Artificial intelligence: Frequently asked questions about AI

The advancement of artificial intelligence is progressing at a breakneck pace. While the technology is changing rapidly, the basic principles behind AI aren’t new. 

Artificial intelligence has been around for many years, and has been built upon by many different developers. Today, some of the most well known AIs include chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard, with many more to come. 

These AIs have become more sophisticated and refined over the course of many iterations. These advancements are bringing AI to levels reaching what would be considered “strong AI,” a machine that essentially has the same capabilities as a human mind. 

There have been many artificial intelligence advancements made in recent years, bringing software closer to reaching “strong AI” status.  (iStock)

Following are links to articles that answer some of the most-asked questions about AI. 

1. What is AI?
2. What are the four main types of artifical intelligence
3. What is the history of AI?

1. What is AI?

AI, or artificial intelligence, is a branch of computer science that is designed to understand and store human intelligence, mimic human capabilities including the completion of tasks, process human language and perform speech recognition. AI is the leading innovation in technology today and its primary goal is to eliminate tedious tasks and assist in immediately accessing extremely detailed and hyper-focused information and data.

2. What are the four main types of artifical intelligence?

The four main types of artificial intelligence are reactive machines, limited memory, theory of mind and self-awareness.  (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

The four main types of AI are reactive machines, limited memory, theory of mind and self-awareness. The most basic forms of AI are reactive machines and limited memory. Theory of mind and self-awareness are two stages in AI that are theoretical as of now, as they are still being developed. In the future, these two forms of AI could be among us. For a machine to reach the self-awareness stage of development, the most complex stage, it would need to possess the ability to form its own identity and become self-aware, as the name of the stage implies. 

3. What is the history of AI?

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a newer development in AI. (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images))

While there are many recent developments in the AI field, the premise of it is not new, and the history of AI dates back to before chatbots. Some of the earliest names in AI were Alan Turing, who created the Turing machine, Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts, who expanded upon Turing’s ideas and John McCarthy, who coined the term “artificial intelligence.”