G検定 · LESSON 1

What AI is and trends around AI11%(当サイト設定) · 6 topics

Learn the definition of AI, major problems debated in the AI field, search and inference, knowledge representation and expert systems, machine learning, and the course of deep learning.

1.1Definition of AI

Definition of AI (levels of AI, the AI effect, AI vs. robots)

Concept

There is no unified definition of AI; it differs by researcher. One classification of AI levels is: Level 1 (simple control programs), Level 2 (classical AI: search, inference, use of knowledge), Level 3 (AI incorporating machine learning) and Level 4 (AI that learns features itself with deep learning). The AI effect is the phenomenon where, once a technology is achieved and its workings understood, it is regarded as “not intelligence.” A robot is a machine with a body; AI is research into its “thinking” part.

How it works / steps

  1. Organize the differences among Levels 1–4 by “what it learns on its own”
  2. Give examples of the AI effect (former “AI” seen as ordinary technology)
  3. Distinguish the research targets of robotics and AI

Workplace example

Automatic air-conditioner temperature control is Level 1, a shogi search program is Level 2, and image recognition that learns features from images itself is Level 4.

Common confusions and exam tips

Mini quiz

Q1. Consider the four-level classification of AI. A mechanism that uses human-designed features (such as word counts) and learns spam-detection rules from data falls into which level?

  1. AI incorporating deep learning
  2. AI incorporating machine learning
  3. Simple control program
  4. Classical AI
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B AI incorporating machine learning

Learning the relationship between input and output from sample data is level 3. Features are designed by people. (Deciding point: it learns from data, but people design the features.)

Q2. Consider the four-level classification of AI. A mechanism that also learns from data the very features useful for judging images, and tells apart objects in photos, falls into which level?

  1. Classical AI
  2. AI incorporating machine learning
  3. AI incorporating deep learning
  4. Simple control program
Show answer and explanation

Answer: C AI incorporating deep learning

Automatically learning features (feature representations) too is level 4, deep learning. (Deciding point: even feature design is left to learning.)

Reference links

1.2Problems debated in the AI field

Problems debated in the AI field (Turing test, Chinese room, frame problem, symbol grounding problem, singularity)

Concept

The Turing test deems a machine intelligent if one can't tell whether a conversation partner is a machine or a human. The Chinese room (Searle) is a thought experiment arguing symbol manipulation alone isn't “understanding,” a rebuttal to strong AI. The frame problem is the difficulty of picking out only what's relevant to a task; the symbol grounding problem asks whether symbols (words) can be linked to the real-world things they mean. The singularity is the turning point where AI surpasses human intelligence; Kurzweil predicted 2045.

How it works / steps

  1. Match each problem to its proposer and main claim
  2. Distinguish the debate over “understanding” (Chinese room) from the problem of “selection” (frame problem)
  3. Understand symbol grounding together with the debate on embodiment

Workplace example

The difficulty a cleaning robot has in considering only relevant matters out of countless possible events when “tidying a room” is an example of the frame problem.

Common confusions and exam tips

Mini quiz

Q1. Consider issues discussed in AI debates. A thought experiment says that even if a person who doesn't know Chinese rearranges symbols per a rulebook and replies perfectly, they cannot be said to understand the meaning. What is it called?

  1. Frame problem
  2. Symbol grounding problem
  3. Knowledge acquisition bottleneck
  4. Chinese room
Show answer and explanation

Answer: D Chinese room

The Chinese room (Searle) argued that passing the Turing test does not necessarily mean understanding. (Deciding point: a thought experiment about the difference between rule-following symbol manipulation and understanding.)

Q2. Consider issues discussed in AI debates. Interviewing experts and turning their knowledge into rules took great effort, and much of it was tacit, so expert systems did not spread. What is this problem called?

  1. Frame problem
  2. Knowledge acquisition bottleneck
  3. Symbol grounding problem
  4. Chinese room
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B Knowledge acquisition bottleneck

The knowledge acquisition bottleneck is the difficulty of putting experts' knowledge into computers. It was one reason the second boom ended. (Deciding point: the limits of extracting knowledge as rules.)

