A.I. Dev : Mark Sagar

Hi All,

A new day and I have come with a new topic that would not only engage but also fascinate all of you if not make your mind exploring and experimenting in its own unique way.

In this 'A.I. DEV. Series' we shall talk, obviously, about A.I. - Artificial Intelligence. A.I. which was developed by none other than the Earthly creatures known as humans. Now that sarcasm was pretty much intentional for there is quite a widespread misconception of the existence of a "super-intelligent" or "generalized A.I." which "knows all, can do all and is smarter than all of the human race put together". Now that is a total misconception! There is no such being, in fact, A.I. is built on us humans. It simply mimics our thought processes. Put in layman's terms, it is basically an emulation of humans. 

So, if not this, then what is A.I.? Answering this, A.I. / Artificial Intelligence is a branch of Computer Science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers.

Now, understanding and processing this in the most complex system of our body, the Brain, many people have brought forth game-changing if not groundbreaking discoveries. In this post, we shall know about a similar dreamer whose moon-shot is more earthbound... kinda. This multitasking man is none other than Mark Sagar, CEO of Soul Machines. Talking about it, Soul Machines is a company that uses artificial intelligence to create lifelike avatars that respond to human emotion. So basically, it is a company that lives in the uncanny valley which spaces between the fake and the real which usually creeps people out.

Mark Sagar 

This person as an individual had a background which was a mixture of art and science. However, he ended up doing bioengineering. Moving further in his career, he entered the film industry, simulating life-like faces of some of our favorite characters like King Kong, Avatar, etc. At this time, he had reached a point where he received a couple of Academy Awards. So, he came forth with an inquisitive idea: trying to bring such simulations of his to "life" such that one could interact with them. 

Thus, came into being his first simulation, made up of Neural Networks such that it could interact with us - Baby X. Now, as the name suggests, it is indeed the lifelike simulation of a toddler. Mark felt that this would be a good starting point to start where most life begins, as a baby. He has created this simulation inside of a computer which sees Mark or any other person through the web camera and listen through the audio input. It also responds similarly: crying when scared, laughing when happy, and so on. While speaking about his creation he says "Baby X is about exploring the nature of how would we build a digital consciousness if at all it is possible".

But, what are these Neural Networks which could make a virtually created bot interact with humans? So, Neural Networks basically is a virtual, much simpler version of the human brain. However, as compared to a brain, it is exponentially less complex. This means that a brain created by Neural Networks, like that of Baby X, is made up of nodes, instead of muscles having ridges and grooves. Now, more is the exposure of these nodes, the more they learn.

Baby X

Now, our brain is made up of 85 million neurons, which have exactly three functions: accepting, processing, and sending responses. But, since it would be near impossible and hectic, trying to generate 85,ooo,ooo nodes, so the Soul Machines team has done a very impressive job by creating a brain with a well functional stress system which makes the baby respond similarly as an actual one. However, it is very small as to where this company wants to reach: trying to build a human-like A.I. creating a system where humans and A.I. would be working together for the betterment of humanity as a whole.

@WePeople - Signing out for today.
For more interesting posts about developments made by our fellow humans, do stay in touch with my Blogspot by pressing the 'follow' button.