Why Cognitive Technology May Be A Better Term Than Artificial Intelligence
Read this article by Kathleen Walch in Forbes about why cognitive technology may be a better term than artificial intelligence.
One of the challenges for those tracking the artificial intelligence industry is that, surprisingly, there’s no accepted, standard definition of what artificial intelligence really is. AI luminaries all have slightly different definitions of what AI is. Rodney Brooks says that “artificial intelligence doesn’t mean one thing… it’s a collection of practices and pieces that people put together”. Of course, that’s not particularly settling for companies that need to understand the breadth of what AI technologies are and how to apply them to their specific needs.
In general, most people would agree that the fundamental goals of AI are to enable machines to have cognition, perception, and decision-making capabilities that previously only humans or other intelligent creatures have. Max Tegmark simply defines AI as “intelligence that is not biological”. Simple enough but we don’t fully understand what biological intelligence itself means, and so trying to build it artificially is a challenge.
At the most abstract level, AI is machine behavior and functions that mimic the intelligence and behavior of humans. Specifically, this usually refers to what we come to think of as learning, problem solving, understanding and interacting with the real-world environment, and conversations and linguistic communication. However the specifics matter, especially when we’re trying to apply that intelligence to solve very specific problems businesses, organizations, and individuals have.
Read the full article in Forbes here.