Reference links

1.3Search and inference

Search and inference (search trees, breadth-first and depth-first search, Mini-Max, alpha-beta pruning, Monte Carlo methods, STRIPS, SHRDLU)

Concept

Search represents states as a tree (search tree) and looks for a solution. Breadth-first search examines shallow levels first and finds the shortest solution but uses a lot of memory. Depth-first search explores one branch deeply; it uses little memory but doesn't always find the shortest. Games use Mini-Max (choose the move maximizing your score and minimizing the opponent's) and alpha-beta pruning, which cuts unneeded branches. Monte Carlo methods evaluate moves by playing randomly to the end (playouts). STRIPS is a planning method; SHRDLU is a system that manipulates a blocks world through natural language.

How it works / steps

  1. Organize the differences in memory and shortest-path guarantees between breadth-first and depth-first
  2. Check what alpha cuts and beta cuts mean
  3. Understand why Monte Carlo methods worked well for Go

Workplace example

To find the shortest path through a maze choose breadth-first search; when memory is limited choose depth-first search.

Common confusions and exam tips

Mini quiz

Q1. You are choosing a search method. You use the Mini-Max method on a game tree and want to cut branches that need not be evaluated to reduce computation. Which method fits best?

  1. Depth-first search
  2. Alpha-beta pruning
  3. Monte Carlo method
  4. Breadth-first search
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B Alpha-beta pruning

Alpha-beta pruning streamlines search by skipping branches that need no evaluation (alpha and beta cutoffs) without changing the Mini-Max result. (Deciding point: pruning unneeded Mini-Max branches.)

Q2. Which best describes IBM's Watson?

  1. AI from a Japanese research project developed with the goal of passing Japanese university entrance exams
  2. A question-answering system that beat human champions on a US quiz show
  3. A system combining deep learning and reinforcement learning that beat a professional Go player
  4. A system that beat the world chess champion by searching with dedicated hardware
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B A question-answering system that beat human champions on a US quiz show

Watson won the quiz show “Jeopardy!” in 2011. [Other options] Go is AlphaGo, university exams are Todai Robot, and chess is Deep Blue.

Reference links

1.4Knowledge representation and expert systems

Knowledge representation and expert systems (semantic networks, ontologies, MYCIN, DENDRAL, Cyc, Watson)

Concept

Knowledge representation puts knowledge into a form computers can handle. Semantic networks represent concepts as nodes and relations (is-a: superordinate/subordinate; part-of: whole/part) as links. Ontologies are systematic definitions of concepts and relations: heavyweight ones defined strictly by people, and lightweight ones built automatically from data. Expert systems turn expert knowledge into rules; MYCIN (diagnosing blood infections) and DENDRAL (inferring chemical structures) are famous. Cyc is a project to write down all common sense; IBM's Watson is a question-answering system that beat humans on a quiz show.

How it works / steps

  1. Check the properties (transitivity) of is-a and part-of relations
  2. Understand the limits of expert systems (the knowledge acquisition bottleneck)
  3. Match each system to its use

Workplace example

Deriving “dog is-a animal” from “dog is-a mammal” and “mammal is-a animal” is an example of inference in a semantic network.

Common confusions and exam tips

Mini quiz

Q1. Which early automated planning method describes actions as preconditions, actions and effects, and finds an action sequence from an initial state to a goal?

  1. STRIPS
  2. Cyc project
  3. MYCIN
  4. SHRDLU
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A STRIPS

STRIPS is a planning (automated planning) method. [Other options] SHRDLU manipulates a blocks world via natural language, MYCIN is an infection-diagnosis expert system, and Cyc is a long-term project encoding common sense.

Q2. In ontology research, which best describes the idea of a “lightweight ontology”?

  1. An idea that puts top priority on reducing the amount of ontology knowledge to save storage capacity
  2. An idea that it is best to build prediction models only from data statistics, using no knowledge at all
  3. An idea of automatically finding relationships between concepts through data analysis without insisting on exactness
  4. An idea of having people strictly define relationships between concepts through philosophical reflection to build a correct knowledge system
Show answer and explanation

Answer: C An idea of automatically finding relationships between concepts through data analysis without insisting on exactness

A lightweight ontology finds relationships automatically, as in web mining. Having people define them strictly is a heavyweight ontology.

