Brief history of AI and robotics
Michael W. Eysenck, Christine Eysenck · 2021
There is far more media coverage of artificial intelligence than ever before, which reflects its growing importance. For example, worldwide spending on AI in 2019 was approximately $38 billion (£29 billion), and it is estimated the figure will rise to $98 billion (£74 billion) in 2023. There are more books on artificial intelligence (AI) than you can shake a stick at. Accordingly, you may wonder why we have decided to add yet another book to the pile. The key reason is that the approach we have adopted in this book is distinctively different from the one in most other books on this topic. The majority of books on AI have been written by AI experts. Unsurprisingly, they focus on the strengths of AI and its potentially transformative effects in the future. We might murmur sotto voce that we think some of these experts exaggerate or overhype the actual and potential achievements of AI while de-emphasising its shortcomings. In contrast, both authors of this book are psychologists. Accordingly, our perspective is distinctively psychological based on our knowledge and understanding of human cognition and intelligence. As a result, we feel well placed to compare human achievements with those of AI. While we have followed many others in identifying AI&s;s strengths, we have also identified its limitations. We have also spelled out the strengths and limitations of human cognition and intelligence. Finally, and most importantly, we evaluate AI intelligence in relation to human intelligence as well as evaluating human intelligence in relation to AI. Thus, we provide a much broader overview than other books. The structure of this book is as follows. The strengths of non-robotic AI are discussed in Chapter 2 and of human intelligence in Chapter 3 . We then focus on AI&s;s limitations in Chapter 4 and human limitations in Chapter 5 . An evaluation of robots is provided in Chapter 6 . After that, Chapter 7 makes use of the information discussed in the previous chapters to provide definitive answers concerning the relative strengths and limitations of humans and AI. Finally, in Chapter 8 , we speculatively consider what the future may hold: will AI enhance our lives or will it destroy us?