Arlindo Oliveira
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262036030
- eISBN:
- 9780262338394
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036030.001.0001
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
This book addresses the connections between computers, life, evolution, brains, and minds. Digital computers are recent and have changed our society. However, they represent just the latest way to ...
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This book addresses the connections between computers, life, evolution, brains, and minds. Digital computers are recent and have changed our society. However, they represent just the latest way to process information, using algorithms to create order out of chaos. Before computers, the job of processing information was done by living organisms, which are nothing more than complex information processing devices, shaped by billions of years of evolution. The most advanced of these information processing devices is the human brain. Brains enable humans to process information in a way unparalleled by any other species, living or extinct, or by any existing machine. They provide humans with intelligence, consciousness and, some believe, even with a soul. Brains also enabled humans to develop science and technology to a point where it is possible to design computers with a power comparable to that of the human brain. Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies will one day make it possible to create intelligent machines and computational biology will one day enable us to model, simulate, and understand biological systems and even complete brains, with unprecedented levels of detail. From these efforts, new minds will eventually emerge, minds that will emanate from the execution of programs running in powerful computers. These digital minds may one day rival our own, become our partners, and replace humans in many tasks. They may usher in a technological singularity, may make humans obsolete or even a threatened species. They make us super-humans or demi-gods.Less
This book addresses the connections between computers, life, evolution, brains, and minds. Digital computers are recent and have changed our society. However, they represent just the latest way to process information, using algorithms to create order out of chaos. Before computers, the job of processing information was done by living organisms, which are nothing more than complex information processing devices, shaped by billions of years of evolution. The most advanced of these information processing devices is the human brain. Brains enable humans to process information in a way unparalleled by any other species, living or extinct, or by any existing machine. They provide humans with intelligence, consciousness and, some believe, even with a soul. Brains also enabled humans to develop science and technology to a point where it is possible to design computers with a power comparable to that of the human brain. Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies will one day make it possible to create intelligent machines and computational biology will one day enable us to model, simulate, and understand biological systems and even complete brains, with unprecedented levels of detail. From these efforts, new minds will eventually emerge, minds that will emanate from the execution of programs running in powerful computers. These digital minds may one day rival our own, become our partners, and replace humans in many tasks. They may usher in a technological singularity, may make humans obsolete or even a threatened species. They make us super-humans or demi-gods.
Arlindo Oliveira
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262036030
- eISBN:
- 9780262338394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036030.003.0005
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
This chapter addresses the question of whether a computer can become intelligent and how to test for that possibility. It introduces the idea of the Turing test, a test developed to determine, in an ...
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This chapter addresses the question of whether a computer can become intelligent and how to test for that possibility. It introduces the idea of the Turing test, a test developed to determine, in an unbiased way, whether a program running in a computer is, or is not, intelligent. The development of artificial intelligence led, in time, to many applications of computers that are not possible using “non-intelligent” programs. One important area in artificial intelligence is machine learning, the technology that makes possible that computers learn, from existing data, in ways similar to the ways humans learn. A number of approach to perform machine learning is addressed in this chapter, including neural networks, decision trees and Bayesian learning. The chapter concludes by arguing that the brain is, in reality, a very sophisticated statistical machine aimed at improving the chances of survival of its owner.Less
This chapter addresses the question of whether a computer can become intelligent and how to test for that possibility. It introduces the idea of the Turing test, a test developed to determine, in an unbiased way, whether a program running in a computer is, or is not, intelligent. The development of artificial intelligence led, in time, to many applications of computers that are not possible using “non-intelligent” programs. One important area in artificial intelligence is machine learning, the technology that makes possible that computers learn, from existing data, in ways similar to the ways humans learn. A number of approach to perform machine learning is addressed in this chapter, including neural networks, decision trees and Bayesian learning. The chapter concludes by arguing that the brain is, in reality, a very sophisticated statistical machine aimed at improving the chances of survival of its owner.
Alexandre Todorov
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034685
- eISBN:
- 9780262335522
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034685.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Biomathematics / Statistics and Data Analysis / Complexity Studies
The aim of the RELIEF algorithm is to filter out features (e.g., genes, environmental factors) that are relevant to a trait of interest, starting from a set of that may include thousands of ...
