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For centuries, humans have given a lot of thought to what separates them from the animals. Though there are a lot of differences between us and animals, many argue that it is our superior reasoning abilities that truly sets us apart. In more recent years, we’ve turned our attention to what distinguishes humans from machines. In a short amount of time, artificial intelligence science has advanced so quickly that computers now seem more human than ever. The greatest obstacle in creating artificial intelligence is not creating something intelligent. The challenge is creating something that seems human. Throughout the short history of artificial intelligence science, a number of tests have been proposed that will differentiate between true artificial intelligence and a wannabe. The Turing Test Alan Turing, a British code breaker who inspired the movie The Imitation Game, was one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence science. He proposed a test he called the imitation game, later renamed the Turing Test, that would distinguish whether a machine could be said to be artificially intelligent. The test is simple in concept but extremely difficult to actually pass. The test works by having a machine carry on a conversation with a human acting as judge. If the human cannot distinguish a machine from a human through conversation alone (the human doesn’t get to see the machine so it doesn’t have to look human) then it is said to have passed the Turing Test. Tricking the Turing Test What Alan Turing couldn’t have predicted is the devious nature of computer programmers who would set out to devise a machine that could trick his test rather than embody true artificial intelligence. Only in the last couple of years have machines been able to trick human judges into believing they’re carrying on a conversation with another human. The problem with these machines is they can do one thing, and one thing only. The Lovelace Test Now that the Turing Test has been bested, a test proposed in 2001 by Selmer Bringsjord, Paul Bello, and David Ferrucci called the Lovelace Test is being used to distinguish man from machine. For the Lovelace Test, a human judge asks an artificially intelligence machine to create some piece of art, either a poem, story, or picture. Next the human judge gives a criterion, for example, write a poem about a cat. If a machine can follow this direction, it’s said to be sufficiently human. What about empathy? Recently, there has been some thought about what society really wants out of an artificially intelligent machine. It’s great if they can carry on a conversation or produce art, but what about those human emotions that set us apart from machines. In a recent panel discussion at Robotronica 2015, panelists discussed what human emotions it would be important for artificial intelligence to obtain. Empathy was first on the list. If a machine could feel empathy, humans won’t need to fear artificial intelligence as we tend to do. Artificial Intelligence News brought to you by artificialbrilliance.com Source: phys.org/news/2015-08-human-emotions-artificial-intelligence.html

If you were to make a list of the greatest video games ever made, the original Super Mario Bros. made for the Nintendo System would have to be towards the top of that list. Thanks to original game mechanics and challenging level designs, Super Mario Bros. was an instant classic and remains popular today—30 years later. But retro-gaming enthusiasts aren’t the only ones still playing Super Mario Bros. As it turns out, the classic video game is a huge hit with artificial intelligence developers. That’s because they often use the video game to test the intelligence of their systems. How the test works Artificial intelligence researchers use Super Mario Bros. to test AI in a couple of different ways. The first is that they attempt to program an AI system to successfully beat the game from beginning to end. To do this, the AI system needs to learn the nuances of the game in order to time jumps perfectly, avoid enemies, and successfully reach the end of each level before time expires. From 2009 to 2012, AI researchers even held a Mario AI competition to where competitors tried to design AI that could complete the game in the fastest time. AI researchers are also programming artificial intelligence to design playable levels that will provide players with a challenge without being too difficult. Researchers believe that artificial intelligence may soon be used to assist humans with level design. Why Super Mario Bros. You may be wondering, out of all the ways to test an AI system, why use a video game. As it turns out, video games are an ideal way to test artificial intelligence because they require the use of logic, creativity, situational awareness, and decision-making skills to successfully beat the game. All of these skills are necessary in the quest for true artificial intelligence. But of the tens of thousands of video games to choose from, why Super Mario Bros.? AI researchers cite two primary reasons: first, they just love to play the game like the rest of us and second, the classic platformer game’s perfect mix of complexity and simplicity combined with finely-tuned mechanics make it an ideal game for artificial intelligence testing. While early AI systems used Atari games for testing, it’s too simplistic today thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence. But side-scrolling games like Super Mario Bros. present a bit more of a challenge because a good percentage of the level design can’t be observed by AI at any given time. Artificial Intelligence News brought to you by artificialbrilliance.com Source: motherboard.vice.com/read/why-artificial-intelligence-researchers-love-super-mario-bros