Avoiding another AI winter
A while back I felt like I have been put to sleep for a decade or so and I have missed out on innovations in AI (artificial intelligence) -- innovations that long-time AI enthusiasts like me have always been dreaming of. This feeling was triggered by a barrage of articles in the mainstream media -- articles heralding the coming of AI with bold headlines that would make "The Soviets are coming" during the height of the Cold War fade in comparison: "Computer chip thinks like a human being", "Computer brains that reason like humans", and "A radical new AI that does anything you ask". The hype was (and still is!) so extreme that it has prompted the likes of Bill Gates and Professor Stephen Hawking to speak of the potential dangers of super intelligent machines!