Artificial Intelligence: How Carbon-Based Life Has Created Silicon-Based Life

Abstract

The paper considers the main stages of the development of artificial intelligence (AI). The aim of the paper is to reveal the influence of computerization on social life at present and in the future. The historical analysis method was used to identify the main stages in the development of neural networks and to compare some predictions and real achievements in the field of AI modeling. The article identifies three main periods, widely known as the first and second spring of the era of artificial intelligence and the “winter of AI” – a period of stagnation. The earliest promising developments ran into technical difficulties. At the first stage, the developers tried to copy nature, that is, the neurons of the natural brain, and the tasks turned out to be too complicated. In addition, the first algorithms for training neural networks encountered fundamental difficulties, such as exponential decay of the error vector when propagating into the inner layers of the neural network. It took years to find new algorithmic solutions, to accumulate data for training neural networks, for the next technological breakthrough, known as the “second spring of AI.” The result of the analysis showed that predictions of AI capabilities were often more modest than actual achievements. In the present paper, we make new predictions, according to which computer technology is going play not only an instrumental role but will also have a significant impact on the ideological values of society. This will happen not only due to increasing automation but also due to substitution of creative professions by machines, which will increase the segregation of society and the trend towards individualism. The problem of realism and the search for criteria of truth will also gain importance as self-programmable neural networks evolve.