A Brief Development History Of AI, And Stephen Hawking’s View On Artificial Intelligence

One Of The Greatest Scientist Of The Time, Stephen Hawking Says That Human Race  Is Doomed If We Do Not Colonize The Moon and Mars
  • Artificial Intelligence, simply popular as AI, has been one of the leading fields of curiosity and development in the field of computer technology.
  • In this session, we will learn about a brief developmental history of AI, and what Stephen Hawking had to say regarding AI.

A visualization of AI
A visualization of AI(Source: MIT Technology Review)

Also read The phenomenal physicist and author of “A Brief History of Time”, Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76

A Brief Timeline on AI

Ideas on the development of Artificial Intelligence began with the development of modern computing. Below is a brief timeline of the breakthroughs in AI.

1950

Turing test on computer intelligence – Alan Turing proposed a test for computer intelligence: A computer would have passed when its text-based conversation is indistinguishable from that of humans.

1956

‘Artificial intelligence’ is coined – The leading minds of the time gathered at Dartmouth University to discuss the possibility of machines that can think. The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ than stuck out.

1968

2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick’s space epic introduced HAL 9000, a paranoid computer that attempted to kill all the spacemen on the spacecraft it controlled.

A still from 2001: A Space Odeyssey
A still from 2001: A Space Odyssey(Source: drnorth.wordpress)

1970s

AI Winter – Amid disappointment about a lack of progress, organizations including the US government arm DARPA reduce investment in the field of research and development of AI.

1984

Terminator is released – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s blockbuster has been the doomsday scenario for artificial intelligence since it was released.

Terminator 1
Terminator 1(Source: YouTube)

1997

Deep Blue defeats Kasparov – IBM’s computer Deep Blue, beat the world chess champion Kasparov in over six games.

2011

Watson wins Jeopardy – As another IBM victory, the artificially-intelligent system defeated two human players on the popular quiz show.

Siri – Apple’s intelligent assistant ‘Siri’ debuts on the iPhone. It has improved dramatically since then.

Siri
Siri(Source: Apple Store)

2012

Driverless cars – Announced in 2009, Google’s driverless cars finally make their way onto Californian roads.

2016

DeepMind beats champion Go player – Seen as a breakthrough, the deep learning system used by DeepMind’s AlphaGo breaks one of the holy grails of AI; defeats the world champion of the ancient board game Go.

Google Deepmind
Google Deepmind(Source: Extreme Mind)

Stephen Hawking’s View on AI

Professor Hawking said that the invention of AI could be the biggest disaster in humanity’s history. He also went on to warn that if artificial intelligence is not properly managed, the self-thinking machines could mean the end of the whole civilization.

“The rise of powerful AI will be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity. We do not know which,”

he said.

“It will bring great disruption to our economy, and in the future AI could develop a will of its own that is in conflict with ours.”

Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking(Source: Math Tutor DVD)

Professor Hawking also said that while the technology promises to bring some great benefits, “it will also bring dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons or new ways for the few to oppress the many”. A celebrated critic of making unchecked advances in AI, Hawking had been one of the most high-profile skeptics of artificial intelligence.

More than 1,000 other experts and researchers signed an open letter, warning of the hazards of artificially intelligent weapons back in 2015, of whom Hawking was one.

Also read Professor Stephen Hawking Says US President Donald Trump’s Climate Stance Could Damage Earth, Concerns Over The Future Of Human Species

Stephen Hawking life

Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author. At present, he was also the Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. His scientific works include a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called ‘Hawking radiation.’

\Furthermore, Hawking was the first person to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a combination of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

Short bio on Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist who is recognized to be one of the greatest scientists to date. Stephen William Hawking was his birth name but people know him as Stephen Hawking.

He was currently the director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, University of Cambridge. Hawking was best known for his paralysis disability which has left him wheelchair-bound. See more…

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