ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence is the attempt to develop computer systems that mimic human thought processes
that is :

 Reasoning
 Learning from past actions
 Simulation of human senses such as vision and touch.

Artificial intelligence is not going to replace human intelligence. The goal of artificial intelligence is to help
people to be more productive. Three areas of artificial intelligence are:

 Virtual Reality
 Knowledge-Based Systems
 Robotics

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is the process of creating simulated environments on a computer. Virtual Reality is also
known as VR, Artificial Reality, and virtual environments. Virtual reality uses hardware such as headgear
and gloves, and special software.

One type of headgear is called Eyephone, which has earphones and 3-D stereoscopic screens.

One type of gloves is called DataGlove, which has sensors that collect data about hand movement.

One type of software is called Body Electric which uses an interactive sensory to immerse into a computer
-generated world.

Virtual reality authoring programs are used to create virtual reality applications. VRML is the
programming language used to produce virtual reality applications. Virtual Reality Programming Language
(VRML) is the programming language used to create real-time animated 3-D scenes. It can be used with
browsers on the Internet. Hundreds of sites exist on the Web with Virtual reality applications created with
VRML.

Virtual Reality Authoring Programs use VRML to create Web-based virtual reality applications. There are
several low-cost and powerful virtual reality authoring programs in use. The best known are:

 Cosmo Worlds from Cosmo Software

 Platinum VR Creator from Platinum Technology
 V-Realm Builder from Ligos Corporation

Virtual Reality Applications:

There are a number of possible applications for virtual reality. The ultimate recreational use might be
something resembling a giant virtual amusement park. More serious applications can simulate important
experiences or training environments such as:
- Flight simulation - training for pilots
- Surgical operations - training for doctors
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 - Spaceship repair - training for astronauts
- Nuclear disaster cleanup - training for government employees

Knowledge-Based Systems
Knowledge-Based Systems are also known as expert systems. These systems capture the knowledge of a
human expert and make it accessible through a computer. The “Expert systems” are actually computer
programs that provide decision-making advice to users.
“Expert systems” use knowledge bases that contain:
- Specific facts
- Rules to relate these facts
- User input to formulate recommendations and decisions.
A sequence of processing on an expert system is determined by interaction of the user and the knowledge
base. Expert systems use fuzzy logic which allows users to respond in humanlike way.
Areas where expert systems have been developed are:
- Medicine: - used for diagnosing a person’s illness
- Geology
- Chemistry
- Military science
- Photography
- Diagnostics (finding faults in a car engine, finding faults on a circuit board, etc.)
- Prospecting for oil and minerals
- Tax and financial calculations
- Chess game
- Identification of plants, animals and chemical compounds
Some expert system names are:
- Oil Spill Advisor
- Bird Species Identification
- Midwives Assistant
Some examples of present expert systems include:
- Grain Marketing Advisor which helps farmers select best way to market their grain.
- Senex which shows how to treat breast cancer based on advanced treatment techniques.

Expert systems
These systems have been developed to mimic the expertise and knowledge of an expert in a particular
field. A basic expert system is made up of a number of elements; A knowledge base, rules base, an
inference engine and a user interface
How to setup an expert system
 Experts in the field are interviewed to find out what is needed in the expert system.
 Data is then collected from these experts.
 A knowledge base is designed and then created.
 The rules base is designed and then created.
 The inference engine is designed and then created.

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  The input screen and output format are also designed and created – this is known as the user
interface.
 The expert system is tested against known conditions and scenarios.
 It is also checked to see if it meets the original specification.
 Experts are interviewed about how effective it is before the expert system goes out on general
release.

Advantages
 Expert systems provide consistent answers.
 They never ‘forget’ to answer a question when determining the logic.
 Using expert systems reduces the time taken to solve a problem.
 A less skilled work force is needed, which gives the potential of saving money, but also allows areas
of the world access to expertise which they could not normally afford.

Disadvantages
 They tend to lack common sense in some of the decision-making processes.
 Errors in the knowledge base can lead to incorrect decisions being made.
 It can be expensive to set up in the first place.
 Considerable training is necessary to ensure the system is used correctly by the operators.

Definitions of knowledge base, inference engine and rules base

Knowledge base
This is a database designed to allow the complex storage and retrieval requirements of a computerized
knowledge-based management system (in support of an expert system).