Reference links

1.5Machine learning

Machine learning (big data, curse of dimensionality, statistical natural language processing)

Concept

Machine learning learns patterns from data and advanced with the huge amounts of data (big data) that came with the spread of the internet. The curse of dimensionality is the problem that as features (dimensions) increase, the data and computation needed rise sharply and learning gets harder. Statistical NLP processes language probabilistically from large text data (corpora), greatly improving machine translation and more.

How it works / steps

  1. Organize the drivers of machine learning's progress (data, computing resources)
  2. Check countermeasures to the curse of dimensionality (dimensionality reduction, feature selection)
  3. Understand the difference between rule-based and statistical translation

Workplace example

Machine translation evolved from writing grammar rules, to statistical methods learning from large parallel corpora, and then to neural machine translation.

Common confusions and exam tips

Mini quiz

Q1. Which best describes the background to machine learning drawing attention in the third AI boom?

  1. Because theory proved machine learning always gives correct answers even with little data
  2. Because collecting experts' knowledge as rules could now be done automatically
  3. Because the spread of the internet made big data available and computer performance also improved
  4. Because computing every branch of a search tree became possible in a short time for any problem
Show answer and explanation

Answer: C Because the spread of the internet made big data available and computer performance also improved

Growth in data volume and computing resources made machine learning and deep learning, which learn from data, practical.

Q2. Which best describes the “curse of dimensionality”?

  1. As feature dimensions increase, the data needed for training grows sharply, making performance hard to improve
  2. As layers deepen, gradients shrink from the output side and layers near the input stop learning
  3. Fitting training data too closely so prediction accuracy on unseen data drops
  4. Learning a new task causes knowledge of previously learned tasks to be lost
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A As feature dimensions increase, the data needed for training grows sharply, making performance hard to improve

As dimensions grow, data becomes sparse in the space and the required data grows exponentially. Countermeasures are dimensionality reduction and feature selection. [Other options] In order: vanishing gradients, overfitting, catastrophic forgetting.

Reference links

1.6Deep learning

Deep learning (ILSVRC, AlexNet, AlphaGo, generative AI)

Concept

At the 2012 image recognition contest ILSVRC, AlexNet (deep learning) by Hinton's team at the University of Toronto won with accuracy far beyond conventional methods, triggering the third AI boom. In 2016 DeepMind's AlphaGo beat a top Go player. Since then, generative AI such as Transformer-based large language models and image generation has developed rapidly.

How it works / steps

  1. Understand that deep learning learns features itself
  2. Remember the landmark events together with their years
  3. Grasp the line of technology leading to generative AI (the Transformer)

Workplace example

In training, explain the flow from AlexNet's 2012 success to today's generative AI, in the order image recognition, games, language.

Common confusions and exam tips

Mini quiz

Q1. Which best describes the difference between statistical and rule-based machine translation?

  1. Statistical MT translates using grammar rules written by people; rule-based learns translations from large parallel data
  2. Statistical MT is a kind of deep learning, and rule-based is a newer improved version of it
  3. Statistical MT chooses translations probabilistically from parallel data; rule-based translates with rules written by people
  4. Statistical MT is only for speech translation, and rule-based is only for text translation
Show answer and explanation

Answer: C Statistical MT chooses translations probabilistically from parallel data; rule-based translates with rules written by people

From the 1990s, statistical MT using parallel corpora became mainstream, later giving way to neural MT.

Q2. Which statement about debates around AI is NOT appropriate?

  1. The term “deep learning” was first used at the Dartmouth workshop (1956)
  2. Embodiment debates hold that interaction with the outside world through a body is important for intelligence
  3. The Loebner Prize is a competition for conversation programs based on the Turing test
  4. The term “artificial intelligence” was first used at the Dartmouth workshop
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A The term “deep learning” was first used at the Dartmouth workshop (1956)

At the Dartmouth workshop, John McCarthy used the term “artificial intelligence.” The term deep learning spread in the 2000s and later.

Reference links

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Notes (unofficial, original questions, no pass guarantee)