Advances in Cognitive Systems 1 (2012) 37–45
Submitted 1/2012; published 7/2012
Human-Level Artificial Intelligence Must Be an Extraordinary Science
Nicholas L. Cassimatis CASSIN @RPI.EDU Department of Cognitive Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 USA
Abstract
Aiming to create a cognitive system with human-level intelligence is as different from normal scientific objectives as reaching artificial immortality is to the goals of modern medicine. Most researchers in artificial intelligence, along with the institutions that support them, advocate that AI research should conform to normal scientific standards and methods. I argue that these are often incidental and even antithetical to achieving human-level intelligence and that a different approach is required. In this essay, I propose some principles on which to base such an approach.
1. Why Human-Level Artificial Intelligence?
Developing cognitive systems with human-level intelligence would have tremendous scientific and technological ramifications. However, this objective is significantly different along many dimensions from the objectives of most fields in science and technology. Unless this is recognized, and unless methods and institutions in these fields are changed significantly, we are unlikely achieve the benefits of human-level artificial intelligence in our lifetimes. For the purposes of this paper, we will say that a system has human-level intelligence if it can accomplish the same cognitive tasks as a human. For example, a system with human-level intelligence would be able to have human language conversations as well as people and be able to identify objects and interpret visual scenes as well as people. Deciding specifically what counts as a cognitive act and what it means to perform it at the same level of a human is not important for this paper, since the field is far from the point at which such fine distinctions will be important. Understanding and creating...