Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
ANNABELL AI Can Learn English From Scratch
A computer system called ANNABELL (Artificial Neural Network with Adaptive Behavior Exploited for Language Learning) was able to communicate through human language from a totally blank starting point.The cognitive model is made up of two million interconnected artificial neurons, developed by researchers from the University of Sassari and the University of Plymouth.
Synaptic plasticity is the ability of two neurons to increase their connection efficiency when they are active simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously. This is essential for learning and for long-term memory. Meanwhile, neural gating is based on the properties of certain neurons (called bistable neurons) to switch themselves “on” or “off” due to a control signal coming from other neurons. When on, the bistable neurons transmit the signal from a part of the brain to another, otherwise they block it.
As ANNABELL has a mimicked version of synaptic plasticity, it is able to learn to control the signals that open and close the neural gates, so as to control the flow of information among different areas. ANNABELL has been validated using a database of about 1500 input sentences, based on literature on early language development. It has responded by producing a total of about 500 sentences in output, containing nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and other word classes, demonstrating the ability to express a wide range of capabilities in human language processing.
Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein created a computer that (who?) woke up in the classic 1966 novel The Moon is a Harsh Mistress:
...Mike had voder/vocoder circuits supplementing his read-outs, print-outs, and decision-action boxes, and could understand not only classic programming but also Loglan and English, and could accept other languages and was doing technical translating - and reading endlessly. But in giving him instructions it was safer to use LogLan. If you spoke English, results might be whimsical; multi-valued nature of English gave option circuits too much leeway.
The earliest reference that I know about is the artificial, inorganic artificial brain from Edmond Hamilton's 1926 story The Metal Giants:
...Detmold had attacked the problem from a different standpoint. It was his theory that the sensations of the nervous system are flashed to the brain as electric currents, or vibrations, and that it was the action of these vibratory currents on the brain-stuff that caused consciousness and thought. Thus, instead of trying to make simple, living cells and from them work up the complicated structure of the brain, he had constructed an organ, a brain, of metal, entirely inorganic and lifeless, yet whose atomic structure he claimed was analogous to the atomic structure of a living brain. He had then applied countless different electrical vibrations to this metallic brain-stuff, and finally announced that under vibrations of certain frequencies the organ had showed faint signs of consciousness.
Via Futurism.
ANNABELL is still a computer, and computers work through programs with coded rules that they must follow in order to perform a given task. However, ANNABELL is unique because it doesn’t have pre-coded language knowledge. It learns only through communication with a human interlocutor. To achieve this, the researchers made use of two mechanisms that are also present in biological brains. Namely, they used synaptic plasticity and neural gating.
They kept hooking hardware into him - decision-action boxes to let him boss other computers, bank on bank of additional memories, more banks of associational neural nets, another tubful of twelve-digit random numbers, a greatly augmented temporary memory. Human brain has around ten-to-the-tenth neurons. By third year Mike had better than one and a half times that many neuristors....
No doubt it was a startling proposition, to construct an artificial brain that would possess consciousness, memory, reasoning power...
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/11/2015)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.' Stephen Baxter, 2008.
Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1940.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.' - Anne McCaffrey, 1990.
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.' - Isaac Asimov, 1958.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
Bambot Open Source Cheap Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'
Robot Collective Acts Like A Smart Material
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
Vipera Electric Skis From Frigid Dynamics
'JOAN strapped on her power-skis...'
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
Pivotal Blackfly Electric Aircraft Lifts And Hovers
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
