Tonight, we discussed a few basics of artificial intelligence. It turns out that this covers a very broad area of computer science research. We barely covered the meaning of artificial intelligence, but it boils down to creating aspects of human thinking, learning, perception, and communication in computers and machines. Our chatty guest this evening was Jude Shavlik, computer science professor at UW-Madison and 2006 Fellow at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, who talked with PNM’s Dennis Shaffer.

Some of the current technology that use artificial intelligence include smart phones, SIRI, visual recognition, smart cars, the IBM supercomputer Watson. Jude also discussed bits of his research in machine learning. He’s been able to program positive reinforcement into his algorithms to improve skill level of computer soccer player’s game playing.

For further information on artificial intelligence, check out Wikipedia and the online Encyclopaedia Britannica.