An AI algorithm can draw letters as well as a human
By Steve Dent From engadget
It’s just handwriting for now, but one day it could pick out Sarah Connor in a crowd.
Researchers claim to have made a breakthrough in artificial intelligence by giving machines cognitive powers similar to humans. The team from MIT, York University and the University of Toronto first trained an algorithm to draw characters in 50 languages by studying the required pen strokes. Once completed, it was able to successfully draw a new character that it had never seen before, meaning it had essentially “learned” the skill. That might not sound impressive, because we humans can do it easily. But so far, similar feats have only been done by large neural networks that require huge databases of images and learn more by brute force than smarts.
Rather than a neural network, the team used a so-called Bayesian program learning framework. Because the algorithm is based on probability and guessing, it’s using a cognitive process like humans and not a typical rote computer method. When the machine “drew” characters on the screen, each one was slightly different but still identifiable like the ones we would draw. As a result, only 25 percent of judges who compared the samples to human-drawn characters were able to tell the difference. Author Joshua B. Tenenbaum told the NYT that “it’s amazing what you can do with lots of data and faster computers. But when you look at children, it’s amazing what they can learn from very little data. Some comes from prior knowledge and some is built into our brain.”
For more on this story go to: https://www.engadget.com/2015/12/11/an-ai-algorithm-can-draw-letters-as-well-as-a-human/
What is an algorithm?
From WhatIs.com
Part of the Mathematics glossary:
An algorithm (pronounced AL-go-rith-um) is a procedure or formula for solving a problem, based on conductiong a sequence of specified actions. A computer program can be viewed as an elaborate algorithm. In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm usually means a small procedure that solves a recurrent problem.
Algorithms are widely used throughout all areas of IT (information technology). A search engine algorithm, for example, takes search strings of keywords and operators as input, searches its associated database for relevant web pages, and returns results.
An encryption algorithm transforms data according to specified actions to protect it. A secret key algorithm such as the U.S. Department of Defense’s Data Encryption Standard (DES), for example, uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt data. As long as the algorithm is sufficiently sophisticated, no one lacking the key can decrypt the data.
The word algorithm derives from the name of the mathematician, Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, who was part of the royal court in Baghdad and who lived from about 780 to 850. Al-Khwarizmi’s work is the likely source for the word algebra as well.
Khan Academy provides an introductory tutorial on algorithms: see link below.
