Artificial Intelligence Imitating Child Cognitive Development

The programs used in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) are extremely complicated and highly specialized. They are being used in industries for many various things which include but are not limited to: flying planes, or assembling cars. However recently, an AI program was designed by a group of researchers from the University of Gothenburg that imitates a child’s cognitive development which allows it to solve problems in many different areas.

Traditional AI programs lack the versatility of human intelligence, but a new field, artificial general intelligence (AGI) has risen where scientists try to create programs with a general intelligence.

This new research has developed a program that can learn “basic arithmetic, logic, and grammar without any pre-existing knowledge,” says Claes Strannegård, a member of the research team together with Abdul Rahim Nizamani and Ulf Persson.

The program starts with a set of simple and broad definitions, and from there builds new knowledge based on previous knowledge, and eventually comes up with new conclusions about rules and identifies new patterns.

Children also develop in a similar manner, making the human brain the best example of general intelligence. Children are able to learn many things and from this knowledge build new ones. This was the strategy on which the research was built upon – to imitate, at its most basic level, the manner how children develop intelligence.

For example, a child can deduce that if 2 x 0 = 0 and 3 X 0 = 0, then 4 X 0 = 0. The same kind of intuition can be carried across a different area like grammar, where it can identify rules for verb conjugations like run becoming ran and sing becoming sang in the past tense.

The system, which is called O*, follows the principle of Occam’s razor, wherein you should favor short and simple explanations over the long and complex kind. It identifies patterns on its own and combines them with previous knowledge to make newer ones and to solve problems.

Strannegård hopes that this program will become useful in different practical applications, like in the development of a versatile household robot that can be taught how to do chores and solve simple to complicated household problems. But the scientists have also admitted that the current technology is not there yet.

In my book, The Hermit and the Time Machine, the future the human race looked bleak as the world was overrun by robots that self-replicated. Our current technology may be on the running towards that kind of future, but it all depends upon us humans whether we use our technology for good or otherwise.

 

Sources:

http://www.paneuropeannetworks.com/science-technology/ai-program-imitates-childrens-learning/

http://www.chalmers.se/en/news/Pages/Artificial-intelligence-that-imitates-childrens-learning.aspx

http://www.gizmag.com/artificial-intelligence-program-imitates-child-cognitive-development/33972/

http://agi-conf.org/2014/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/strannegard-general-agi14.pdf

 

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