Artificial Intelligence in our lifetime?

By Rechell McDonald
With films like Ex Machina; I, Robot; and A.I. Artificial Intelligence being popular at the box office over the last two decades, you can’t help but wonder what the reality of this sort of science is. Is it pure science fiction or a scientific fact? It’s a bit of a scary thought but, believe it or not, there are scientists dedicated to realizing this vision. Now, whether or not it will result in super intelligent robotic machines or human-like robots, it’s hard to tell at this point – no doubt there is a school of super minds working in both fields but, for now, this much is true:
MIRI, the Machine Intelligence Research Institute is working tirelessly to produce the foundational mathematics necessary to produce artificial intelligence (AI) that can have a positive impact. That little caveat, “a positive impact,” is the key. All our fears surrounding artificial intelligence swirl around the notion that intelligent machines will replace us. Unlike humans, machines don’t get sick and aren’t limited physically the way humans are. If given intelligence they could easily replace us. At least, that is the common fear.
Some would argue that AI of a sort is already in our lives, and we seem to be doing just fine in the food chain. You could argue that smartphones and features like Siri and Cortana are forms of AI that perform concierge services. There are also self-parking cars and medical robots, but are these really examples of AI? No, not truly. All of these things are limited. They are not self-aware and are not capable of making free choices. Essentially, these forms of technology just do what they are told by analyzing patterns in our data usage or by reacting to voice commands. This is but a sliver of the possibilities of AI, if the math and science of it can be worked out.
It’s unlikely that we will see true artificial intelligence in our lifetime. The notion of “Skynet” and other such sci-fi concepts are a long way off but as companies like Apple Inc., continue to dabble and deliver us the smallest tastes of what AI could do in the future, the reality inches nearer and nearer. It is a complex notion that ultimately requires us to invigorate a machine with all the qualities of humanity including free will and emotion. It’s a far-out concept, to say the least, but many scientists predict it could happen one day.