. Jeff Hawkins delivered a thirty minute presentation on what it will take to create intelligent machines and no matter what side of the fence you sit on, it is worth watching. Take a look below.
Hawkins is the founder of Palm Computing and helped usher in the era of the PDA and carrying our digital lives with us everywhere we go. He left the world of consumer technology to work on neuroscience and has been offering up these types of talks on intelligent machines and AI.
He argues that attempts to create an artificial intelligence by simply programming a computer to do what a brain can do are flawed and that to actually make an intelligent computer, we simply need to teach it to find and use patterns, not to attempt any specific tasks. Through this method, he thinks we can build intelligent machines, helping us do all sorts of useful tasks that current computers cannot achieve. He further argues that this memory-prediction system as implemented by the brain’s cortex is the basis of human intelligence.
Intelligent machines are the future whether we agree with creating them or not. Hopefully researchers like Hawkins are thinking about not only their creation but how to control that creation. Where do you stand on artificial intelligence? Good idea? Bad idea? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
