Artificial intelligence is an umbrella term for a vast array of technology: There is no single definition and even researchers disagree. Generally, AI is a field of computer science that focuses on creating and training machines to perform intelligent tasks, “something that, if a person was doing it, we would call it intelligence,” said Larry Birnbaum, a professor of computer science at Northwestern University.
For decades AI has largely been used for analysis, allowing people to spot patterns and make predictions by assessing huge sets of data.
But advancements in the field have led to a boom in generative A.I., a form of artificial intelligence that can make things. The technology can create words, sounds, images and video, sometimes at a level of sophistication that mimics human creativity. It backs chatbots like ChatGPT and image generators, like DALL-E.
While this technology can’t “think” like humans do, it can sometimes create work of a similar quality. AI-powered image generators have made photos that tricked art judges into thinking they’re human-made, and voice generating software has preserving voices of people suffering from degenerative diseases, such as ALS.
Chatbots backed by generative A.I. have dazzled users by carrying on eerily lifelike conversations — an early dream of the field as envisioned by Alan Turing. In 1950, he developed the “Turing test,” which judged the success of an AI machine by how well it could fool users into believing it is human.
Turing never gave much credence to the idea that a computer could really “think” — he called that question “too meaningless to deserve discussion.”