Inference engine
This is a software that attempts to derive answers from the knowledge base using a form of reasoning. It is
how expert systems appear to use human-like reasoning when accessing information from the knowledge
base in an effort to find a conclusion to a given problem. The inference engine is a type of reasoning
engine.
Rules base
This is made up of a series of ‘inference rules’ (e.g. IF the country is in South America AND the language
used is Portuguese THEN the country must be Brazil). These inference rules are used by the inference
engine to draw conclusions. They closely follow human-like reasoning.

Robotics
Robotics is the field of study concerned with developing and using robots. Robots are computer-controlled
machines that mimic the motor activities of humans. Robots are used in many areas of manufacturing,
from heavy work right through to delicate operations, they are often used to handle dangerous, repetitive
tasks.

There are three types of robots:

- Perception Systems

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 - Industrial Robots
- Mobile Robots

Perception Systems
Perception system robots imitate human senses. They can be used to guide machine tools, inspect
products, identify or sort parts, weld parts, put parts in place.

Industrial Robots
Industrial robots are used in factories to perform assembly-line tasks. They can be used to paint and polish
cars in automobile plants. They can be used to as pattern cutters in the garment industry. They can be
used to pick up objects with claws.

Mobile Robots
Mobile robots act as transporters. They can be used to carry mail through an office following a
preprogrammed route. They can be used to deliver supplies and equipment at medical centers.

Control of robots is either through embedded microprocessors or linked to a computer system.

Programming of the robot to do a task is generally done in one of two ways:
 The robot is programmed with a sequence of instructions which allow it to carry out a series of
tasks.
 Alternatively, a human operator manually carries out a series of tasks and how each task is done is
relayed back to the robot (embedded processor) or controlling computer. The sequence of
instructions is remembered so that the robot can automatically carry out each task identically each
time (e.g. assembling parts in a television).

Robots are often equipped with sensors so they can gather important information about their
surroundings. Sensors also prevent them from doing ‘stupid things’, such as stopping a robot spraying a car
if no car is present, or stopping the spraying operation if the supply of paint has run out, etc.
Robots are very good at repetitive task. However, if there are many different tasks (e.g. making specialist
glassware for some scientific work) then it is often better to still use human operators.

Advantages
 Robots can work in environments harmful to human operators
 They can work non-stop (24/7)
 They are less expensive in the long term. Although they are expensive to buy initially, they don’t
need wages.
 Productivity is higher, since they do not need holidays, are not ill, etc.
 There is greater consistency – every car coming off a production line is identical.
 They can do boring, repetitive tasks, leaving humans free to do other more skilled work.

Disadvantages
 Robots find it difficult to do ‘unusual’ tasks (e.g. one-off glassware for a chemical company).
 They replace skilled labour, leading to unemployment.
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  Since robots do many of the tasks once done by humans, there is a risk of de-skilling
 Because robots are independent of the skills base, factories can be moved anywhere in the world,
again, causing unemployment.

Modelling applications

A simulation is the creation of a model of a real system in order to study the behaviour of the system. The
model is computer generated and is based on mathematical representations.
The idea is to try and find out what mechanisms control how a system behaves and consequently predict
the behavior of the system in the future and also see if it is possible to influence this future behavior.
Computer models have the advantage that they save money, can help find a solution more quickly and can
be considerably safer. There are many examples of simulations, ranging from simple spreadsheet
representations through to complex flight simulators. This section gives two examples: a model for
showing a shop’s profit/loss and a traffic light simulation.

Why simulations are used

 They are less expensive than having to build the real thing (e.g. a bridge).
 On many occasions it is safer to run a simulation – some real situations are hazardous (e.g.
chemical processes).
 With simulations, various scenarios can be tried out in advance.
 It is nearly impossible to try out some tasks in real life because of the high risk involved or the
remoteness (e.g. in outer space, under the sea, in nuclear reactors, crash testing cars, etc.).
 It is often faster to do a simulation than the real thing. Some applications could take years before a
result was known (e.g. climate change calculations, population growth, etc.).
There are some limitations to using simulations
 They are only as good as the data used and the mathematical algorithms representing the real-life
situations. They therefore have a limited use in some very complex applications (e.g. simulating a
nuclear process).
 They can be very expensive to set up and often require specialist software to be written.

 They frequently require very fast processors/computer systems (which can be expensive) to do the
necessary ‘number crunching’; many simulations are made up of complex mathematical functions
and use several thousand data sets.