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The aim of the RELIEF algorithm is to filter out features (e.g., genes, environmental factors) that are relevant to a trait of interest, starting from a set of that may include thousands of irrelevant features. Though widely used in many fields, its application to the study of gene-environment interaction studies has been limited thus far. We provide here an overview of this machine learning algorithm and some of its variants. Using simulated data, we then compare of the performance of RELIEF to that of logistic regression for screening for gene-environment interactions in SNP data. Even though performance degrades in larger sets of markers, RELIEF remains a competitive alternative to logistic regression, and shows clear promise as a tool for the study of gene-environment interactions. Areas for further improvements of the algorithm are then suggested.Less
The aim of the RELIEF algorithm is to filter out features (e.g., genes, environmental factors) that are relevant to a trait of interest, starting from a set of that may include thousands of irrelevant features. Though widely used in many fields, its application to the study of gene-environment interaction studies has been limited thus far. We provide here an overview of this machine learning algorithm and some of its variants. Using simulated data, we then compare of the performance of RELIEF to that of logistic regression for screening for gene-environment interactions in SNP data. Even though performance degrades in larger sets of markers, RELIEF remains a competitive alternative to logistic regression, and shows clear promise as a tool for the study of gene-environment interactions. Areas for further improvements of the algorithm are then suggested.
Antonio Torralba and Adolfo Plasencia
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262036016
- eISBN:
- 9780262339308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036016.003.0027
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Antonio Torralba, member of MIT CSAIL, opens the dialogue by describing the research he performs in the field of computer vision and related artificial intelligence (AI). He also compares the ...
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Antonio Torralba, member of MIT CSAIL, opens the dialogue by describing the research he performs in the field of computer vision and related artificial intelligence (AI). He also compares the conceptual differences and the context of the early days of artificial intelligence—where hardly any image recording devices existed—with the present situation, in which an enormous amount of data is available. Next, through the use of examples, he talks about the huge complexity faced by research in computer vision to get computers and machines to understand the meanings of what they “see” in the scenes, and the objects they contain, by means of digital cameras. As he explains afterward, the challenge of this complexity for computer vision processing is particularly noticeable in settings involving robots, or driverless cars, where it makes no sense to develop vision systems that can see if they cannot learn. Later he argues why today’s computer systems have to learn “to see” because if there is no learning process, for example machine learning, they will never be able to make autonomous decisions.Less
Antonio Torralba, member of MIT CSAIL, opens the dialogue by describing the research he performs in the field of computer vision and related artificial intelligence (AI). He also compares the conceptual differences and the context of the early days of artificial intelligence—where hardly any image recording devices existed—with the present situation, in which an enormous amount of data is available. Next, through the use of examples, he talks about the huge complexity faced by research in computer vision to get computers and machines to understand the meanings of what they “see” in the scenes, and the objects they contain, by means of digital cameras. As he explains afterward, the challenge of this complexity for computer vision processing is particularly noticeable in settings involving robots, or driverless cars, where it makes no sense to develop vision systems that can see if they cannot learn. Later he argues why today’s computer systems have to learn “to see” because if there is no learning process, for example machine learning, they will never be able to make autonomous decisions.
Anders Drachen and Shawn Connor
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198794844
- eISBN:
- 9780191836336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794844.003.0019
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Logic / Computer Science / Mathematical Philosophy, Computational Mathematics / Optimization
Game Analytics (GA) provides new ways to conduct user research, counteracting some of the weaknesses of traditional approaches while retaining essential compatibility with the methodologies of GUR. ...
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Game Analytics (GA) provides new ways to conduct user research, counteracting some of the weaknesses of traditional approaches while retaining essential compatibility with the methodologies of GUR. This chapter provides an overview of what GA is and how it fits within the daily operations of game development across studio sizes, with an emphasis on the intersection with GUR and the synergies that can be leveraged across analytics and user research.Less
Game Analytics (GA) provides new ways to conduct user research, counteracting some of the weaknesses of traditional approaches while retaining essential compatibility with the methodologies of GUR. This chapter provides an overview of what GA is and how it fits within the daily operations of game development across studio sizes, with an emphasis on the intersection with GUR and the synergies that can be leveraged across analytics and user research.
