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The requirement of this assignment is to provide three definitions for a relatively
complex term to a non-technical audience. It is required to have a parenthetical
definition, a sentence definition, and an expanded definition in which one must
be a visual. The objectives to be achieved from this exercise include the
understanding of the importance and need for definitions in technical writing as
well as using different levels of detail for different audiences.
Term: Artificial Intelligence
Situation and audience
A group of first year university students attending a lecture on the development
of artificial intelligence with no previous experience in computer science.
Parenthetical definition
An advanced machine or computer can display artificial intelligence (the ability
for a machine to act rationally).
Sentence definition
Artificial intelligence is the science of studying and creating intelligent machines
that have the ability to think rationally. This means that the machine is able to act
appropriately, be flexible, learn from experience, and make appropriate decisions
based on their circumstances.
Expansion definition:
(History, example, visual, negation)
History of Artificial Intelligence:
One of the notable forefathers of artificial intelligence was Alan Turing, an
English mathematician that published the paper “Computing Machinery and
Intelligence” in 1950. He is famously known for the Turing Test, which is a test
that shows whether or not a computer or machine can think; if the computer is
indistinguishable from a real human being, then it is concluded that the machine
is able to think. Since the conception of this test, there has been no machine to
successfully pass the test (Smith, McGuire, Huang, & Yang, 2006).
The field of artificial intelligence is new and constantly evolving. The idea of
“intelligence” is quantified on a spectrum, and although there has yet to be a
machine to pass the Turing Test, many machines and devices we use are also
considered artificially intelligent. Scientists are still developing new machines in
hopes to pass the Turing Test.
How is it used?
Artificial intelligence is used in many real-world devices that we use on a daily
basis. For example, the iPhone’s Siri is an example of artificial intelligence – the
phone is able to use voice recognition to carry out tasks that the user asks the
phone to do and can even carry simple conversations with the user. Apple has
developed Siri to also sound and talk like a normal female human, and also has
the ability to respond with humour (Canbek & Mutlu, 2016).
Visual Representation
(Image of the Artificial Intelligence system: Poole & Mackworth, 2010)
In this representation, artificial intelligence is shown as a system where there are
inputs into an agent (machine or computer) that are intrinsic to the agent. It then
uses this information to produce actions that affect the environment, which then
provides feedback to the machine to learn and generate more informed future
outputs.
Negation
A lot of people often misunderstand artificial intelligence as robots being “alive”,
which is a common misrepresentation of the term in mass media. Robots and
computers do not have consciousness like humans do, but can have artificial
intelligence in the sense that the machines can utilize and learn information to
make rational decisions and actions.
References:
Canbek, N. G., & Mutlu, M. E. (2016). On the track of Artificial Intelligence:
Learning with Intelligent Personal Assistants. International Journal of Human
Sciences, HumanSciences, 13(1), 592. doi:10.14687/ijhs.v13i1.3549
Poole, D. L., & Mackworth, A. K. (2010). Artificial Intelligence and
Agents. Artificial Intelligence Foundations of Computational Agents, 3-42.
doi:10.1017/cbo9780511794797.002
Smith, C., McGuire, B., Huang, T., & Yang, G. (2006, December). The History of
Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved September 25, 2016, from
http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/csep590/06au/projects/history-ai.pdf