The field of Artificial Intelligence was founded in 1956 by a handful of scientists, who had been inspired by the invention of the programmable digital computer in the 1940's, capable of performing mathematical calculation. The group forecast that a machine, matching the level of intelligence of a human being would be in existence, 'in no longer than a generation'. Obviously those predictions turned out to be wildly optimistic.

The idea of copying the brain and its functionality seems a very feasible one; however, there are many things that are extremely difficult for a machine to comprehend. The human brain makes use of rational thinking and reasoning, stemming from the ability to assess the current situation or circumstance. These cognitive processes come from prior knowledge contained within the mind, that determine the behavior of the individual. In order for Artificial Intelligence to rationalise the situation in a similar way, it would require existing knowledge of its environment, the situation and how to deal with it - much like a human being.

The only obvious way to overcome this problem, is to teach the machine the knowledge it needs; however, this would require an astronomical amount of information. A long-standing problem was the lack of computer power, although this is increasing rapidly as each year goes by, which in turn creates more and more possibilities. A project was started in the 1980's that addressed the knowledge problem, by simply teaching a machine human concepts, one at a time, with the creator arguing that there is no shortcut. However, this project was not expected to be completed for some decades.

There is a clear paradox with Artificial Intelligence when compared to human beings, as they can solve the most complex mathematical problems, but find great difficulty in moving from one side of the room to the other without bumping into anything!

There are huge problems to overcome but I believe that they can solve all of the major issues in time. Solutions have recently been discovered that seemed impossible just decades ago - some of the original goals set in the 1950's are finally being achieved. For example, for the first time, in 1997, a computer (Deep Blue) beat the reigning world chess champion. This was predicted to occur decades earlier; a forecast which failed to deliver on time.

Artificial Intelligence raises the philosophical issue of the mind and body. Is the mind a result of the human body and its processes, or is the mind a separate matter that is simply located in a human body (a soul)? These ancient questions could well be answered as research into AI continues.

If a machine is developed, which has the intelligence level of a human being, the impact it would have on the world would be, in my opinion, so great that it is difficult to even comprehend at this time. The world - as we know it - would not exist. It would be like a revolution. Human tasks would be minimised to an extreme and there would not be the same demands on the human mind. Such a transition could de-value the human life and create a very disposable world.

Despite the dramatic alteration in the way we live our lives, it is likely that humans will be eased into a world of AI, so they will be able to cope with the transition as it will simply be the norm - much like the world we live in now is the norm to us. I believe the current environment is the beginning of this transition, as technology begins to surpass everybody's expectations.

We had our first proper lecture today, which was far from boring to be fair. The brain-storming and the discussions about the various questions was fun, even if I wasn't quite sure of the point of the questions.

Then to the pub for some drink, pool, dinner and quiz machine. Becoming a bit of a regular thing, which I'm pretty sure my bank account resents already.

We then had our first proper practical session, in which we were introduced to Pixilation and using still images as frames to be made into a motion clip.

I think our group had a bit of a different take on this task as we promptly decided to build a rather mint prop, whilst the other groups were off taking their shots. It took some work, but we built a box monster thing out of card board boxes. Yes it is as mint as it sounds :p

After building the essential prop, we got about 60 shots done today out of a planned 420 odd. We're going in tomorrow to - hopefully - finish it off. It's not looking bad so far. I think the final, edited clips will be uploaded onto YouTube in about 3 weeks, so I'll post that then.

I bet no-one else has a box monster leading the cast in the star role ;)

Ste.

Half way through and not done much yet.

I live at home, which is a real bitch as I can't get home if I go out at night. And I haven't found a floor to crash on yet.

The party starts on Friday and Saturday with a late bus back to where I live. Or maybe I'll just go out tonight and wait for the earliest bus in the morning? Or maybe someone might be kind enough to let me sleep on their floor. Or in their bath. I don't really care.

Looking forward to Saturday, although not sure what to do yet. Want to play 5-a-side football... but pretty handy on rockband too.

As for the course, sat through some talks which, erm... dragged on a bit. Did some animations on whiteboards which was pretty fun and pinhole camera stuff later today which sounds pretty cool.

Been to the pub A LOT and wasted so much money already on the quiz machine and pool table. Think I need to revise my budget.

Should be a good week though and a good year.

Ste.

EDIT:
The whiteboard animations we did are now on YouTube. Ours is the 1st one shown.


I went out on Friday, but only to the pub for my mates birthday.
Went into Notts on Saturday night though with a mate which was a good laugh. We didn't go to the Union because my mate's not a student. We just went to random bars and clubs and ended up doing a bit of a bar crawl. Went in 8 places and had at least 1 drink in each. We paid £18 just to get in places!! Got the 1 hour bus trip back to Kirkby at 3am and stopped at my girlfriends (who wasn't impressed with the state I was in - haha). Was a good night.

I already have fairly developed skills in certain areas of multimedia such as web design and graphic design. So in order to prevent my potential career path becoming so one-dimensional, I would like to gain a greater knowledge and further my skills in the other areas of multimedia.
Hopefully, this will present a much broader range of opportunites when searching for a profession.

As well as developing new skills in other areas, I am also hoping to further my knowledge of web and graphical design.

Towards the end of the course, I hope to have built some bridges with potential employers, so the process of entering employment from education is an easy one.

But mainly, I want to leave NTU with memories. Lots of good memories.

Ste.