Abstract
This chapter analyzes developmental trends in robotization and artificial intelligence. The chapter begins by providing a brief history of artificial intelligence, focusing on developments during the 20th century. The chapter then examines developments of robot applications as well as their impacts on various economic sectors. Next, the ways in which AI have replaced advanced mental labor are examined, such as journalism. The chapter then focuses on the development of machine learning and deep learning. This is followed by a discussion of how AI can now be purchased and used via cloud services. The chapter concludes by considering the difficult question of whether AI can be creative and by considering security concerns related to AI.
TopThe History Of Artificial Intelligence
For many centuries, there have been legends about golems in Europe. The legend holds that these strong clay beasts protect the Jews from aggression and pogroms, and that they are animated by spells, devoid of feelings and scrupulousness, and listen only to the commands of their master. This monstrosity is mainly associated with the Czech Prague. It was there that the Jews were to build this monster, where it was to take to the streets and spread destruction. However, the legend holds that Golems are not intelligent and that the command to perform a task is done literally because, by nature, they are perfectly obedient.
Figure 1. The concept of a super-strong Golem, albeit without its own opinion (Photo: Wikipedia.org)
In the 19th century, this legend inspired the superhuman element in the novel Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus (1818), invented by Mary Shelley (1797–1851) with her great imagination (abusing drugs on a vacation on Lake Geneva in the company of Lord Byron “king of life” and others). In the novel, the Italian-Swiss scientist Victor Frankenstein (born in Naples, Italy) gains insight into the creation of life after dissecting living beings and studying their chemical processes. He then gives life to his creation, often referred to as the “Frankenstein monster”, or more colloquially “Frankenstein.” This superman rebels against his creator and, by his actions, leads to his destruction.
Figure 2. Frankenstein’s superhuman creature that destroyed itself (Photo: TCD/VP/LMKMEDIA)
One hundred years later, the legend of creating artificial life returned in the play The Intelligent Robot of Czech, authored by Karela Čzapek, whose Slavic term “robot” entered permanently into English terminology in modern science and artificial intelligence technology. Since then, this has inspired the development of science fiction literature as well as developments in cybernetics and artificial intelligence. Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 outline the most important uses of AI as a specialization of cybernetics.
Table 1. Essential applications of cybernetics and artificial intelligence in the years 1920-1950)
| Date | Contribution/
Title of Work | Author | Country and University | Comments |
| 1920 | R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots (play) | Karel Čzapek (1890-1938) | Austria-Hungary (Czech Republic) | This work of art introduced the term “robot.” The term has its origin in Czech words meaning “forced labor” and “to work”. |
| 1938-1946 | Black Destroyer;
Future Story;
Runaround;
I, Robot;
Man from Mars | A. E. van Vogt (1912-2000);
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988);
Isaac Asimov (1922-1992);
Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006) | USA
Poland | This was the Golden Age of science fiction books.
Lem’s books have been published in 41 countries with 45 million copies. |
| 1943 | A Logical Calculus of the Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity | Warren McCulloch (1898-1969)
Walter Pitts (1923-1969) | University of Illinois, USA | They developed the mathematical model “threshold logic”, based on bioprocesses and artificial neural networks constructed from electrical circuits. |
| 1945 | As We May Think | Vannevar Bush (1890-1974); he oversaw Shannon’s master’s thesis-a pioneer of binary electronics and information theory | MIT, USA | During world war II, he oversaw the Manhattan Project and the development of the ENIAC computer. |
| 1946 | Automatic homeostat;
ANI (Artificial Narrow Intelligence) | W. Ross Ashby (1903-1972) | United Kingdom | He explored self-learning with mice using a labyrinth. |
| 1948 | Manchester Mark I computer with a stored program | Frederic C. Williams
(1911-1977)
Tom Kilburn (1921-2001)
Geoff Tootill (1922-2017) | United Kingdom | Their development allowed logical inference programming. |
| 1948 | Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine | Norbert Wiener
(1894-1964) | MIT, USA | He developed feedback and self-controlling systems. |
| 1950 | Computing Machinery and Intelligence | Alan Turing (1912-1954) | United Kingdom | He famously addressed the question “can machines think?” and developed the Turing Test. |
Key Terms in this Chapter
Machine Learning: The design and application of computer algorithms that automatically improve when using data.
Neural Network: A network loosely modeled on biological neurons that is used in deep learning to automatically improve computer algorithms and processes.
Resourcing: The process by which a country that had previously outsourced manufacturing brings it back due to automation and robotization.
Deep Learning: A type of machine learning based on the use of neural networks.
Artificial Intelligence: The use of computer algorithms to performs tasks associated with human intelligence.
Machine Vision: A technology that provides automatic imaging analysis.
IMB Watson: An artificial intelligence system designed by IBM that is capable of answering questions asked in natural languages.
Robo-Journalism: The application of artificial intelligence to the field of journalism.