Advances in AI

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that is capable of scoring 90 percent on an 8th grade multiple choice science test. Unlike traditional AI systems, which rely on massive datasets to understand the world, the new system (known as Aristo) combines technologies for language processing, information extraction, knowledge representation and reasoning to develop a “commonsense” approach for answering open-ended questions.

But, although Aristo excels at retrieving information and making logical connections, it isn’t remotely comparable to a human. For example, questions that required students to interpret pictures of diagrams were removed for the purposes of testing since the AI system doesn’t have the skills to visually interpret them. Aristo is also no match for the human brain when it comes to parallel processing of multiple related functions. Recreating these capabilities would require thousands of CPUs and enormous amounts of power.

So, for the time being, the best systems will leverage the power of what AI does best – searching through vast amounts of data and calculating probabilities – while relying on human expertise for complex processes that require intuition, creativity and the ability to synthesize past experience with current information.