AI uses a child’s game to learn common sense

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Spotted: Researchers at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) invented a children’s game to teach computers common sense. The game, Iconary (think Pictionary with icons instead of doodles), can train AI to think more like humans.

In previous experiments, we learned that AI can master chess and beat a human playing Go. Those tasks are impressive, but fall short of complex thought or understanding complex images. Unlike human children, AI does not intuitively understand that a drawing of a house and three stick figures represents a family. Or that a dog and a house equal doghouse.

To play chess or Go, AI simply needs enough data to understand the rules and consequences of each move. Iconary demands more. It builds on deep learning, or self-education for computers. The computer has to deduce what the icons could stand for based on previous examples. That is much closer to how humans think naturally. But it is difficult for computers to master.

AllenAI does well on the easy level with simple phrases like “ride a bicycle” (stick figure on a bicycle). But it struggles with more complicated tasks. For instance, when trying to communicate “measuring a hand”, AllenAI selected icons showing a hand and two scales.

Iconary is online and available to anyone. To play, simply guess what AllenAI draws or have the computer guess what you are drawing. The project is collaborative: the more you draw, the more AllenAI learns.

Takeaway: AllenAI represents the next generation of artificial intelligence, where computers move past mastering patterns. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (who also founded A12) has invested millions in building machines with common sense intelligence. It is not quite there yet. But there are signs of progress, like teaching AI to visualise food based on a text recipe. As machine learning develops, we expect to see more innovations that move AI closer to understanding abstract thought. Teaching computers basic logic skills like connecting doodles to concrete ideas is a step in that direction.

Website: www.iconary.allenai.org
Contact: [email protected]

Published in: February 2018

Source: New feed 1