Frontiers of AI

CS158-2: Introduction to Artificial

Intelligence
4th Term AY 2019-2020
 What are the main areas of research and
development in AI?

What is robotics?

Outline What is computer vision?

What is speech recognition?

What is natural language processing?

 What are the main areas of
research and development in AI?
Work in artificial intelligence is
generally divided into a number of
subfields that address common, • Robotics
though difficult, practical problems • computer vision
or require different tools or skills.
• speech recognition,
• natural language
processing
What is robotics?
• Building machines that are capable of
performing physical tasks
• Attempt to build devices that are capable
of more general classes of tasks.
• For instance, all sorts of special-
purpose machines exist that pack
specific foods and products into
shipping cartons and containers. But
creating a single device capable of
handling a wide variety of shapes, sizes,
weights, and fragility remains a
challenge at the forefront of AI.
Robotics
• AI technology opens whole new vistas of economic opportunity by
enabling robots to work where people can’t. Robots are of great value
for all sorts of tasks that are too dangerous or costly for people to do.

• Exploration of space
• More practical for the sorts of tasks we are likely to want to perform off the
earth in the near future, such as analyzing geological samples, searching for
biological life, mining asteroids, and diverting astronomical bodies whose paths
threaten earth.
Robotics
• DARPA robotics challenge (motivated by the difficulty of getting
human personnel into the Fukushima nuclear plants)
• driving a utility vehicle
• opening a door
• locating and closing a valve
• connecting a fire hose to a standpipe
• Eldercare
• robotic assistance to the infirm, aged, and incapacitated
• ensuring that patients take their medication or help them move from bed to a
wheelchair
Robotics
• Assistive robots offers psychological as opposed to physical comfort.
For instance, the therapeutic robot Paro provides the benefits of “animal
therapy” to cognitively impaired patients. Mimicking the appearance of
a furry baby seal, it responds to holding, petting, and so on. Paro has
been shown to improve socialization, increase relaxation, and boost
motivation.
• Robots for entertainment
• Theme parks such as Disneyland but are considerably more flexible and
interactive
• Pepper, from Alderbaran Robotics and SoftBank Mobile, tries to read your
intentions and respond appropriately.
1
Robotics
• Humanoid maid
• Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner (from iRobot), which scurries about
floors and carpets, avoids steps, docks itself into its charging station when low
on power, and generally tries to stay out of your way while doing its work.
• Robots could facilitate tremendous medical advances
• performing noninvasive surgical procedures from inside the body
• A syringe full of robots the size of T- cells that mimic the function of the
immune system, able to seek and attack blood- borne cancers.
Dangers of Robotics
• The same technology that might cure blood- borne cancers can be used
to kill you, or perhaps even to control you.
• The potential military or terrorist applications of swarm robotics are
truly too horrific to contemplate.
What is computer
vision?
• Computer vision is primarily focused on
equipping computers with the ability to
“see,” in the sense of interpreting visual
images.
• For instance, a program designed to
identify a chair might look for legs, a seat,
a back, and the like.
• But the more modern approach is to use
machine learning, often specialized types
of neural nets (called convolutional neural
nets, or CNNs), to build models of objects
from large collections of examples.
What is speech recognition?
• The ability of a computer to identify
and respond to the sounds produced
in human speech.
• Speech recognition is considerably
more difficult than processing written
language because of the variability
and noise inherent in audio streams of
spoken language. Separating the
“signal” from the “noise,” and
transcribing it into the proper written
words
Speech Recognition
• The application of modern machine learning techniques— once again
driven by the ability to capture and analyze large collections of speech
samples— increased the precision and utility of the speech recognition
systems.

• Google Voice
• Apple’s Siri
What is natural language processing?
• interaction between
human language and computers
• A primary distinguishing factor
between humans and other animals
is our ability to use language
Chatbot
• Also known as “conversational agents” – are software applications that
mimic written or spoken human speech for the purposes of simulating a
conversation or interaction with a real person. There are two primary
ways chatbots are offered to visitors: via web-based applications or
standalone apps.
• Today, chatbots are used most commonly in the customer service space,
assuming roles traditionally performed by living, breathing human
beings such as Tier-1 support operatives and customer satisfaction reps.
How chatbots work? • At the heart of chatbot
technology lies natural
language processing or
NLP, the same
technology that forms
the basis of the voice
recognition systems used
by virtual assistants such
as Google Now, Apple’s
Siri, and Microsoft’s
Cortana.
How chatbots work? (cont.)
• Chatbots process the text presented to them by the user (a process
known as “parsing”), before responding according to a complex series
of algorithms that interprets and identifies what the user said, infers
what they mean and/or want, and determine a series of appropriate
responses based on this information.
• Some chatbots offer a remarkably authentic conversational experience,
in which it’s very difficult to determine whether the agent is a bot or a
human being. Others are much easier to spot (much like the T-600
series of murderous robots in the popular Terminator sci-fi action
movies):
How chatbots work? (cont.)
• Chatbots process the text presented to them by the user (a process
known as “parsing”), before responding according to a complex series
of algorithms that interprets and identifies what the user said, infers
what they mean and/or want, and determine a series of appropriate
responses based on this information.
• Some chatbots offer a remarkably authentic conversational experience,
in which it’s very difficult to determine whether the agent is a bot or a
human being.
Questions?