Andrea Moro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034890
- eISBN:
- 9780262335621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034890.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Psycholinguistics / Neurolinguistics / Cognitive Linguistics
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, whether there are impossible ...
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Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, whether there are impossible languages at all. The chapter focuses on syntax, the capacity to generate potentially infinite sentences from a fixed limited set of words: ever since Descartes this has been considered the fingerprint of human mind. Modern syntax has allowed a mathematical approach to this domain.Less
Understanding the nature and the structure of human language coincides with capturing the constraints which make a conceivable language possible or, equivalently, whether there are impossible languages at all. The chapter focuses on syntax, the capacity to generate potentially infinite sentences from a fixed limited set of words: ever since Descartes this has been considered the fingerprint of human mind. Modern syntax has allowed a mathematical approach to this domain.
Ricardo Baeza-Yates and Adolfo Ricardo
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262036016
- eISBN:
- 9780262339308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036016.003.0017
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
In this dialogue, the computer scientist Ricardo Baeza-Yates explains why search technologies enable behavioral patterns which are more deterministic for some people rather than others to be ...
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In this dialogue, the computer scientist Ricardo Baeza-Yates explains why search technologies enable behavioral patterns which are more deterministic for some people rather than others to be predicted. And why people have in their behavior a long tail. He explains later why we feel more comfortable with determinism, which is one reason for the adoption of the semantic web taking so long. Ricardo doesn’t believe in the existence of a Kibernos (kubernetes) steering the Internet. He argues that the fact the Internet has not been dominated by any power in the physical world is not related to its size, but rather to its diversity. He then explains that artificial intelligence is related both to a complex critical mass and to computing capabilities. He also argues why not everyone is able to innovate— there is no algorithm that exists to achieve success— and why innovation is something that cannot be replicated. Finally, he explains how the Internet is broadening our social horizons and is a mirror of what we are; the way it allows us to control the devil in us, and how their mechanisms exercise control over the misuse of technology.Less
In this dialogue, the computer scientist Ricardo Baeza-Yates explains why search technologies enable behavioral patterns which are more deterministic for some people rather than others to be predicted. And why people have in their behavior a long tail. He explains later why we feel more comfortable with determinism, which is one reason for the adoption of the semantic web taking so long. Ricardo doesn’t believe in the existence of a Kibernos (kubernetes) steering the Internet. He argues that the fact the Internet has not been dominated by any power in the physical world is not related to its size, but rather to its diversity. He then explains that artificial intelligence is related both to a complex critical mass and to computing capabilities. He also argues why not everyone is able to innovate— there is no algorithm that exists to achieve success— and why innovation is something that cannot be replicated. Finally, he explains how the Internet is broadening our social horizons and is a mirror of what we are; the way it allows us to control the devil in us, and how their mechanisms exercise control over the misuse of technology.
Lysiane Charest
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198794844
- eISBN:
- 9780191836336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198794844.003.0020
- Subject:
- Mathematics, Logic / Computer Science / Mathematical Philosophy, Computational Mathematics / Optimization
This chapter is aimed at small-to-medium-sized studios wanting to introduce analytics into their development process. It focuses on concepts and techniques that are most useful for smaller studios, ...
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This chapter is aimed at small-to-medium-sized studios wanting to introduce analytics into their development process. It focuses on concepts and techniques that are most useful for smaller studios, and that require minimal skills. While money is always an issue, plenty of free analytics tools exist, whether they are third-party tools or simple in-house solutions. The chapter details how the most important factor is the availability of human resources.Less
This chapter is aimed at small-to-medium-sized studios wanting to introduce analytics into their development process. It focuses on concepts and techniques that are most useful for smaller studios, and that require minimal skills. While money is always an issue, plenty of free analytics tools exist, whether they are third-party tools or simple in-house solutions. The chapter details how the most important factor is the availability of human resources.
