I’ve just completed Chapter 1 of the Helsinki University AI course, and it’s been an interesting mix of logic, debate, and deep dives into what AI actually is. This chapter wasn’t just about algorithms or machine learning—it was about philosophy, the definition of intelligence, and whether machines can actually "think."
🔬 The Turing Test and the Chinese Room
One of the key discussions was Alan Turing’s famous test, where if a machine can fool a human into believing it’s also human, it "passes" as intelligent. But does that mean it understands anything?
John Searle’s Chinese Room Argument challenges this. Imagine someone inside a locked room receiving Chinese messages and replying using a book of instructions without actually knowing Chinese. The responses might be perfect, but does the person inside the room understand Chinese? No.
This raises the question: If an AI can hold a conversation but doesn’t truly "understand" what it’s saying, is it really intelligent?
🤔 Strong AI vs. Weak AI
I also explored the difference between:
- Narrow AI (Weak AI): What we have today—AI specialized in one task (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Maps).
- General AI (AGI or Strong AI): The holy grail—an AI that can learn and adapt like a human.
At this stage, all AI is weak AI. Even self-driving cars don’t actually "understand" driving—they just process and react based on data.
📖 The Definition of AI: My Thoughts
A big part of this chapter was defining AI, and while the given definitions were decent, I found them lacking. My take:
💡 AI should be autonomous, adaptive, curious, and expansive.
- Curious → It should explore ideas humans haven’t thought of.
- Expansive → It should build on what it learns and grow.
📝 Peer Reviews and Debates
One of the best parts of this section was reviewing and debating answers with peers. I reviewed 7 answers, and my own response received a 5.0 in its first review.
There was also the great AI vs. statistics debate in the previous section, where my instincts told me one thing, but ChatGPT led me down a different path. While I didn’t always get the "correct" answers, those discussions helped me learn why certain things are classified the way they are.
🚀 Moving Forward
With Chapter 1 complete, I’m excited to move into the next part of the course. The journey so far has been insightful, and AI is proving to be more than just code and algorithms—it’s about philosophy, ethics, and defining intelligence itself.
On to Chapter 2! 🎯
No comments:
Post a Comment