How Artificial Intelligence |
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Is Reinventing Business Computing |
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Advances in hardware and software have driven the development of artificial intelligence, from the first exploration in the 1950s to today's applications like predictive analytics for healthcare and financial services.
Let's trace the evolution of AI, and the key breakthroughs behind each step—from early gaming engines to applications that are paving the way for better living, such as personalized medicine, self-driving cars and smarter policing.
Behind each step were new developments in the hardware that provides the foundation for artificial intelligence. Computing power that once filled entire rooms now resides on a single server or can be tapped from the cloud.
The Turing test, an unofficial standard for whether a machine could be considered intelligent, determines if a computer can fool a researcher into thinking it is human.
The term "artificial intelligence" entered the lexicon to describe a new class of computers that can learn from the information they're given.
The Stochastic Neural Analog Reinforcement Calculator is considered by some to be the first AI computer (stochastic means “randomly determined”). The machine was powered by a series of vacuum tubes and motors, and mirrored the behavior of a rat finding its way through a maze.
AI hit the big screen in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The artificially intelligent HAL 9000 ran the Discovery One’s vital systems, foreshadowing many behaviors that today’s state-of-the-art AI systems are just beginning to crack, such as natural language processing and voice and facial recognition. HAL could even interpret emotions. It was the public’s first broad exposure to AI’s potential.
MYCIN, an early AI machine developed by researchers at Stanford University, used an algorithm to identify bacteria which helped physicians treat blood infections. It could ask about the patient, recommend lab tests and suggest possible diagnoses.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed the eXpert CONfigurer, a rule-based system that could automatically pick the right components to fill customer orders. Used by computer maker Digital Equipment Corp., it ran OPS5, an early operating system to support AI.
IBM's supercomputer played dual matches against a Russian chess champion. The human contestant won the first and IBM Deep Blue the second. More power means smarter computers. Deep Blue ran at 11.38 gigaflops, while today's IBM BlueGene/Q runs at about 10,000 teraflops.
AI took another big step forward when IBM's Watson cognitive computing system handily beat a "Jeopardy" world champion. Watson runs on IBM Power Systems, now used for commercial AI applications. IBM Power Systems can run predictive analytics for industries such as healthcare, law enforcement and financial services.
Asian venture capital firm Deep Knowledge appointed a computer to its board. The system, named Vital, is tasked with finding information not obvious to humans.
The Turing test, an unofficial standard for whether a machine could be considered intelligent, determines if a computer can fool a researcher into thinking it is human.
The term "artificial intelligence" entered the lexicon to describe a new class of computers that can learn from the information they're given.
The Stochastic Neural Analog Reinforcement Calculator is considered by some to be the first AI computer (stochastic means “randomly determined”). The machine was powered by a series of vacuum tubes and motors, and mirrored the behavior of a rat finding its way through a maze.
AI hit the big screen in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The artificially intelligent HAL 9000 ran the Discovery One’s vital systems, foreshadowing many behaviors that today’s state-of-the-art AI systems are just beginning to crack, such as natural language processing and voice and facial recognition. HAL could even interpret emotions. It was the public’s first broad exposure to AI’s potential.
MYCIN, an early AI machine developed by researchers at Stanford University, used an algorithm to identify bacteria which helped physicians treat blood infections. It could ask about the patient, recommend lab tests and suggest possible diagnoses.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed the eXpert CONfigurer, a rule-based system that could automatically pick the right components to fill customer orders. Used by computer maker Digital Equipment Corp., it ran OPS5, an early operating system to support AI.
IBM's supercomputer played dual matches against a Russian chess champion. The human contestant won the first and IBM Deep Blue the second. More power means smarter computers. Deep Blue ran at 11.38 gigaflops, while today's IBM BlueGene/Q runs at about 10,000 teraflops.
AI took another big step forward when IBM's Watson cognitive computing system handily beat a "Jeopardy" world champion. Watson runs on IBM Power Systems, now used for commercial AI applications. IBM Power Systems can run predictive analytics for industries such as healthcare, law enforcement and financial services.
Asian venture capital firm Deep Knowledge appointed a computer to its board. The system, named Vital, is tasked with finding information not obvious to humans.
By now, the web, mobile devices and the Internet of Things are generating millions of petabytes of data that give companies everything from sales forecasts to fraud prevention tools. But enormous memory and horsepower are needed to process it all. Systems like IBM's Power Systems LC server family provide the speed necessary to run complex, real-time calculations. Powered by breakthroughs like accelerated computing, where certain tasks—such as math calculations or graphics processing—are offloaded to dedicated processors like NVIDIA's Tesla GPU on IBM POWER8 servers, AI analytics algorithms can now predict weather patterns, crime trends, disease vectors and more.
By now, the web, mobile devices and the Internet of Things are generating millions of petabytes of data that give companies everything from sales forecasts to fraud prevention tools. But enormous memory and horsepower are needed to process it all. Systems like IBM's Power Systems LC server family provide the speed necessary to run complex, real-time calculations.
Powered by breakthroughs like accelerated computing, where certain tasks—such as math calculations or graphics processing—are offloaded to dedicated processors like NVIDIA's Tesla GPU on IBM POWER8 servers, AI analytics algorithms can now predict weather patterns, crime trends, disease vectors and more.
Artificial intelligence programs require fast hardware and infrastructure. Here's a look at the MIPS (million instructions per second) needed for certain tasks
Interpret simple images, such as geometric shapes, in real time
Artificial intelligence programs require fast hardware and infrastructure. Here's a look at the MIPS (million instructions per second) needed for certain tasks
Interpret simple images, such as geometric shapes, in real time
Moore’s law, which says computing power doubles every two years, is getting harder to achieve on a single chip. Tech industry heavyweights including IBM, NVIDIA, Google and Mellanox are now working together through the OpenPOWER Foundation to enhance speed at the system level by engineering chips, interconnects, accelerators, memory and other components that work together seamlessly.
This will help ensure fast and powerful AI systems that support breakthroughs on numerous key fronts. AI’s evolution will continue to drive innovation that makes for smarter cities, improved healthcare, and other advances that will continue to improve our lives.
Learn more about how IBM Power Systems can help your company thrive with big data >