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The Curious Case of Artificial Intelligence

Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where no one suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program, entire crops were lost. Some belived that we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world...But I belive, that as a species, human beings define their reality though misery and suffering. - Agent Smith, The Matrix
This is probably the best way to define the human case. Infact, it is the best way to define the case of any sentient species. It is not our advances that define us, but our failures and imperfections. Today, my friend and i were having a very animated discussion on Artificial Intelligence at office. He spoke of AI agents and fuzzy logic and i was going on and on about the powers and shortcomings of the Artificial Neural Networks. All that talk led us to how technology and science has advanced to some very brilliant leads in this vast and illusive field, which encompasses Computational Theory, Biology, The study of the Brain, Psychology and Mathematics. However, very soon we started talking about what is yet to be done and we soon came to a common conclusion: there is no point in understanding and studying artificial intelligence, if the final aim of the subject is to emulate human/animal thinking. Why? Simply because of the fact that human thinking is about how we make mistakes and recover from them, not how brilliant we are at coming up with the best algorithms and solutions. You ought to study Natural Stupidity instead of Artificial Intelligence to really get a grasp of how human beings think. But then, is that really the true purpose of the subject. I think not. I think the crux of Artificial Intelligence is to develop some very superior methods of evaluating tough and computationally difficult problems. It is more about taking the efficiency and speed of a machine, and the computational agility of a natural brain i.e. the best of both worlds. While we have already understood and mastered the way of the machine and its efficiency and speed, we are yet to tackle the more complex issue of the brain. It is due to this exact situation, that the study or probably the exploration of the brain has been associated very vehemently with the study of AI. Many do not realize that it is not the central focus of the subject. For had it been that way, then every AI course would require a minor prerequisite course in Biology. Computer Scientists have always first tried to see if they could introduce the agility of a natural brain into their algorithms. They probably never wanted to even look at the brain beyond a point. It so happens that boolean algebra has its limitations. Or atleast we do in getting a complete grasp of the matter. Let me assure you this, the day the scientists have found a means to do what i just mentioned, a significant population of the world will loose interest in understanding the brain. I have always believed, that the day we can define a "smile" in terms of mathematical equations, we have shut the case of AI. Maybe that day, the difference between our brain and the best known algorithm would be close to nothing. But then the question remains, who will have to shift to bridge the gap? Will we finally unlock the secret to the brain and emotions as they exist today? Or will we have changed so much, in our quest for the answers, that our own thinking and emotions would become more machine like? Here is a random thought: if we were to unlock the secrets of the brain, would we not have developed mentally in doing so, and thus there would be so much more to learn about our newly developed aspects of our brain? So isn't it really a chase? One which we cannot win? And thus, does it not make sense to just come out with the superior algorithms instead of going whole hog on the mysteries of the mind? Food for thought.