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Artificial Intelligence is simply a broad term meaning 'the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines'. The term accurately applies to any subtask

Artificial Intelligence is simply a broad term meaning 'the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines'. The term accurately applies to any subtask no matter how small that involves the automation of human intelligence, even if it is just recognizing dogs vs. cat images. Colloquially there is a false equivalence between A.I. and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), 'full' or 'strong' AI. AGI specifically denotes a system that can learn any intellectual task a human could learn. And such integrated intelligence is purely hypothetical as of now. I am active in NLP research and I have not encountered an instance of any academic claiming that their work is AGI. And terms and descriptions are usually domain- and task-specific, so not much has changed since your grad school time. Only those that work on grounding and multi-modality make the claim that their work is a step towards AGI. Which is true, as these researchers usually only claim that it is an exploration, an increment towards AGI. What you are seeing is commercial entities marketing their solutions as AGI. Mass media has given more exposure to that idea because it sounds scifi. Also often journalists let their imagination run a little when describing papers. I agree that is misleading but academics still have the same rigor.

dr_dshiv 5y ago
I like the definition you provide: "the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines" It would, of course, allow AI to exist that predates the invention of computers. Such as autopilot (1914) or the steam governor (1788), etc.
- gillesjacobs 5y ago
  What is considered AI is definitely on a constantly changing continuum. Take for instance the calculator, when introduced it eliminated the need for a team of human calculators who for difficult computations manually cross-checked each step. Some attributed the first commercially available mechanical calculator with human-like intelligence. Over time, such tools become so wide-spread that it is considered an affront to compare it to human intelligence. So now, we don't see calculators and autopilots as AI.
  - dr_dshiv 5y ago
    In your definition (which I like), AI is based on intent to simulate rather than perception. I agree that what is popularly considered AI is a moving goal-post — many don't see machine learning as AI either — e.g., it's just statistics. The term AI is very vague and misleading. It implicitly suggests a kind of magic. A lot of people believe in the magic, intended or not. I don't think this paper would be an issue at all if it was referring to a new foundation for GANs or transformers or deep learning — or anything more specific.
- teddyh 5y ago
  One could also quite reasonably ask what qualifies as a machine. Does an abacus count? Does pen and paper count?
  - sgt101 5y ago
    I think that's a foundational question! Does the sun count or the earth? Or people?
TomSwirly 5y ago
> Artificial Intelligence is simply a broad term meaning 'the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines'. Sure, but if so, Machine Learning is not AI, because the way a model "learns" is nothing like how humans learn, and gets radically different results.
omegalulw 5y ago
> the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines Because of this the term doesn't really apply to the uses you mentioned. We have no way to know if models are simulating anything or not. And most models, even big ones, fail when they have to adapt on new unseen data. It's completely fair to say that AI should have been used to mean AGI.

dr_dshiv 5y ago

I like the definition you provide: "the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines" It would, of course, allow AI to exist that predates the invention of computers. Such as autopilot (1914) or the steam governor (1788), etc.

gillesjacobs 5y ago
What is considered AI is definitely on a constantly changing continuum. Take for instance the calculator, when introduced it eliminated the need for a team of human calculators who for difficult computations manually cross-checked each step. Some attributed the first commercially available mechanical calculator with human-like intelligence. Over time, such tools become so wide-spread that it is considered an affront to compare it to human intelligence. So now, we don't see calculators and autopilots as AI.
- dr_dshiv 5y ago
  In your definition (which I like), AI is based on intent to simulate rather than perception. I agree that what is popularly considered AI is a moving goal-post — many don't see machine learning as AI either — e.g., it's just statistics. The term AI is very vague and misleading. It implicitly suggests a kind of magic. A lot of people believe in the magic, intended or not. I don't think this paper would be an issue at all if it was referring to a new foundation for GANs or transformers or deep learning — or anything more specific.
teddyh 5y ago
One could also quite reasonably ask what qualifies as a machine. Does an abacus count? Does pen and paper count?
- sgt101 5y ago
  I think that's a foundational question! Does the sun count or the earth? Or people?

TomSwirly 5y ago

> Artificial Intelligence is simply a broad term meaning 'the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines'. Sure, but if so, Machine Learning is not AI, because the way a model "learns" is nothing like how humans learn, and gets radically different results.

omegalulw 5y ago

> the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines Because of this the term doesn't really apply to the uses you mentioned. We have no way to know if models are simulating anything or not. And most models, even big ones, fail when they have to adapt on new unseen data. It's completely fair to say that AI should have been used to mean AGI.